10th-11th century AD. A double-edged sword of Petersen Type X, the blade with an inlaid bronze crosier to one side, the lower guard and tea-cosy pommel with inlaid annulets. See Petersen, J., De Norske Vikingsverd, Oslo, 1919; Oakeshott, E., Records of the Medieval Sword, Woodbridge, 1991; Roesdahl, E., and Wilson D.M., From Viking to Crusader: The Scandinavians and Europe 800 to 1200 (22nd Council of Europe Exhibition), Copenhagen,1992; Peirce, I., Swords of the Viking Age, Suffolk, 2002. 1.4 kg, 95.5cm (37 1/2"). From a private family collection; previously acquired from a collection formed before 1990; thence by descent; accompanied by an academic report by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10204-167292. The sword was the predominant weapon in west and southern Scandinavia, with the spear apparently being more common in the east. The presence of a crosier on this sword suggests that the owner of the weapon was a baptised Christian Viking warrior, or maybe a French or Norman knight.