New Viking Sword Discovered in Southern Norway

a reply to: dollukka

The source link is provided above the quotes.

There is plenty of information on this, here is some about DNA testing.

The Knut you said your ancestry testing mentioned is not the same, you are referring to Canute IV (c. 1042 – 10 July 1086) at Canute's Cathedral, Odense.

www.dailyecho.co.uk...

DNA analysis of the oldest royal bones in England has begun at Winchester Cathedral.

Experts could finally be on the verge of resolving an internationally-significant mystery that has perplexed historians for centuries.


Winchester Cathedral has until now insisted that the conservation work only related to the chests in which the bones were interred.

But now work on the bones themselves is understood to have begun.

The six mortuary chests have laid in the cathedral for over 350 years, which are thought to contain the bones of seven Anglo-Saxon kings, and one Norman monarch.

Experts believe those interred there include King Canute, King of England, Denmark and Norway, his Queen Emma of Normandy, as well as their son Harthacanute.

Canute, who died in Shaftesbury in November 1035, was originally buried in Winchester’s Old Minster before work on the city’s cathedral had even begun.

Two years ago the chests were moved from their original resting place, to the Lady Chapel at the cathedral, so work could begin without removing them from consecrated ground.

Visitors to the cathedral are being told by official tour guides that work to examine the DNA of the country’s oldest kings has begun at the Lady Chapel.

When asked about what is being said on their official tours, a Cathedral spokesman said: “I didn’t realise that that (information) was already out there.”

It has previously been reported that celebrity archaeologist Professor Mark Horton - best known for his work on the time Team programme - would be working on the bones, together with a team of scientists from Bristol University.

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Two years ago the cathedral received Heritage Lottery Fund support for a £10.5m bid for repairs to the building’s fabric and development entitled Kings and Scribes – The Birth of a Nation.

A grant of £475,000 was awarded to fund the work required to make a full application.

www.surnamedna.com...

9. House of Knýtlinga

Viking forces operated in England from 793 to 1075 with frequent battles against the House of Wessex. A Viking-based dynasty called Knýtlinga was established in 1013 and is best known for King Canute (985-1035) who subdued the Anglo-Saxons; coined his own money; and also ruled over Denmark, Norway, and parts of Sweden. However, Canute’s sons all died within seven years of their father so that power in England was reclaimed by the Anglo-Saxons of Wessex.

Canute’s Y-DNA line came from Harthacnu I, King of Denmark (880-936). Although Harthacnu I’s descendants continued to serve as members of Scandanavian royal families, as far as we can tell, this Y-DNA line ‘daughtered-out‘ with no patrilineal descendants that can be tested today. Thus, aDNA is the only means currently feasible for identifying this Y-DNA lineage. There is one identified source, however, as the bones of Canute himself are said to be preserved in Winchester Cathedral.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Kapusta

did you read the Op ?

Yes. But I guess you missed the rest of my post. Would a Christian have been excluded from a viking cemetery?
Apparently not, if my guess is correct.

I read the whole thing , But I can't answer the full post because i simply ...Don't know ..

History tells us that vikings would often attack monastery's . and had no quarrel's about killing the Christian monks .

I dono the majority of vikings were Pagan....

a reply to: Kapusta
I don't know either. That's why I said it was a guess.

History tells us that vikings would often attack monastery's . and had no quarrel's about killing the Christian monks .

Yes. As well as anyone else, in particular.

I dono the majority of vikings were Pagan....

Yes. Does that mean that a wealthy Christian viking would be excluded from a cemetary? If my guess is right, the answer is no.

a reply to: Kapusta

Why does the sword have to necessarily relate to belief into the Christianity religion? To establish that you would need to know the Vikings exact frame of mind at the time.

I mean, I drive a Triton that was made in Thailand, but I have no connection to Thailand or there culture. Why should we assume the Vikings where any different?

Perhaps the Viking in question just owned a well made sword, which happened to be made in a foreign country.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Kapusta
I don't know either. That's why I said it was a guess.

History tells us that vikings would often attack monastery's . and had no quarrel's about killing the Christian monks .

Yes. As well as anyone else, in particular.

I dono the majority of vikings were Pagan....

Yes. Does that mean that a wealthy Christian viking would be excluded from a cemetary? If my guess is right, the answer is no.

How did you come to the conclusion that they would not be excluded ?

I am curious

a reply to: Kapusta

How did you come to the conclusion that they would not be excluded ?

I didn't. You seem to have come to the conclusion that they would be. That was not my line of reasoning.

