10th-early 11th century AD. An iron double-edged sword, variant of Petersen Type L, with tapering blade showing signs of employment on the battlefield to both edges; lower and upper guard with traces of silver inlay with chequered pattern, massive three lobed pommel with banding. See Petersen, J., De Norske Vikingsverd, Oslo, 1919; Bjorn A., Viking Antiquities in England, with a supplement of Viking antiquities on the Continent of Western Europe, Oslo, 1940; Wilson D. M., ‘Some neglected Late Anglo-Saxon swords’, in Medieval Archaeology, 1965, 9 (1), pp.32-54; Oakeshott, R.E., Records of the Medieval Sword, London,1991; Peirce, I., Swords of the Viking Age, Suffolk, 2002; the sword finds good parallels in various similar Viking age specimens; two very similar swords have been published by Peirce (2002, pp.77-81), both preserved at the British Museum; one of these is the very famous Witham sword (Bjorn, 1940, part 4, p.71; Oakeshott, 1991, p.26) although the specimen more akin is the BM inv.1856,7-1 1404; also the Westminster sword belongs to this classification (Wilson,1965, pp.42ff, pl.VII b"). 1 kg, 90.5cm (35 1/2"). Property of a European gentleman living in London; from his grandfather's collection by descent in 1989; formerly in the family collection since at least the 1970s; accompanied by an archaeological report by military specialist Dr. Raffaele D’Amato; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10201-166998. The swords classified as Petersen Type L, have been considered by many scholars as an English Type L. They have been found in Norway in greater quantities than in England or the British Isles, and it is enough to remember that Petersen mentions not less than fourteen of them in his sword register, spread over a wide area of find places, chronologically dated between mid 9th to mid 10th century AD. It is much more correct to say that this typology of swords, probably of Frankish production, were popular in England as well as in the Viking countries, and used widely by both cultures.