Crafted entirely from yew, the hilt of the Viking sword is carved with faces associated with the Ringerike style of Viking art, a style that dates to the 11th century.Other finds included intact ground plans of 19 Viking houses, remnants of central hearths, and bedding material. These finds have convinced archeologists that the influence the Vikings had in Cork city has been underappreciated, and that it may be comparable to that in Dublin and Waterford.
Cork is on the south coast of Ireland. The Viking influence was known, but was thought to have been less substantial.
ReplyDeleteSounds like it is a weavers tool to push the weft threads down the warp and tighten them up.
Although no doubt viking kids got in trouble for using it as a toy sword...
The Japanese used wood swords as training and combat weapons on occasion, Musashi used a wood sword to defeat his arch opponent if the stories are accurate. Three feet of quartersawn white oak is nothing to laugh at.
We still use them. There’s a fairly complete article here:
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About a 6" blade. More like a wooden Bowie knife than sword (but really weaving tool as previously mentioned).
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