How is a Viking sword different from a knightly sword?

A Viking sword has a short guard, a broad blade with little taper and a heavy, often lobed pommel. The knightly sword of the 11th–14th centuries has a long cross guard, a slimmer blade and a disc or brazil-nut pommel. The longer guard let the hand move out in front of the shield.

How much does a Viking sword weigh?

Usually 1.0–1.4 kg at a length of 85–95 cm. Swords weighing several kilograms are a myth — nobody could fight with one for more than a few moments.

Was the Viking sword double-edged?

Yes. The Viking sword cuts with both edges. The single-edged weapon of the period was the seax, a long fighting knife carried beside the sword or instead of it.

The armoury

Viking Swords and Early Medieval Swords

The Viking sword and the Carolingian sword: a broad blade with a wide fuller, a short guard and a heavy pommel. The weapon of the 8th to 11th centuries, from Scandinavia to the Slavic lands.

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Typical dimensions

Cutting from behind the shield, in the shield wall. A broad, flat blade with a wide fuller that takes mass out of it.

Typical length: 85–95 cm
Typical mass: 1–1.4 kg
Balance (POB): 12–15 cm
Typology: Petersen, Wheeler
Period: 8th–11th c. · Vikings and Carolingians
Blade section: Flat lens with a wide fuller

What a Viking sword looks like

The blade is broad — about five centimetres at the guard — and almost parallel-sided down to a rounded point, with a wide fuller running along the middle to save weight without losing stiffness. It is a cutting sword: a Viking warrior fought with a round shield and struck from the elbow and shoulder rather than thrusting.

The guard is short, because the shield protected the hand, and the pommel is massive — often lobed — because it had to balance the blade. The grip takes one hand, wedged between guard and pommel. The whole sword usually measures 85–95 cm and weighs 1.0–1.4 kg.

Petersen, Ulfberht and the swords of the Slavs

Viking swords are classified by the shape of the hilt: Jan Petersen's typology of 1919 has several dozen types marked with letters. Blades were sometimes signed — more than 170 surviving ones carry the inscription +VLFBERH+T. Some of them were forged from unusually clean steel; others are contemporary copies with a mistake in the lettering.

Archaeologists in Poland and across the Slavic lands find the same sword types as in Scandinavia. Blades often came from Frankish workshops and were hilted locally, so a 'Slavic sword' and a Viking sword are in practice the same weapon.

Frequently asked

How is a Viking sword different from a knightly sword?: A Viking sword has a short guard, a broad blade with little taper and a heavy, often lobed pommel. The knightly sword of the 11th–14th centuries has a long cross guard, a slimmer blade and a disc or brazil-nut pommel. The longer guard let the hand move out in front of the shield.
How much does a Viking sword weigh?: Usually 1.0–1.4 kg at a length of 85–95 cm. Swords weighing several kilograms are a myth — nobody could fight with one for more than a few moments.
Was the Viking sword double-edged?: Yes. The Viking sword cuts with both edges. The single-edged weapon of the period was the seax, a long fighting knife carried beside the sword or instead of it.