Miniature Swords in the Viking Age

Abstract

Viking Age Scandinavians manufactured an impressive array of miniature objects that could be worn on the body as pendants, clothing appliques or pins. Many of these items resembled full-sized weapons commonly used by warriors in Northern Europe and beyond. This article sets out to investigate the complete corpus of so-called miniature swords from the ninth and tenth centuries typically made of copper alloy and silver. The majority of miniature swords have been discovered in the course of amateur metal detecting, but some examples come from more ‘secure’ contexts, such as graves and settlement sites, which allow linking them with particular people, places and social practices. The article discusses the history of research on miniature swords, situates them in the context of other small-sized militaria (axes, spearheads and shields) and examines their different forms, function and symbolic content.