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The modern reproduction shown in the photo above and to the left was made by Jeff Pringle and is a copy of a sword from the late 10^th century found in the River Thames in London. Like the original, the reproduction blade has a greater taper than is typical for Viking age blades. The blade of the reproduction is 66cm (26in) long.

Both the original and copy have an intricately fabricated iron inlay on the blade, and precious metal inlay on the hilt and pommel. The copper and silver herringbone inlay design used on the reproduction was taken from an early 10^th century Norwegian sword.

The photo shows a well-preserved Viking-age sword that dates from around the year 950. It's an exquisite example of the bladesmith's art from the Viking age. The overall length is 89cm (35in), and the blade length is 77cm (30 in). The total weight is 1.04 kg (2.3 lbs).

The sword was well used during its lifetime, showing battle scars and evidence of honing along the length of the cutting edges. The balance of the weapon in the hand is extraordinary, and it becomes an extension of the swordsman's arm, eager to go where directed.

The sword bears the ULFBERHT mark as an inlay in the blade, discussed later in this article.

The tip of the blade came to a point, which, rather than being acute, was usually somewhat rounded, as is seen on the seven historical Viking-age sword blades shown to the left. The rounded point is stronger than an acute point, but no less effective for stabbing and thrusting.

Both edges of the physical blade are nominally identical. However, in describing sword technique, it is useful to distinguish one edge from the other, since they are used in different ways.

Double edged swords have what is known as a front edge and a back edge (right). The front edge is the "front" of the blade, the edge in line with the knuckles, and it is sometimes referred to as long edge or true edge in later combat treatises. The back edge is the "back" of the blade, and it is sometimes called short edge or false edge.

The two edges are physically identical; which edge of the blade is long and which is short depends only on which way in the hand the sword is being held. But, the two edges are used differently. The front edge is used for powerful attacks, while the back edge permits angled attacks with greater reach.

The crossguard of the middle hilt has been pulled up
to reveal the details of the shoulder,
where the blade narrows to form the tang.

The photo above shows two historical Viking swords. The top sword is 103 cm long overall (40.5 in) and weighs 1.59 kg (3.5 lbs). The bottom sword is 89 cm long overall and weighs 1.04 kg (2.3 lbs). A U.S. quarter between the blades helps show the scale. Both blades appear to have an ULFBERHT inlay (described later in this article), suggesting that they're both fine blades. (The inlay has been brought out and is clearly visible in the bottom sword, and is vague in the top sword, but more clear in X-ray images.)

The sketches to the right show some of the variations in size and shape that existed in Viking-era blades and hilts.

The photo to the left shows five Viking era sword hilts, illustrating the variations in guards and pommels that existed during the Viking age. The hilts are generally classified using a system devised by Jan Petersen and published in 1919. Since a given style was in use only during a given period, the hilt style can be used to help date a sword.

For example, the Petersen Type B hilt shown to the left indicates that the sword was probably made between the middle of the 8^th century and the early part of the 9^th century.

Not only did the size and shape of the hilt components vary in Viking-age swords, but also the construction details. Sword hilts typically had a pommel and an upper guard, although in some instances, the two were formed as a single piece.

In some cases, the pommel attached to the tang, and the upper guard fastened to the pommel, as seen in the left-most sword in the photo to the left. The peened tang end is clearly visible in the photo. In the photo to the right, the upper cross of the sword has been pulled away, showing more of the construction details.

In other cases, the upper guard was attached to the tang, and the pommel fastened to the upper guard, as seen on the right-most sword in the photo to the left. In the centuries that this sword lay in the ground, the pommel separated from the upper guard and was lost. These sorts of variations can be used to help date a sword.

Hilt components were decorated using several techniques, including scribing and wire inlays. Some historical sword hilts are shown to the left, and a modern reproduction is shown to the right, inlaid with silver and copper.

The inlay was created by cutting myriad tiny channels into the iron of the pommel, and then by fitting and hammering myriad tiny pieces of wire into the channels. The work is extremely tedious and time-consuming, but it results in a striking appearance, which can also be seen in the historical sword upon which this work was based.

The process is described in more detail in the article on Viking-age hilt inlays.

Stories say that sometimes fighters used their swords two-handed. But the grips of surviving Viking age swords are not long enough to be held in two hands. The grip of a modern replica sword is shown to the left, and of a historical 10th century Viking sword to the right. The grips have plenty of space for one hand, even for a beefy Viking fist, but not for two. It's not clear how a sword with a grip this short could be effectively wielded with two hands.

