The Ulfberht swords are about 170 medieval swords found in Europe, dated to the 9th to 11th centuries, with blades inlaid with the inscription +VLFBERH+T or +VLFBERHT+. That word is a Frankishpersonal name that became the basis of a trademark of sorts, used by multiple bladesmiths for several centuries.
Description
The swords are at the transitional point between the Viking sword and the high medievalknightly sword. Most have blades of Oakeshott type X. They are also the starting point of the much more varied high medieval tradition of blade inscriptions. The reverse sides of the blades are inlaid with a geometric pattern, usually a braid pattern between vertical strokes. There are also numerous blades which have this type of geometric pattern but no Vlfberht inscription. Ulfberht swords were made during a period when European swords were still predominantly pattern welded, but with larger blooms of steel gradually becoming available, so that higher quality swords made after AD 1000 are increasingly likely to have crucible steel blades. The group of Ulfberht swords includes a wide spectrum of steel and production methods. One example from a 10th-century grave in Nemilany, Moravia, has a pattern welded core with welded-on hardened cutting edges. Another example appears to have been made from high-quality hypoeutectoid steel possibly imported from Central Asia.
Number and distribution
Total of 170 Ulfberht swords are known from Europe, most numerously in Northern Europe. Most of them, 44 swords, are known from Norway and second most, 31 swords, from Finland. However, the exact number of swords found is debatable because of the fragmentary condition of some examples, and because some inscriptions appear to be loose references to the Ulfberht type instead of actual specimens. The prevalence of Ulfberht swords in the archaeological record of Northern Europe does not imply that such swords were more widely used there than in Francia; the pagan practice of placing weapons in warrior graves greatly favours the archaeological record in such regions of Europe that were still pagan, while sword finds in from continental Europe and England after the 7th century are mostly limited to stray finds, e.g. in riverbeds.
Dating
The original Ulfberht sword type dates to the 9th or 10th century, but swords with the Ulfberht inscription continued to be made at least until the end of the Viking Age in the 11th century. A notable late example found in Eastern Germany, dated to the 11th or possibly early 12th century, represents the only specimen that combines the Vlfberht signature with a Christian "in nomine domini" inscription. As a given name, Wulfbert is recorded from the 8th to 10th centuries.
Origin
The most likely place of origination of Ulberht swords is in the Rhineland region. A Frankish origin of the original swords has long been assumed because of the form of the personal name Ulfberht; a sword found in Lower Saxony in 2012 used lead in its hilt which has reportedly been analysed as originating in the Taunus region, reinforcing the hypothesis of Frankish manufacture of the Ulfberht swords. but were clearly sought-after, prestigious artefacts in Viking Age Scandinavia. Three specimens were found as far afield as Volga Bulgaria.
Works cited
Anders Lorange, Den yngre jernalders sværd, Bergen.
Rudolf Wegeli, Inschriften auf mittelalterlichen Schwertklingen, Leipzig.
Anne Stalsberg, "Herstellung und Verbreitung der Vlfberht-Schwertklingen. Eine Neubewertung", Zeitschrift für Archäologie des Mittelalters 36, 2008, 89-118.
M. Müller-Wille: Ein neues ULFBERHT-Schwert aus Hamburg. Verbreitung, Formenkunde und Herkunft, Offa 27, 1970, 65-91
