Comments on: Many Viking Swords in Museums Are Fakes

By: Mederak

Mederak — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 22:04:12 +0000

Either way you slice it, so to speak, eventually the perpetrators of this “forgery” would have been found out. What would be the penalty according to the laws of the time?

By: rory

rory — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:33:45 +0000

were these weapons actually fake, or were they in fact the genuine article but made with the more inferior material for either the reason of lack of good supplies or maybe a cheaper version for the market at the time?

just a thought

By: Viking Rune

Viking Rune — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:05:26 +0000

First of all, one should not be referred to a report in the Guardian, on which this post is based, but to the study by Dr. Williams: Williams, Alan R., 'Crucible Steel in medieval swords', Metals and Mines: Studies in Archaeometallurgy (London, 2007), pp. 233-241. Among other things, the study identifies the use of different raw materials for Ulfberhts during a certain period. Collins English Dictionary defines the verb to fake as follows: to cause (something inferior or not genuine) to appear more valuable, desirable, or real by fraud or pretence. The question is whether fraud or pretence was present in this case. To be sure, no one blames the museums for any such thing. Notwithstanding the raw materials, high or low carbon content, all the swords of the period, including Ulfberhts, are rare collectibles worthy of being exhibited. However, the fact is that some of the blades that bear the name Ulfberht are inferior as compared to others with the same name. Now the word fake in the headline of the present post presupposes that blacksmiths who produced inferior Ulfberht blades 1000 years ago were aware of their inferiority (since they could not ignore the inferiority of the raw materials). When they put the same distinctive mark on swords that were more brittle, they in fact caused them to appear more valuable by pretence. If so, according to Collins definition, they faked Ulfberhts.

By: EvilGod

EvilGod — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:26:00 +0000

So they aren’t fake Viking swords, just not genuine Ulfberhts. Quite probably not claimed to be such by the museums themselves. Good to know. I’ll make a point not to engage anyone in battle with one.