One possibility is to use the second hand to cup the wrist of the weapon hand. It seems that this kind of grip would allow substantially more power to be delivered using a one-handed weapon like a Viking sword, while allowing the second hand to be released quickly to do more work as soon as the blade passes the target.

A speculative reconstruction of this two-handed grip is shown in this combat demo video, part of a longer fight. The photo and video illustrate our best guess for using a two-handed grip, but other approaches are also workable. Regardless of the details, using a second hand to pull the sword through the cut results in substantially more powerful attacks.

The grips were made with a variety of materials, ranging from simple wooden grips wrapped with leather, to elaborately decorated grips wound with wire made from precious metals, or covered with embossed plates of precious metals. The historical sword shown to the left has a modern grip which uses a wrap made from highly speculative modern materials. Laxdæla saga (ch.29) says that the grip of Geirmundr's sword was made from walrus ivory. Bone or ivory would have afforded a good grip even when wet from sweat or blood.

Since grips generally were made from organic materials, few historical sword retain any of their original grip; the organic materials have long since rotted away (right).

In the past, it was believed that at least part of the difficulty was that the iron making process was not understood or well-controlled during the Viking age. However, as this text is being written, experimental archaeologists are reporting that they obtain consistent, repeatable results with their experimental smelting operations using period techniques and tools (right). Perhaps Viking age smiths had much greater control over their smelting process than was previously thought.

photo: Jeff Pringle

The smith started with a stack of iron bars with varying properties. He used soft, low-carbon iron for flexibility and hard, high-carbon iron for strength and ability to hold an edge.

The photos show some of steps of pattern welding in a modern forge, in which modern tools and furnaces were used. The stack with seven layers of iron is shown to the right before being put in the furnace. On the left, the heated stack was about to be hammered together to weld it.

The hot, welded stack is shown to the right. After it cooled, it was cut to examine the cross section (left). All seven layers of iron are visible. There are no visible voids or defects in the internal welds of the layers.

The piece was repeatedly worked to draw out the layered bar into a longer, thinner bar (left).

Subsequently, the bar was twisted, then shaped to a square cross-section. Multiple twisted bars were welded together and shaped into the finished blade (right).

The partially worked billet on the left was used to make the pattern welded knife blade shown on the right.

The pattern welding process was independently invented by many other cultures in the world. The photo to the right shows a detail from an Asian pattern welded blade.

Forensic evidence suggests that blade edges received substantial damage during a fight. When a worn or damaged blade severs a bone, nicks and burrs in the edge of the blade create parallel striations in the severed ends of the bones. These striations remain visible in the skeletal remains today (left), providing clues about the condition of the sword blade that made the cut back in the Viking era.

Even modern replica blades (right) made from modern steel suffer edge damage in heavy fighting.

It can be hard to assess the damage to Viking age blades from the archaeological records. In their excavated state, many blades show substantial erosion, especially along the thin edges and points.

During the blade's working life, edge damage had to have been repaired, or else the blade was at risk of catastrophic failure. A nick was a site from which damage could propagate across the blade resulting in the kind of failure seen in this historical blade (right). Clear signs of brittle fracture are visible. It could not have been a good situation for the fighter holding the sword when it happened.

If nicks and other edge damage were repaired by grinding away a portion of the blade, we might see historical blades whose edges are no longer straight, and indeed, the archaeological record contains blades with these features. An sketch showing this feature in exaggerated form is shown to the left.

Archaeological evidence shows that weapons were sometimes repaired after they suffered catastrophic failure. Several surviving swords have blades that were broken in two and then welded back together and returned to use.

The stories also give examples of broken weapons that were repurposed and forged into other weapons. In chapter 11 of Gísla saga, Þorgrímr and Þorkell took the broken pieces of the sword Grásiða and made them into a spearhead that measured one handspan in length. Þorgrím's forge was located in the Haukadalur valley, shown to the left as it appears today. Later, the spear was used to kill first Vésteinn Vésteinsson and then later, Þorgrímr Þorsteinsson.

The spear turned up again, over 200 years later. Sturla Þórðarson wrote in Íslendinga saga (chapter 39) that the same spear Grásiða was used to kill Björn Þorvaldsson at Breiðabólstaður.

The broken sword shown to the right was repurposed into a beater, used to force the weft threads tightly together when weaving fabric. The broken pattern welded blade was fitted with a wooden hilt, having a wooden crossguard and pommel.

The stories also describe instances in which a sword blade bent during a fight. In chapter 49 of Laxdæla saga, Kjartan was ambushed as he rode up the valley past the small hill in the foreground of the photo. He was not carrying his usual sword, a gift from the king, but rather a lesser sword. Several times during the battle, Kjartan had to straighten his bent blade by standing on it.

