The Vikings had every advantage that one could think of in combat. Their ships were some of the fastest on the oceans.
Their weapons were some of the finest in the world, and their culture provided the perfect background for fine warriors,so it’s no wonder that they conquered so much of the known world.
The Vikings were fierce fighters and could survive against very strong opposition, as they proved time and again throughout history.
But with their fast longships, the Vikings didn’t have to face strong opposition.
They could reach coastal villages and get out again long before the villagers had time to call for assistance from surrounding lands.
This was the ideal method for vikings: strike quickly, take what you could, then leave before organized resistance could form.
Viking long ships could uniquely sail in shallow water which allowed them to travel up rivers, as well as across the sea.
In a raid, a ship was often hauled up on a beach, Vikings would jump out and start fighting, and then make a quick getaway if chased.
It was only when the Vikings started making permanent outposts in England that they were defeated, and it wasn’t through military defeats either.
The Vikings,were no longer raiders andconquerors, they became a part of England, assimilated into the population.
The legendary swords found at Viking sites across northern Europe bear the maker’s name, Ulfberht, in raised letters at the hilt end.
Puzzlingly, so do the worst ones, found in fragments on battle sites or in graves
According to a report in The Guardian, published in December 2008, Viking swords in some of the most famous weapons collections are contemporary counterfeits meaning the age of the fakes are the same as the genuine swords..
The original Ulfberht sword type dates to the 9th or 10th century, but swords with the Ulfberht inscription continued to be made at least until the end of the Viking Age in the 11th century.
A notable late example, was found in Eastern Germany, dated to the 11th or possibly early 12th century, represents the only specimen that combines the Vlfberht signature with a Christian “in nomine domini” inscription (+IINIOMINEDMN).
Ulfberht swords are found throughout Europe, but most numerously in Northern Europe (especially in Norway and Finland). They most likely originated in the Rhineland region of Germany (i.e. in Austrasia, the core region of the Frankish realm, later part of the Franconian stem duchy), but were clearly sought-after, prestigious artifacts in Viking Age Scandinavia.
Three specimens were found as far afield as Volga Bulgaria(at the time part of the Volga trade route)
Tests show that high quality steel of the genuine Ulfberht swords is from the mines on the territory of modern Afghanistan and Iran– still fearsome weapons after a millennium
However, in the 11th century trade route was blocked by Russians and the supply of crucible steel with high carbon content ended, no longer could the Vikings have access to bulat steel to needed to make these swords, because it had to be imported along the silk road from the near east, which is why around 1100 these “counterfeit” swords start popping up.
The demand was huge, and soon low quality fakes flooded the Scandinavian market.
Crucible steel wouldn’t be seen again until basically the dawn of the industrial revolution, which is significant because crucible steel is tougher all around, than Damascus or anything else from the time— Ulfberts -materially speaking, the best swords ever made up until that point.
Were they as sharp as Damascus?
Probably not, but there is a limit to how sharp a sword really needs to be, once you realize that they aren’t knives.
Swords have a bio mechanical advantage over knives because of their length— you can accelerate the tip of the weapon so fast and effortlessly, if they hit unarmored or lightly armored flesh, you can count on it cutting whether it is made of bronze, crucible steel, or Damascus.
However,it is the durable strength and stiff but springy characteristics which makes up the advantage of crucible steal.
Those weapons were made to compete in an arms vs armor race where stabbing was often how you attacked, happened rarely in the Middle East where Damascus steel comes from, but was just perfect for European warfare, unlike the weapons made in India and the Middle East.
The two styles rarely came into contact , except to some degree in Eastern Europe where there was contact with the Ottoman Turks.
Swords from Northern Germany have a long and distinguished history , such as in Frankia ,near the modern-day city of Solingen, which was the Toledo or Damascus of Northern Europe.
Swords which came from Solingen, particularly from the sword makers known as Ulfberht, were revered, and many counterfeit sword makers stamped the word “Ulfberht” on their blades to give them more value (often misspelling the name).