As I said; if my guess that the sword belonged to a Christian viking is correct it would mean that Christians (wealthy ones, anyhow) were not excluded from viking cemeteries.

Vikings became Christian and during 1030 were mostly Christian with aspects of paganism, like most of Christianity.

www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk...

The first monks came to Denmark in the 8th and 9th centuries. Ansgar is the most well known of these. At first the missionaries had no great success, but they did contribute to spreading knowledge of Christianity. As a consequence, it was easier for later missionaries to convince the Vikings that the Christian God, The White Christ, was the strongest.

Many Vikings encountered Christianity abroad. They saw that the Christian countries were large and strong and had many riches in their stone churches.

It was often a requirement at foreign trading places that merchants was Christian. Otherwise they couldn't trade there. Consequently, some Viking merchants let themselves be baptised. Christianity was permitted at the Danish trading places, as perhaps was the building of churches which made it was easier to attract Christian merchants to Denmark from abroad.

Whether the Vikings became Christians at once, just because they had been baptised abroad, seems doubtful. Many were probably persuaded because fine white cloth was given as a gift at the baptism.

There is a story concerning a Viking representative to the Frankish court who let himself be baptised. Many people were to be baptised that day and when it came to his turn there was no more white cloth. He was, therefore, given something much poorer and coarser. He protested vociferously – he had now been baptised 20 times, and each time he had been given a fine set of white clothes! Who were these misers who baptised him now?

The Christian Harald Bluetooth

The first Danish king to convert to Christianity was Harold Bluetooth. The monk Widukind writes in his Saxon Chronicle that Harold was baptised around AD 965. In order to convert him, it was necessary for a monk called Poppo to endure an ordeal by fire. That is, Poppo had to carry a piece of red-hot iron in his hands. If he was then able to show that he had not suffered burns, this was an indication that the Christian God was the strongest.

By the end of the Viking Age, around AD 1050, most Danes had become Christians. Stone churches was constructed and there were bishops and priests in many towns. Many of the priests came from England as did many of the builders brought to Denmark to build the churches. Some of the important church towns at that time were Ribe, Odense, Roskilde and Lund.Even though Denmark was then a Christian country, many people also continued to worship the Nordic gods.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Kapusta

How did you come to the conclusion that they would not be excluded ?

I didn't. You seem to have come to the conclusion that they would be. That was not my line of reasoning.

As I said; if my guess that the sword belonged to a Christian viking is correct it would mean that Christians (wealthy ones, anyhow) were not excluded from viking cemeteries.

Ah ok , forgive me it's 1:15 am and my reading comprehension is a bit off .

I understand now.

a reply to: theabsolutetruth

ty that makes sens , judging by the contents found in the grave .

only two small fragments of silver coins. The coins were from northern Europe; one was probably from the German Viking Age, judging by how it was embossed, while the other was a penny minted under Ethelred II in England dating from the period 978-1016.

Dating of charcoal from one of the post holes shows that the grave is from around the year 1030, at the very end of the Viking Age. “And that fits in well with the discovery of the English coin.”

your dates are dead on , so the possibility of the owner of the sword being Christian is highly likely.

good work .

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Kapusta

How did you come to the conclusion that they would not be excluded ?

I didn't. You seem to have come to the conclusion that they would be. That was not my line of reasoning.

As I said; if my guess that the sword belonged to a Christian viking is correct it would mean that Christians (wealthy ones, anyhow) were not excluded from viking cemeteries.

We can also speculate that it might have been Loot ? from a Christian monastery?

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

Who said it did ?

Certainly not me ...

Am leaning toward two theory's , One that sword is loot from a raided monastery .

or Two that it belonged to a Christian viking .

The latter theory seems to have more support ,due to the coins found in the grave and the carbonating results being around 1030 .

By this time most Vikings had roots in Christianity .

a reply to: Kapusta

Canute was not a peaceful ruler, he killed his own people when canonizing, it was like to take the Christ or die. Same method christianization by sword also used King Olof II of Norway predecessor of Canute. Olaf perhaps was even more brutal and sword was used in wider area including Finland. Both got Sainthood by their actions.

I don´t think it is a loot, just very obvious for the time that was

a reply to: Kapusta

Good find OP , i just wish i could find something like that .

a reply to: Phage
Interestingly the blade appears to have blood groves to allow the blade to break suction and pulled out more easily. I didn't think that technology was around then. Thought that was only found on later swords.

originally posted by: dollukka
a reply to: Kapusta

Canute was not a peaceful ruler, he killed his own people when canonizing, it was like to take the Christ or die. Same method christianization by sword also used King Olof II of Norway predecessor of Canute. Olaf perhaps was even more brutal and sword was used in wider area including Finland. Both got Sainthood by their actions.