In addition to creating a more suitable blade for fighting, the pattern welding process creates a work of art; beautiful, delicate patterns are created in the surface of the blade as the different types of iron came to the surface. The pattern in the surface of a reproduction blade is shown to the right.

Bladesmiths often combined several twisted bundles together in artistic arrangements. For example, bundles twisted in one direction were placed next to bundles twisted in the opposite direction, creating more elaborate patterns. One sometimes wonders how much of the twisting was done for decorative purposes and how much to control the material's properties.

The photo to the left shows a modern reproduction of a pattern welded Viking age sax (short sword). A detail of the blade is shown to the right. The difference in the patterns on two adjacent bundles is very obvious, and reflects the differing requirements of the strong backbone of the blade compared to the more flexible cutting edge.

This fine pattern welding, in both the original and in the reproduction blade, shows an extremely high level of craftsmanship and control over the pattern welding process.

As the Viking age progressed, swords changed. To some degree, this change was driven by the smith's ability to make larger quantities of better material that suited the requirements for making a blade. Instead of making the blade from several lumps of stuff, it became possible to make blades with a single lump of stuff, a process sometimes called monosteel fabrication.

Yet, even though pattern welding was no longer needed, the process continued to be used for sword blades until near the end of the Viking age. Some Viking warriors seemed to prefer them, perhaps for their beauty, or their prestige.

The reproduction blade shown to the right shows the appearance of a blade made out of monosteel, a single type of steel. The blade has been polished with stones and abrasives using techniques and materials known to have been used during the Viking age. Since very few sword blades survive from the Viking age with even a trace of their original finish, we can only speculate on the appearance of the surface of Viking sword blades when they were new. This reproduction blade represents a very good guess.

Other decorative methods were used on the blade. Blades were sometimes inlaid with metals such as iron, silver, or gold. In some cases, the inlays were simply decorative, but in other cases, they indicated the maker's name. An 11^th century blade with an inlay is shown to the left.

Iron inlays were created by chiseling grooves into the blade to form the letters. Pattern welded iron was drawn into wire, cut to fit, and hammered into place in the grooves. Finally, the blade was heated to forge weld the wire into place.

The photo to the left shows the iron inlay in a modern reproduction blade, which has been polished to the degree that would have been typical in the Viking age. The iron inlay is very subtle in normal lighting.

The photo to the right shows another modern reproduction blade which has been slightly etched to bring out the appearance of the inlay. The pattern welding in the wire inlay is clearly visible.

Sword and photo by J. Pringle,
used with permission.

Most blade inlays are in monosteel blades; few have been found in pattern welded blades. An example of a historical pattern welded blade having an iron inlay is shown to the right.

All throughout the Viking period, there was changes to the length, proportions, tip, and hilt design, categorized by Jan Petersen in his book De Norske Vikingesverd published in 1919. Petersen's classifications are still widely used today. A classic example of a Petersen type K dating from the 9th century is shown to the left.

Surviving Viking-age swords run the gamut from exquisite to rubbish. They vary in materials, proportions, length, balance, and weight, as well as varying in the skill of the smith who fabricated the blade. Some historical Viking-age sword jump into the swordsman's hand and become an extension of the arm, eager to do the swordsman's bidding. Other swords seem to want to resist the swordsman's will in every possible way.

When one examines and wields an inferior sword of this kind, one has to ask: was this the smith's intent? Was there a warrior who wanted a weapon so unresponsive? Is there some aspect of this blade that was prized by a Viking-age fighter that we do not recognize or appreciate in modern times?

Some blades have acquired a near mythic status in modern times, notably blades inlaid with the Ulfberht mark. These blades have been much discussed in popular media, often with claims that can't be supported by the evidence.

Another well-known inlay marking is Ingelrii. The marks are often augmented with crosses on either end of the inlay and with inlaid geometrical patterns on the reverse side of the blade. The sketch (left) shows the Ulfberht inlay, but the artist has made the inlay much more visible than is typical to the naked eye.

The photographs show the inlays in the reverse side (left) and front side (right) of an Ulfberht blade from the 10th century.

Because many of these blades are found, widely distributed throughout the Viking lands, it is believed that the Ulfberht and Ingelrii swords were prized in the Viking age and thought to be superior to other swords. It's possible that the original Ulfberht invented a new way to make a blade, using a uniform steel having a higher carbon content than the typical monosteel blades of the period. It's further possible that he chose to identify his blades with the inlay, despite the fact that the inlaid letters are extremely hard to distinguish in normal light, as is seen in the modern reproduction blade seen above and again to the left.

