One Thousand Year Old Viking Sword Comes Home to Yorkshire - 18 December 2007
Issued By: York Museums Trust
Issue Date: 18 December 2007
News Release
One of the finest Viking swords ever discovered is coming home to Yorkshire after being kept behind closed doors for more than 50 years.
The Cawood Sword, found in the River Ouse near the village Cawood in North Yorkshire, is nearly 1,000 years old. It is only the fifth sword of its type ever to be found and by far the best preserved.
It remains nearly fully intact with little rust and has many of its original features clearly visible, including a mysterious inscription that has never been solved.
After 50 years in private hands the sword has now been acquired by the Yorkshire Museum where it will go on show for the first time ever in its home county this week.
Andrew Morrison, curator of archaeology at the museum, said: “This is an outstanding sword, one of the best preserved Viking swords ever found. It’s in amazing condition and it is hard to believe it is nearly 1,000 years old. The combination of its age, condition and the mysterious inscription make it a really important acquisition for the museum, especially as it was originally found close by.
“We are thrilled that it is coming back to Yorkshire where it belongs.”
The sword was found in the late 19th Century in the river but the exact date and circumstances of its find remain a mystery.
Andrew said: “We are really keen to get the people of Cawood involved in finding out more about this sword. The Cawood Castle Garth Group has already been extremely helpful and we look forward to working with them to try and find out as much as we can about it.”
Because the sword has been in the hands of private collectors for more than 50 years and so Andrew is also keen to apply modern science, such as X-rays, to it to see that will reveal anything new.
The sword will be on display for two weeks from Wednesday 19th December until 7th January before it is removed for conservation and research reasons. However it will be going back on show in time for the Jorvik Viking Festival in February 2008.
The Sword
The Cawood Sword can be dated to 1100 by comparing it to a remarkably similar sword found in Norway, probably made by the same craftsman. The swords are almost identical except the one in Norway has an inscription on its hilt in Runes. By studying this Viking language both blades can be dated to this time.
This date is at the end of the Viking period and beginning of the Medieval period, with the sword reflecting this. The pommel, the top of the handle, is typically Viking while the guard shows more of a medieval style.
The sword was made with a great deal of care and skill. The blade itself is made using the hardest steal available at the time, which meant the carefully designed inscription could have only been created by the most skilled of craftsmen.
The inscription runs down the blade and is made up of a number of capital letters which do not form known words. On one side they are in Roman script and on the other they are in Lombardic script. It is believed that these letters stood for words which in turn represented a phrase or saying. By looking at similar inscriptions it is thought that the phrase is religious, with the sword’s owner believing the words gave him extra strength in battle.
It is unclear how the sword ended up in the River Ouse but it was found close to Cawood Castle which was the summer palace for the Archbishop of York who may have also owned the sword at some point. The site was at an earlier time a Viking Lord’s manor house.
Little is known about the sword’s history until it was found in the river in the late 19th Century. From there it was taken to the Royal Armouries, then in the Tower of London, and displayed until around 50 years ago. It was then sold to a private collector and may have changed hands numerous times until it was given to the Government earlier this year. The Yorkshire Museum was one of several museums nationally who wished to acquire the sword.
ENDS
Photo Call
Time: 10am
Date: Tuesday December 18
Venue: Yorkshire Museum
Photographers are invited to come and see Andrew with the sword stood on the model Viking boat.
For further information, or to arrange interviews or photographs, contact Lee Clark, Media Co-ordinator, York Museums Trust, telephone 01904 687673 or email lee.clark@ymt.org.uk