Norwegian Farmer Finds Rare Medieval Sword While Plowing His Plot

Although Viking swords are fairly common, as it was habitual at the time to bury the dead with their weapons, the custom disappeared as Christianity became more popular, which is why finds from the Middle Ages are a tremendous rarity.

A Norwegian farmer from Innlandet County in the southern part of the country accidentally unearthed a sword from the Middle Ages on his property. The discovery was made while plowing the plot for cultivation, national broadcaster NRK reported.

“I simply kicked at it, and immediately saw that it was a sword,” Hjalmar Rodne told the broadcaster. “It shows that there have been people here before us,” he added.

The sword was well preserved. The handle was in good condition, which indicates that it was buried quite deep, whereas the tip and parts of the blade had rusted away.

Archeologists from Innlandet County municipality have provisionally dated the find as 13th or 14th century.

According to archaeologist Kjetil Skare, up to 3,500 swords from the Viking Age have been found, as it was a common habit of that period to bury warriors with their sword. However, the custom disappeared with Christianity and the Middle Ages. Therefore, far fewer swords from the Middle Ages have been found. The archeologist himself admitted that he hasn't before held a medieval sword.

Hanne Lovise Aannestad, an archeologist at the Museum of Cultural History, also stressed the rarity of the find. According to her, the museum easily has 1,700 swords from the Viking Age but fewer than 100 from the Middle Ages.

The find is also likely to have a story behind it, as swords were expensive to produce and cherished so they weren't often lost. Weapons that broke were usually repaired rather than discarded.

“Iron was expensive. It takes a lot of iron to make a sword, so it was probably reforged if the blade was broken,” Aannestad explained.

Skare said that since swords in the Middle Ages were so cherished, it might have been the case that the owner was drunk or very ill. Alternatively, it could have been stolen or hidden.