Only when the blade is etched does the inlay stand out in sharp relief, as seen in the historical Ulfberht blade seen above and again to the right, which was etched in modern times to bring out the inlay.

It's not clear how men maintained their weapons. The stories are filled with examples where, during hard use, a weapon became so dull that it no longer cut. Sharpening weapons must have been a routine chore, as it was with agricultural implements.

Men must have routinely sharpened their weapons with a whetstone. The whetstone shown to the right was found in a Viking-age context. The wear patterns indicate it was primarily used for sharpening a long-bladed weapon (such as a sword) rather than shorter weapons or agricultural tools.

Þorbjörn was a hired hand at the farm of Eyvindará (shown as it appears today) who was skilled at sharpening and repairing weapons, as is told in chapter 9 of Droplaugarsona saga. Helgi asked Þorbjörn to work on his sword while he traveled to the fjord. Þorbjörn gave Helgi another sword to use while his was being serviced. That Þorbjörn had a spare sword to loan suggests that his services were extensive.

Swords were highly prized heirlooms during the Viking era and were used for generations. The bas-relief shown to the right illustrates an episode from chapter 17 of Grettis saga. When a young man, Grettir prepared to leave Iceland to travel to Norway. His father had a low opinion of Grettir and refused to give him a sword, saying, "I don't know what useful thing you would do with weapons." His mother, who was more supportive, gave Grettir the sword given to her great-grandfather by King Haraldr of Norway.

Archaeological evidence also supports this kind of long and continued use of sword blades. The photo to the left shows an early 11^th century crossguard fitted to a blade made during the migration era, centuries before the Viking age. This evidence suggests that sword blades several centuries old continued to be maintained and used.

A nearly identical crossguard was found at Hedeby, rough-worked with flashing from the casting process still visible.

A sword's scabbard provided protection for the blade when not in use. Scabbards were usually made as a sandwich. The innermost lining was fleece or fabric, since the natural oils in the wool helped keep the blade from rusting. Wood surrounding the fleece provided the physical strength to protect the blade, and leather covered the entire structure.

Scabbards, being organic, rot away, but they leave their traces on the surviving blades in ways that inform us about the scabbard construction. These close-up photos of an early 9^th century Viking sword blade show the remnants of the scabbard on the blade.

The photo to the left shows the full width of the blade immediately adjacent to the crossguard. The wood grain of the scabbards wooden core is clearly visible. To the right is an extreme close up of the edge of the same blade, near the point. The traces of the fibers of the fleece that formed the innermost layer of the scabbard are visible on the blade.

The Jelling-style chape shown to the left is made of bronze and dates from the 10^th century. A modern replica chape is shown to the right, mounted on the point of a scabbard.

A sword without a scabbard was considered "troublesome" (vandræða), as in difficult to manage. In chapter 6 of Hallfreðar saga, King Ólafr gave Hallfreðr a sword without a scabbard, a troublesome gift for a troublesome poet. The king said that Hallfreðr must keep it for three days and three nights without harm coming to anyone.

Little is known about details of the scabbard, belts, baldrics, and suspension hardware, since little has survived. The organic materials rot away, leaving only the metallic chapes and belt fittings.

It is thought that, early in the period, scabbards were usually slung from a baldric, a belt over the shoulder, as shown to the right. Later, swords hung directly from the waist belt.

In the sagas, there are few examples of swords being slung from the shoulder. One occurs in chapter 19 of Svarfdæla saga. Sigríður gave Karl the sword Atlanaut. He drew the sword and slung the scabbard over his shoulder. Wasting no time, he ran outside and cut Grís in two with the sword.

Some swords had a strap on the hilt which could be pulled over the hand, allowing the drawn sword to hang while another weapon was being used.

In chapter 58 of Egils saga, Egill drew his sword and pulled the loop over his hand in preparation for a fight with Berg-Önundur. During the fight, when Egil's kesja (an unknown spear-like pole weapon) stuck fast in Berg-Önund's shield, Egil grabbed his sword and was able to run Berg-Önundur through before his opponent could even draw his sword.

A highly speculative interpretation is shown to the left. We don't know the nature of the loop (hönk) on the hilt of Egil's sword. Surprisingly, though, when hung from the pommel, the sword is not much in the way. After the pole weapon is dropped or shifted to the other hand, a simple flick of the wrist brings the sword up neatly into the hand. A speculative interpretation of this move is illustrated in this combat demonstration video, part of a longer fight.

The stories talk about the use of friðbönd (peace straps) to prevent the sword from being drawn in anger in places where its use was prohibited. An interpretation of friðbönd is shown on the reproduction scabbard to the left. The sagas suggest that in some cases, the friðbönd had to be untied to allow the sword to be drawn. The reproduction friðbönd need only be slipped to the side (right) to release the sword.

