Subject: schola heavy cavalry

Culture: Frankish

Setting: Carolingian empire, western Europe 8th-9thc

Object: sword

* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor

"Sword Iron, Silver, and copper alloy Germanic or Scandinavian, 850-900 3lbs. 5 oz. (1490 g)

The outstanding quality, complexity, and condition of the inlaid silver decoration, combined with an exceptionally strong and well-proportioned blade, make this sword one of the finest examples of its type to survive from the Viking era. The gently tapering double-edged blade is inlaid in iron with the name +VLFBERHT+, indicating that it was made or inspired by the swordsmith Ulfberht, who is thought to have worked in the Middle Rhine region of Germany, and whose blade-making style and signature were emulated by other craftsmen for generations."

"Sword Iron, copper, silver, niello European (probably Scandinavia), 10th century

The skillfully decorated hilt and pattern-welded blade indicate that this sword was carried by a warrior of high rank, perhaps a Viking chieftain or a Frankish nobleman. The braided copper wires on the pommel may represent an earlier Scandinavian custom of tying a talisman to a sword hilt. The pattern-welded blade was forged of intertwined rods of steel and iron, a technique that produced a tough, resilient blade with a distinctive swirling pattern on its surface."