Amazing Viking knives!!!

[Edgehog]

Edvin,

Beautiful work & fascinating reading, thank you.

[snill_fyr]

its typical, all the good stuff is out of my period. damn democracy!!! I'm in Vikverir, and I've met your group a couple of times, don't know if you were there, last time on "vinter" in Halden a month ago, 12 from your group there, and maybe at wargames in Hornbore?

Maybe you can help a nice guy out and see if you can find something nice from around my period, a picture or a drawing or something?

[Edvin]

Jared > Due to organic materials poor conservation properties most leather traces are very hard to analyse. There are however a feature that works as a "welt" in some of the knifes fittings but integrated into the metal. It is really ingenious. I took some pictures to explain (this is from a fitting on a smaller knife but the same principle);





Karud > Yes, that is correct! Linda is a member of our group. And yes, simple rectangle patterns made out of circles or triangles are very common. Most of the lines are quite faint however and doesn´t photograph very well. One of the most common seems to be a little circle with a dot inside or a triangle with three dots. An example;

[steelshaper]

"There is not always easy to find good quality blades with an distinct V-shape. Most of the modern ones are not good for iron age-knives due to the cutting angle (Im sorry, I don´t know the correct word in english) and thiness of the blade. Most viking age blades have a quite thick spine (up to 8-12 mm) but are angle of the edge goes all the way up to the spine. Maybe I will find a nice smith here that can make some from my drawings."


Edvin,

First I would like to say great work!!!

Could you tell us a little more about the thickness and bevels on the originals?
I am very interested in knowing what "Grind" would be corect for knives from this period. Are they more convex? I would gues it would be hard to say what they would have been like new.

I am a bladesmith and have been trying lately to make some viking period knives. I would like to be able to make them as period correct as possible.

Thanks and great work!

William Crump

[Edvin]

Hi William! Like you say it is very hard to know for sure, most knifes look a lot like this one I studied after lunch;



However, we can be quite sure of a few things. Almost all knifes are laminated with a harder steel edge on a iron body.

A great book about historical knifes are "Knives and Scabbards" by J. Cowgill & M. de Neergaard, N. Griffiths. It´s a bit later but still very much the same the same materials and techniques.

Another really good article are "Om vikingatida knivtillverkning" by Jan-Åke Lundström ("about viking age knive-production") but I am afraid it´s only in swedish. To look at surving blades and profiles, try to find Lena Thunmark-Nyléns exellent "Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands". This a seven book large essay with pictures of almost all viking artefacts from Gotland (which in turn are something like 70% of swedens total findings). The text is in german though.

Otherwise, keep it simple. Really. Most copies today of viking age blades are WAY overworked. The grind should be all the way up to the spine and most of the time the spine is quite thick.

[snill_fyr]

is that linen thread? is it wrapped around the sheath or the handle?

[EdgePal]

Shot at 2008-02-28

This is a knife from the Viking age and it is also found on the island Gotland. This one have Scandi grind as you can se. Both types of blade profile (three shaped and parallel blade shape) are represented in Scandinavia during Viking time.

We do not know what the knifes we have found was used to do. The size is similar to normal belt knifes and they probably are just belt knifes – but we do not know if a carpenter use them - or a warier. We don’t know anything about who uses just that type of knife in his belt – and for what.

But – we can study the blade shape and se what, for example just this knife, is constructed to do.
The tip is sharp, the belly is small, the blade is not so wide, the length of the blade is about 8-9 cm = it is a little shorter then most knifes during this time.

· It is a nice knife: to use for woodwork, to butcher fish during fishing, to eat with and to use to many other things like this. Penetration with the tip was important to the maker of this knife, perhaps he work a lot with cutting pattern in wood?

· It is not a hunting knife (the belly is to small) it is not for departing bigger animals (to short); it is not a knife to fight with (but as a defense weapon at home it works as most knifes do).

· My conclusion is that this is a belt knife for a person who works in wood, fish a lot - and he normally use it to eat with - and for other small daily things. = It is not a ”typical” Viking warier knife – but it is a knife from the Viking time and from a place rather close to the coastline.

When you se a picture of a knife, try to “read” the blade design = what was this knife designed to perform (se the thread about this).



About the island Gotland:
Gotland is a big island with a big population on the east coast of Sweden. Gotland have been both Danish and Swedish during our history back in time and it was very rich island (it is a very nice island to visit with many very old historical things to se, I can warmly recommend a visit).

