Early 10th century AD. An iron Viking period sword comprising a broad double-edged blade of Peirce's Type 1 with shallow fullers and rounded tip; the guard is thick and rectangular with rounded ends, inlaid brass(?) wire decoration of vertical zigzags between borders; flat tapering tang and broad tea cosy pommel of Type W with similar wire-inlaid band to the lower edge, three radiating panels to the curved upper edge. Cf. Peirce, I., Swords of the Viking Age, Woodbridge, 2002, for discussion, and p.118-9, for an example in the Musée de l'Armée, Paris.1.5 kg, 90cm (35 1/2"). From an old Suffolk collection; formed 1990-2000; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no. 10361-162581. The blade profile with the rounded tip was already obsolete in the early 9th century. Here an existing blade has been modified by the addition of a later suite of hilt elements.