Details

LOT 1501

Viking Age Iron Socketted Bearded Axehead

CIRCA 10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.

6 1/4 in. (552 grams, 16 cm).

Finely curved, broad blade with square chin to the lower edge, rounded socket with lateral triangular extensions; professionally cleaned, conserved, and restored. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From the family collection of a South East London collector; formerly acquired in the late 1950s.

Literature

Cf. Arbman, H., Birka I: Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, pl.14 (3); Sedov, B.B., Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhi Srednevekovija, Moscow, 1987, pl.CXXIV, item 4.

Footnotes

This type of bearded axe seems to correspond to the E2 category of the Viking axe classification, but also has affinity with the Slavic axes of type Y. Usually, these bearded axeheads (skeggöks) had a longer edge, designed to split tree trunks into planks and beams. Some of the bearded axes were known as halfÞynna öx; the neck on such a 'half thin axe' was thinly forged, to make it lighter.