I don´t think it is a loot, just very obvious for the time that was

Interesting theory , according to the finders of the sword .

Did the sword belong to a Viking from King Canute’s army?

Further down the Setesdal Valley we find a runic stone, which says: “Arnstein raised this stone in memory of Bjor his son. He found death when Canute “went after” England. God is one.” (Translated from the Old Norse). The text probably refers to King Canute’s attacks on England in 1013-14. It is likely that the stone was erected just after the incursions, by a father whose son never came back home. A written source from the 12th century states that King Canute’s closest army had to meet certain requirements. Soldiers had to honour the king, had to belong to the leading families in society and also had to provide their own gilded axes and sword hilts.

The Langeid sword would no doubt have been approved by King Canute, probably also the axe. The sword was made outside Norway and an Anglo-Saxon origin is quite possible. The axe is very similar to those found in the Thames, especially in its brass coating. The grave with the sword also contained the only coin found in Langeid from the Anglo-Saxon region, which increases the possibility that the dead man had a particular connection to the events in England.

“It’s quite possible that the dead man was one of King Canute’s hand-picked men for the battles with King Ethelred of England. Seen in connection with the runic stone further down the valley, it is tempting to suggest that it is Bjor himself who was brought home and buried here. Another possibility is that his father Arnstein only got his son’s magnificent weapons back and that, precisely for that reason, he decided to erect a runic stone for his son as a substitute for a grave. When Arnstein himself died, his son’s glorious weapons were laid in his grave. The death of his son must have been very tough on an old man. Perhaps their relatives honoured both Arnstein and Bjor by letting Arnstein be buried with the weapons with such a heroic history,” said Zanette Glørstad.

The runic stone dates from the same period as the final phase of the burial ground and testifies that Christianity is about to take root in Norwegian society. It is the oldest runic stone in Norway that refers to Christianity. Could this also explain why the weapons were placed outside the coffin? In a transitional period, people may have chosen to use both pagan and Christian elements in a funeral. The Langeid grave is from one of the last pagan funerals we know of from Norway and marks both the greatness and the end of the Viking Age.

a reply to: [post=19572252]Kapusta[/post

** i once saw a very intense eerie movie Valhallah Rising. almost silent, bloody and captivating story of the emotional traumas the few key fighters were enduring on their ways to certain death. the director must have been a viking in previous life to have conveyed such depths with graphics and so few words. one of the men kept having christian visions and the ending showed the fearless hero sacrifice himself to help his friend get away - altho that failed, just like christs own method failed to prevent the Romans sacking jerusalem. evokative of deep thoughts and a movie i will watch again one day.

that plus other resrarch on the way knights templars went north to Bjornholm then vikings went south to become Franks and furthur to s.France as Visigoths then across to defeat Rome, and drag all the vast treasures back to Perpignan area before burying it around MontSegur. later discovered by priest Saunier and OttoBahn commandos of Hitler covers a vast swathe of history in search of the real christ relics and Bloodline of the Merovingians right up to the modern Rothschild bankers of the devil osiris of the illuminati.

so the vikings played a very important part in the Great Mystery on earth about the covert battles of the gods, due to culminate this very year 2015 when the 3 swarms out of the penis of Abraham will battle out their hates in the middle east "in the name of love" of course (sarc). as DepecheMode sang and John the Revelator wrote "when Damascus falls, armagheddon will occur", and looks like ISNL (of New Levant) will take Assad in a few more weeks.....

** ok Kapusta that story will keep u busy for a few years 😊 kaman...

a reply to: Kapusta

Many Vikings Swords trace back to Germany and believed to be forged by German monks like sword Ulfberht ( which this sword is not but it is similar to other Vikings swords also forged in Saxony). One similar Sword is in question of Janakkala swordman case where they reconstract the similar sword like that ( you need to be in England to watch this )
UK-Tvplay

When we are talking about swords, fast conclusion are that their real origin is where the holder is from.. but it is not so

a reply to: MasterKaman

ty Kaman , I am going to watch that movie now

a reply to: tarifa37

I dont know when fullers were introduced in swordmaking, but a fuller has nothing to do with blood or body cavity suction, rather it is a way of lightening the sword blade while giving more rigidity.

www.youtube.com...

A Viking sword with Christian symbolism. How appropriate, most Norse were forced to convert to Christianity at the point of one, by Earls and Kings who found it expedient to be Christians to assimilate into European royalty.