Gotland was a big trading place and was visited by many people from different country’s in the east. Also many of the Swedish Vikings visited Gotland on their way to, and from, Russia and the other country’s they have visited during their travels.

Many silver treasures have been found on Gotland, in first hand Arabian sliver coins but also many other silver things, and silver bars in different shapes. The majority of silver treasures who have been found in Sweden are from just Gotland. Nearly all this silver treasures is from the Viking time.

You easily find this Island if you look at a map, south part of Sweden and outside the east coast there is two islands, the bigger one is Gotland.

If you like old fortresses you shall visit the city Visby and look what they have build during the Dark Ages.
The name of the city Visby is from Viking time or earlier. Vi = sacrificing place, By = village = The village close to the sacrificing place.

We have a lot of names like this in Scandinavia.

Thomas

[robin wood]

The tip is sharp, the belly is small, the blade is not so wide, the length of the blade is about 8-9 cm

It is a nice knife: to use for woodwork, to butcher fish during fishing, to eat with and to use to many other things like this. Penetration with the tip was important to the maker of this knife, perhaps he work a lot with cutting pattern in wood?

My conclusion is that this is a belt knife for a person who works in wood, fish a lot - and he normally use it to eat with - and for other small daily things.

When you se a picture of a knife, try to “read” the blade design = what was this knife designed to perform (se the thread about this).
Thomas

I have found your posts about reading the blade design very interesting, especially understanding the belly in relation to butchering.

Now I am a woodcarver and my favourite knife is Frosts 106 narrow blade sloyd lets see how similar they are....



I love to see photos of old knives like these, thanks for posting.

[Edvin]

The thread is actually very thin silver, about 0.5 mm. This seems to be a common way of strengthen the upper part of the handle which of course is under most stress.

Thomas input here is greatly appreciated and it is really what it´s all comes down to. To be able to “read” the blade design are a way to understanding how these knifes were used. To be able to experiment with modern knives and their use and then use that knowledge when looking at knives from the viking age are crucial for our understanding.

There seems like mens knives are a bit larger than womens. Probably is this related to different methods of carrying and use.

A great resource for the interested are "Viking Knives from the island of Gotland, A short resumé" by Dan Carlsson. It´s a CD about knives mainly concentrates on finds and objects from the island of Gotland, situated in the middle of the Baltic Sea. I think it is avaliable from http://www.arkeodok.com.

Here are a link to Gotland on Google Maps;

http://maps.google.se/maps?f=q&hl=sv...z=7&iwloc=addr

Here are some more viking age knives from Gotland (from LTN "Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands");

[Edvin]

Got some time in the workshop and was able to finish a long overdue project. This is a sheat for a knife I made a time ago. The blade is a 125 mm Mora Classic, the handle is elkhorn with leather spacers and brass fittings. Dark red tooled leathersheat with brass fitting and dot ornamentations and triangle cut outs. Copper rivets. Sheat and handle treated with linseed oil. Total weight knife and sheat is 325 grams.

[robin wood]

[QUOTE=Edvin;773956]
A great resource for the interested are "Viking Knives from the island of Gotland, A short resumé" by Dan Carlsson. It´s a CD about knives mainly concentrates on finds and objects from the island of Gotland, situated in the middle of the Baltic Sea. I think it is avaliable from http://www.arkeodok.com.


Here are some more viking age knives from Gotland (from LTN "Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands");






Thanks for that the CD looks interesting I will order it. And thanks also for the old knife pictures, very interesting.

I am interested in the relation of length to depth, so many smiths now make their knife blades much deeper for the length. I like this narrower shape of blade because in woodcarving you can not cut a concave shape with a deep blade. In fact it is great to have some old blades that have been sharpened many times and are very thin like the lower picture above, these are the very perfect tool for final finishing cuts.

[Harlequin]

Hello all,
I wanted to ask a couple of questions, if I might.

Is this knife on the Gotland CD? If not is there a reference that I might follow up to learn more about it?

Cheers,
H

[Karud]

And I'm very interested in pattern from handle Edvin have you any drawings of this pattern?

[Edvin]

Harlequin & Karud > The knife with the decorated handle is from Ksp. Othem, Slite torg. There is more info in Lena Thunmark-Nyléns "Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands" I. Try to get hold of it!

I don´t think there is any drawn pattern though. If you do make a drawing of it, please post a picture!

[Danzo]

I somehow missed this thread!

Welcome to BB Edvin, and congratulations on your superb work!

This is a fascinating and informative thread, as well as showing some beautiful craftsmanship.

Danzo