Viking Sword excavated from Ballinderry, Northern Ireland dated from the 9th Century on display at the National Museum of Ireland-Archaeology in Dublin
This is one of a family of 5 surviving swords in Ireland that bear the name “ULFBERHT” inscribed in the broad and shallow fuller of the blade. Such blades are thought to have been made in the Frankish lands around the Middle Rhine. The town of Solingen, which produced fine sword blades in the Middle Ages, came from this region and it is thought to be one of the origins of the “ULFBERHT” swords. It is unlikely to be the name of a person as they have been found in sites dating from the 9th to the 12th centuries.
So the “ULFBERHT” brand name was put on hundreds of swords over a period of 250 years. It is likely the brand name was a powerful mark as such swords have been found in high status graves all over Europe. Frankish and Viking blades were found as highly prised goods in Baghdad, travelling along the Silk Road. Much of the steel for these blades was Crucible Steel from India which travelled the same route to Europe.
The sword was found in a crannog in Ballinderry, Ireland while it was being drained by the Board of Works of Northern Ireland. With the sword, animal bones, part of a bone comb as well as two spearheads and an axehead, all from the 9th Century.
Photographs taken by myself 2017
