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Thought you guys might like this.
The mystery of the magical 'Ulfberht' Viking sword - Researchers close in on the German 'supermonks' believed to have forged the superstrong weapons
It was the sword of choice for the discerning Viking - superstrong, and almost unbeatable in battle. Yet mystery surrounds a small number of Viking swords researchers have uncovered. They are all inscribed with a single word - 'Ulfberht', which experts believe may reveal their maker.
According to Ancient Origins, researchers are now closing in on the mysterious maker. 'New research brings us closer to the source of the swords, to the kiln in which these legendary weapons were forged,' it claims. About 170 Ulfberhts have been found, dating from 800 to 1,000 A.D.
They are made of metal so pure it baffled archaeologists, who thought the technology to forge such metal was not invented for another 800 or more years, during the Industrial Revolution.
Alan Williams of the Wallace Collection in London has studied the blades, and believes the maker is unique. 'It's much like putting the 'Apple' name on a computer,' he said. They were extremely rare and valuable, and would have been prized possessions of the most elite Vikings.
Robert Lehmann, a chemist at the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Hannover, studied an Ulfberht sword found in 2012 on a pile of gravel excavated from the Weser River, which flows through Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...close-supermonks-believed-forged-weapons.html
[URL=http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/bushido185/media/24209DB000000578-0-image-a-4_1418847991750_zpsfaa37e4e.jpg.html]
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The mystery of the magical 'Ulfberht' Viking sword - Researchers close in on the German 'supermonks' believed to have forged the superstrong weapons
It was the sword of choice for the discerning Viking - superstrong, and almost unbeatable in battle. Yet mystery surrounds a small number of Viking swords researchers have uncovered. They are all inscribed with a single word - 'Ulfberht', which experts believe may reveal their maker.
According to Ancient Origins, researchers are now closing in on the mysterious maker. 'New research brings us closer to the source of the swords, to the kiln in which these legendary weapons were forged,' it claims. About 170 Ulfberhts have been found, dating from 800 to 1,000 A.D.
They are made of metal so pure it baffled archaeologists, who thought the technology to forge such metal was not invented for another 800 or more years, during the Industrial Revolution.
Alan Williams of the Wallace Collection in London has studied the blades, and believes the maker is unique. 'It's much like putting the 'Apple' name on a computer,' he said. They were extremely rare and valuable, and would have been prized possessions of the most elite Vikings.
Robert Lehmann, a chemist at the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Hannover, studied an Ulfberht sword found in 2012 on a pile of gravel excavated from the Weser River, which flows through Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...close-supermonks-believed-forged-weapons.html
[URL=http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/bushido185/media/24209DB000000578-0-image-a-4_1418847991750_zpsfaa37e4e.jpg.html]
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