9th century AD. An iron double-edged sword of Petersen's Type 2 its tapering blade with battle nicks to the sides, long fullers with inlaid X-motif over a horizontal staff; boat-shaped lower guard and large lobed pommel, with possibly later added runes and other inlays. See Petersen, J., De Norske Vikingsverd, Oslo, 1919; Petersen, J., De Norske Vikingsverd, Saint Petersburg, 2005; Geibig, A., Beiträge zur morphologischen Entwicklung des Schwertes im Mittelalter: Eine Analyse des Fundmaterials vom ausgehenden 8. bis zum 12.Jahrhundert aus Sammlungen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Wachholtz, 1991; Peirce, I., Swords of the Viking Age, Suffolk, 2002; the main example published by Petersen (p.121, fig.72) from Rimstad, Hedrum (Peirce, 2002, p.46), found together with its shield. 1.5 kg, 1.01cm (39 3/4"). 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.10205-167293. The fullers, usually well defined, mirror the shape of the blade, reaching a short and rather blunt point near the tip of the blade itself. The type is divided in three variants according to the width of the fuller. The slimmer blades, like this specimen, were in use from the mid-8th century and could (according to the pommel typology) have been in use until the first half of 10th century AD. It is also important to remember that the so-called Viking swords were not only the product of local Danish, Norwegian or Swedish craftsmen, but very often they were weapons of Frankish/Rhenish origin, much sought-after and widely distributed.