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A large number of swords from the Viking Age have been found including at least 2,500 double-edged just from Norway [STALSBERG ndND:p.8]. These swords have been well studied over the last century although surprisingly very few changes have been made to Petersen’s original work based on sword hilt styles found in Norway and published in 1919 [PETERSEN 1919]. <br>
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*1919 Petersen: Devised the original hilt typology of 26 types that is still widely used across Europe for classifying and dating Viking swords.
*1927 Wheeler: Created a simplified typology of sword hilts based on finds from Britain.
*1960 OakshottOakeshott: Added two more types to Wheelers typology
*1991 Geibig: Created a modified version of Petersen’s hilt typology based on finds from Western Germany. More importantly he created the first sword blade typology.
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====Ulfberht====
Anne Stalsberg has recently published an article on 166 finds of swords marked with Ulfberht signatures [STALSBERG ndND]. It would appear that Ulfberht blades were made in the Carolingian Empire and can be found on swords dated from 800AD to 1000AD [STALSBERG ndND: p.8]
====Ingelrii====
Oakshott Oakeshott has dated the Ingelri swords from 925AD [OAKSHOTT OAKESHOTT 2002:p.8]. Some of the Ingelri swords contain the additional words ‘Me Fecit’ which translates as ‘Made me’
====Other makes====
Oakshott Oakeshott lists a few other makers names that have been found on Viking Age sword blades [OAKSHOTT OAKESHOTT 2002:p.8-9]
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==Sword hilts==
=== Typologies===
Two main typologies are primarily used, Petersen’s for Viking swords and the Wheeler / Oakshott Oakeshott typology for late Anglo-Saxon ones.<br>
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====Petersen’s typology of Viking swords====
Jakobsson has recently published a number of maps detailing the distribution patterns of Petersen’s sword hilts across Europe [PIERCE 2000:p.16]. Unfortunately the authors do not have access to this document.<br>
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====Wheeler / Oakshott Oakeshott typology of late Anglo-Saxon swords====
This is the typology chosen by the authors in the next section to demonstrate the change of sword styles throughout the Viking Age. <br>
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