This sword is difficult to classify with precision, since Petersen’s own Type H and Type I are frequently related, differing mainly in the size of the crossguard and pommel base. The majority of surviving H/I swords come from the Birka Barrow Cemetery in present-day Sweden, dated from the early 9th to the middle of the 10th century. This particular pattern was recovered in 1949 during D. Avdusin’s excavation of Barrow L-35, which contained a double cremation burial. One face of the blade bore an ‘ULFBREH+T’ mark, the other a lattice-weave design; traces of brass or copper on the pommel suggest it may once have carried a copper coating, and a related find indicates the crossguard’s upper and lower surfaces were once covered in thin brass plates, riveted to the iron frame beneath.
Part of Deepeeka’s Gunther series of historian-guided Viking sword reconstructions, this piece reproduces the lattice-weave design as faithful etchings on both blade faces.
Suited to collectors of Swedish Viking Age history and to living history presentations of the Birka trading settlement period.
