![]() Þorbjörn from throwing the spear back at him. Grettir arrived at the farm, he sat down and removed the rivet to prevent To take revenge on Þorbjörn for his killing of Grettir's brother, Atli. Grettir arrived at Þorbjörn's farm, Þoroddstaðir, Rivet could easily be removed with whatever tools people normally carried with The rivet head is circled in red and is shown in more detail to the right.Ī passage from chapter 48 of Grettis saga suggests that the Historical weapons are surprisingly small, as shown in the photo to the left. The rivets that attached the spear head to the shaft on surviving ![]() Very slight, so if they were used, they were not common. The evidence for the use of these caps in the Viking age is In other historical periods, the far end of the spear shaft wasĬovered with a metal butt cap, to help protect the wooden shaft and to helpīalance the weapon. That Ingólf's spear had a broad blade and a shaft reinforced with iron. In chapter 40 of Vatnsdæla saga, it is said There are examples in the sagas of spear shafts Later returned the favor by splitting Gautr apart down to his shoulders He returned to the camp and discovered his weapons were missing, but he Þorgeir's tent and broke up his spear shaft and shield to provideįirewood sufficient to cook the meal. Men ran out of firewood while cooking their meal. Whatever the typical length might have been, a story from chapter 15 ofįóstbræðra saga suggests that the amount of wood was not insubstantial. A strong, straight-grained wood such as ash was used. Perhaps the best guess we can make is that the combined length of shaftĪnd head of Viking age spears was 2 to 3m (7-10ft) long, although oneĬan make arguments for the use of spears having both longer and shorter Spear on the left has a shaft of that length, while the other spear in the photo Language used suggests that such a long shaft was uncommon. Long-shafted that a man's outstretched arm could touch the rivet. Chapter 6 of Gísla saga tells of a spear so The archaeological evidence is negligible, and the sagas are, for the However, there is little evidence that tells us the length of the shaft. With a diameter of 2-3cm (about one inch). The surviving spear heads suggest that the shafts were typically round, Spear heads were fixed to wooden shafts using a rivet. Right shows inlaid copper and silver on the rib, and leafy foliageĭecorations on the surface of the blade, which at one time, covered the blade. Although most of theĭecoration has fallen off in the intervening years, the close-up to the The historical Viking age spear head shown above wasĬlearly a magnificent work of art at one time. The overlap in the socket of a 10 th century spear is This material was formed around a mandrelĪnd usually was welded to form a solid socket. The head tapered smoothly to a sharp edge on either side ofĪfter forming the head, the smith flattened and drew out With a thick central rib, clearly visible in the 10 th century spearhead shown to In cross-section, spear heads were lozenge shaped, Precious metals or with scribed geometric patterns (right). They were frequently decorated with inlays of The spearheads were made of iron, and, like swordīlades, were made using pattern welding techniques (described in the Spjótsprika, sometimes translated as "puny spear". Laxdæla saga (chapter 64) said that Hrappr carried a Some spearheads were quite small, seen both in the archaeological findsĪnd in the sagas. Through Þórir and into Ögmundur with a single thrust, right up to the wings.īoth men were killed by the thrust, as is told in chapter 19 of Grettis saga. Spear with a blade so thin and long that he was able to pierce all the way TheseĪre called krókspjót (barbed spear) in the stories. Some spear heads, including all those in the photoĪbove, had "wings" on the head, useful for a variety of tricks. Spear for himself which could be used for cutting, thrusting, or hewing. In chapter 8 of Króka-Refs saga, Refur made a Spearhead in the photo is 38cm (15in) long, giving a sense of scale. Heads, illustrating the variations in size and shape. The photo below shows an assortment of Viking era spear In chapter 55 of Laxdæla saga, Helgi had a spear with a blade Earlier spearheads wereĪbout 20cm (8in) long, while later ones were as long as 60cm (24in). The top photo to theĪn 11 th century spearhead, while the bottom photo to the Modern reproduction, typical of the late Viking age. The spear was the most commonly used weapon in the Viking Until we find time to make the needed updates to this page, we strongly encourage readers to look at this topic as it is presented in our new book, Men of Terror, available now from your favorite book seller. Much of the text presented on this page is out-of-date.
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