Swords of the Viking Age
Ian Peirce, Introduction by Ewart Oakeshott
Ein Überblick über die Entwicklung des „Wikinger-Schwerts“ vom 8.
bis 11 Jahrhundert. Neben einer Typologie zu Gefäß- und
Klingenformen sowie -inschriften folgen detailierte Darstellungen
anhand von 60 exemplarischen Schwertern.
This new work fills a vacuum in English language studies of the
swords made and used in northern Europe during the Viking Age, from
the mid-eighth through to the mid-eleventh century. Given the
mission of seeking out the best representative examples of the
broad diversity of sword types surviving from this time, Ian
Peirce, lecturer and museum consultant, travelled to museums of
northern Europe and, from the hundreds of swords he handled,
selected some sixty examples. While a few of these swords will be
well known from inclusion in previous publications but are too
important to omit, the majority are rarely seen or newly shown
here. Where possible, a full-length photograph and photographs of
details have been included for each example, with the illustrations
and descriptions of most of the swords covering two facing pages.
Eight pages of colour illustrations are included, three of which
are reproductions from Lorange's unsurpassed lithographs of 1889. A
brief illustrated overview of blade types and construction,
pattern-welding, inscriptions and handle forms and their
classification under Jan Petersen's classification is included as
an introduction to the catalogue of examples which forms the bulk
of this work. IAN PEIRCE, engineer, armourer and weaponsmith,
staged major exhibitions of armour and weapons in England, France
and Ireland, and wrote and lectured extensively on arms and armour,
on the Norman Conquest and on the Vikings. EWART OAKESHOTT was a
world-renowned expert in sword studies, and the deviser of a
comprehensive typology of medieval swords which has been
instrumental in the development of sword scholarship. His books
include Records of the Medieval Sword, The Sword in the Age of
Chivalry and European Weapons and Armour.
Format 22 x 28 cm; 168 Seiten, Paperback, 12 farbige und 136 s/w
Abbildungen, 21 Illustrationen, englischer Text, Best.-Nr.
Bb012