They were extremely rare and valuable, and would have been prized possessions of the most elite Vikings.
above: Viking Sword, Danish 9/10 c
Ulfberht set out to make the best swords around.
No word on whether Ulfberht was a blacksmith shop, or a group of tradesmen, but the name is a Frankish personal name which became the basis of a trademark of sorts, used by multiple bladesmiths for several centuries.
Many believe it was a foundry, though it has been long lost to history .
About 100 to 170 Ulfberht swords are known.
However, many Viking swords have similar features, which makes them fairly easily to identify:
A distinctive three-lobed wave pommel, long straight double-edges, wide fuller (groove that runs down the blade), and a short grip.
These swords were made during the transitional point between the Viking sword and the high medieval knightly sword.
Viking swords usually were a little shorter than the arming swords carried by knights later on in history (possibly because the Vikings were always on the move and often raided from ships; it’s difficult to make lightning fast raids with large, cumbersome swords).
Like knightly swords, though, Viking swords often bore engravings upon the blades, usually featuring important or sacred phrases and pictographs.
What made Ulfberht swords different was both the materials used and the process required to create the unbeatable steel.
By melting the iron in a sealed crucible (a technology brought over from Asia), the resulting steel was purer, with even carbon distribution and an aerodynamic design, weapons were both flexible and sharp.
This ancient blacksmithing process has only recently been recreated, after an historical absence of over 1,000 years.
Made of premium materials and forged by master blacksmiths, Ulfberht swords were the best swords available in 9th – 12th century..
Only the greatest swordsmen could afford an Ulfberht.
Riding the Ulfberht Coattails
With great branding success comes a multitude of impostors .
These opportunists created vastly inferior swords with deadly consequences.
Unfortunately, the swordsman wasn’t typically aware of his faulty purchase until his brittle sword crumbled in battle, leaving him defenseless.
Talk about buyer’s remorse.
Seeing a Medieval Viking Ulfberht Sword Get Made Today Is so Awesome
Just like today’s “Rollex” knockoffs, counterfeit swords bore the Ulfberht name, but often with a slight spelling shift, to persuade the purchaser.
For example, the real Ulfberht sword would be inscribed like so: “+VLFBERH+T” –but the knockoff variety might look something like this: “+VLFBEHT+.”
It must have been a gruesome moment when a Viking realized he had paid two cows for a fake designer sword; a clash of blade on blade in battle would have led to his sword, still sharp enough to slice through bone, but shattering like glass.
The London museum which has one of the best assemblies of ancient weapons in the world.
Recently , engaged the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, south-west London, who solved the riddle of composition and effect that the Viking swordsmiths may have sensed.
The legendary swords found at Viking sites across northern Europe bear the maker’s name, Ulfberht, in raised letters at the hilt end.
In outward appearance they were identical to genuine Ulfberhts – both blades very sharp.
Nevertheless, due to the fact that the carbon content of the steel from which fakes were forged, had only a third of the substance found in genuine high quality swords, which unfortunately could fatally disserve Vikings who bought them.
The locally worked iron of such inferior swords were hardened by quenching, which made the blade sharp, but also brittle because of the low carbon steel.
Quenching is the rapid cooling of a work piece in water, oil or air to obtain certain material properties.
The difference would have only emerged in use, usually ending in death.
The tests at the NPL have proved the inferior swords were forged in northern Europe from locally worked bog iron.
But the genuine ones were made from ingots of crucible steel, which the Vikings brought back from furnaces thousands of miles away in modern Afghanistan and Iran.
The tests at Teddington proved the genuine Ulfberht swords had a phenomenally high carbon content, half that of modern carbon steel.
The genuine Ulfberhts have mostly been found in rivers, but Dr Williams said “I don’t think these were ritual offerings,” “They are mostly from rivers near settlement sites, and I think what you have almost certainly is some poor chap staggering home drunk, falling into the river and losing his sword – An expensive mistake.”