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If one ignores Oakeshott’s [OAKESHOTT 1960] rather short and glib analysis of spears in his seminal work ‘The Archaeology of Weapons’ then you quickly realise that spears follow fashion changes by time and region in much the same way as swords. Although not as glamorous as the sword, the spear was in every sense the definitive weapon of the Viking Age and used as the primary weapon of combat by almost every warrior. Decorated spearheads inlaid with precious metals prove that in the Viking Age spears were not seen as the poor man’s choice and one has only to look at the representations of warriors from the illuminated manuscripts of the era to quickly come to the conclusion that the use of the spear was ubiquitous. Many of the Anglo-Saxon phrases used to describe both battle and warrior help to underline the importance of the spear.<br>
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====='''Art====='''
Numerous Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian sources depict the use of the spear being used one handed in an overarm style.
===== '''Literature ====='''
* Caedmon, æsc-plega, “Spear-bearer” is applied to a soldier. [HEWITT 1996: P.28]
* History of Judith, æsc-plega, “play of spears” used as a term for battle [HEWITT 1996: P.28]
* Codex Extoniensis, æsc-stede, “a field of battle” [HEWITT 1996: P.28]
* Beowolf, Eald æsc-wiga, “some old spear warrior” [HEWITT 1996: P.28]
<br>==Spearheads === '''Archaeology ====='''
* England. So far I have identified 45 spearhead finds from England. 20 are of type K/M or M. 7 others are of winged form.
* Wales. 2 finds [REDKNAP 2000:p.53-54]
* Iceland. 81 spearheads have been found dating from the Viking Age. They have been found in 56 graves and 22 spearheads have been registered as stray finds. 40 spearheads belong to type K, 3 to type G, 2 to type H, 3 to type I and 1 to type E. The remainder are probably of local manufacture and do not sit easily within Petersen’s typology.[ANDROSHCHUK and TRAUSTADOTTIR 2004]
===== '''Discussion ====='''
''The Typologies''<br>
Petersen created the first and still the most used typology of spearheads for the Viking Age in 1919 [PETERSEN 1919]. His typology is based on finds from Norway and includes some types that are rare or nonexistent in Britain. It must be remembered that Petersen was working on dates derived from associated items found along with his spear-heads in Norwegian pagan burials and that he often commented on the difficulty of precisely dating a specific burial find. <br>
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=== Size Categorising spearheads, javelins and weight guides arrowheads ===
The following size categories are extremely arboratory <br>
Arrow<br>
Two-Handed Spear<br>
=== Open and Spearhead with open or closed sockets ===
Wheeler used the spear socket to determine the origin of the spearhead. He classed all spears with a split ‘open’ socket as being English in manufacture and those with overlapped ‘closed’ socket as Scandinavian [WHEELER 1935: p.170]. This convention has continued in use to the present day.
===ManufactureSpearhead manufacture===
Pollington states that there is a marked increase in standardisation of Spear heads forms compared to the earlier Anglo-Saxon pagan period (covered by Swanton). He makes the case for this being due to the Alfredian burh system and the centralisation of manufacture away from the traditional labour-intensive smithing on a village or estate scale [POLLINGTON 2006: p.137]
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== Spearhead styles Typology ==
=== Leaf shaped heads - Thålin Group 1===
Leaf shaped heads, Petersen types A(B), C(D1) and E, seem to go out of fashion by 950AD [PETERSEN 1919]. Other people have suggested that a few leaf shaped heads may have continued throughout the period [*Citation Needed].
== Decorated spearheads ==
Some of the K, K/M and M types of spearheads are decorated in Ringerike style around the join between the blade and the socket. A group of 24 such ornamented spear-heads of types K, K/M, and M has been discussed by Fuglesang [FUGLESANG 1980]. Only one of these was found in Britain [WHEELER 1927: p.21 Fig.5]. Except for another from Belgium they seem to concentrate in Sweden although as Fuglesang correctly points out, not enough finds have been made to make any firm statements regards regional origins.<br><br>Magi-Lougas has devided spearhead decoration into 3 types [MAGI-LOUGAS 1994] <br>
<br>
'''3 Types''' <br>
[MAGI-LOUGAS 1994] <br>
===== Type I – Silver Decoration =====
characterised by the use of different metals, or metals of different colours, to form the ornament
E-, I- K- and K-type spearheads, but also in some cases to G-type<br> <br>
===== Type II – Ringerike Style =====
1000 – 1060AD<br> <br>
===== Type III – Runic Style (Urnes) =====
1025 – 1100AD<br> <br>
== Spear shafts ==
=== Woods used ===
=== Spearhead attachment Attaching the spearhead ===
The methods used to secure the spearhead to the wooden shaft. Riveting, pinning and gluing were probably the most common.
===== Art =====
Anglo-Saxon art depicts spear heads with one or more lines through the socket.
===== Literature =====
--<br>===== Archaeology Heading text =====Archaeology
66% of the spearheads from Dublin had rivet holes with the hole size usually being between 2 to 3 mm in diameter [HALPIN 2008: p.134]. <br>
An example of Linen being used to help secure a spearhead can be found on a spearhead from Balladoyne in the Isle of Man. This type K spearhead retained traces of a fine linen fabric that had been wrapped twice around the point of the wooden shaft (BJORN and SHETELIG 1940, p.26).<br>