An example of the use of friðbönd occurs in chapter 28 of Gísla saga, at the spring assembly (várþing) which took place at Þorskafjarðarþing. Booth ruins at the site remain visible today (right).

The two young sons of Vésteinn arrived at the þing unrecognized. Approaching Þorkell, they complimented him and asked to see his fine sword. Þorkell agreed and handed over the sword in its scabbard. The boy undid the peace straps and drew the sword. Þorkell said, "I didn't give you permission to draw the sword." The boy responded, "I didn't ask," and lopped off Þorkel's head, avenging the death of his father by Þorkell.

In several instances in the sagas, men tried to draw their swords in haste but found them bound by the friðbönd. In chapter 3 of Króka-Refs saga, Refur asked his overbearing neighbor Þorbjörn for compensation. Þorbjörn responded with insults and a demeaning compensation. Refur thrust out with his spear, but Þorbjörn was unable to draw his hidden sword because the friðbönd were fastened. Refur ran him through with the spear. Invariably in the sagas, this situtation ends up going badly for the unprepared fighter, but one might imagine that even a sword bound in its scabbard could be used for pommel strikes or other moves. A speculative interpretation of this move is illustrated in this combat demonstration video, part of a longer fight.

The blades typically are broad, with parallel edges nearly the entire length. One side tapers to form the point. The blades tend to be heavy and unwieldy, and the overall sense is one of crudeness.

The single-edged blade shown to the left was found in the Telemark region of Norway.

As described in more detail in the axe article, desperate men sometimes threw their weapons at their opponents, including their swords. In chapter 39 of Vatnsdæla saga, Þórir was sent to assassinate Guðbrandur, but his axe stuck fast in the door frame on the first blow. Þórir ran out of the house, across the yard and jumped a river with Guðbrandur in pursuit. Guðbrandur threw his sword across the river at Þórir, and by the time Guðbrandur reached the other side, Þórir lay dead.

Sometimes during a fight, men discarded their weapons to grapple, using empty-hand moves against their opponents. These moves included breaking the back or the neck (right), or throwing a man down to finish the fight using a secondary weapon, or even by biting out his throat if no other weapon was readily at hand. However, punches and other blows do not seem to have been used.

Indeed, the wrestling move of breaking a person's back still retains its currency in modern Icelandic. "Að brjóta á bak aftur" literally means to break the back, but the phrase is used to indicate that someone or something has been completely surpressed.

From the stories, we know that Norsemen enjoyed wrestling and practiced it as a sport (discussed in more detail in the article on Viking-age games and sports). At the Hegranessþing spring assembly (left, as the site appears today), young men thought it would be good to arrange wrestling matches, as told in chapter 72 of Grettis saga. Grettir was unrecognized, and he was urged to participate in the contests.

Did Vikings also practice wrestling in combat? The answer clearly is yes. Again and again in the sagas, men drop their weapons and run in to grapple. The Viking age swords were short enough that, when in distance, it was only a short step to be within grappling range. When Atli was fighting Þorgrímur (as is told in chapter 21 of Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings), Atli saw he was making no progress in the fight. He threw away his sword and slipped under Þorgrímur's guard and threw him to the ground.

A speculative reconstruction of running in under a weapon to grapple is shown in this Viking combat demonstration video, as part of a longer fight.

It seems likely that sport wrestling (right) was the way that Viking-age warriors kept in fighting trim. Many of the same moves used in sport wrestling can be used in earnest wrestling and in other forms of fighting.

The stories say that fighters sometimes swapped weapons from one hand to another. In chapter 10 of Droplaugarsona saga, it is said that Helgi showed his skill in arms in a fight against Hjarrandi. Helgi threw up his sword and shield and caught them in the opposite hands, which allowed him to strike a blow against Hjarrandi's thigh.

The move would seem to be very risky, yet Helgi was considered to be one of the three best fighters in Iceland (Eyrbyggja saga, ch.12). Perhaps only someone as skilled as Helgi could pull this move off successfully in the chaos of battle.

A short video demonstration of the sword and shield swap is available here in QuickTime or Windows Media format.

The sagas say that occasionally the pommel was used to strike a blow. Typically, the blows were not meant to be lethal, but rather were intended to humiliate. In chapter 82 of Grettis saga, Þorbjörn woke up Glaumr by hitting him on the ear with his pommel. In chapter 10 of Hænsna-Þóris saga, Þorkell told a farm hand to do his bidding, or else he'd plant his sword pommel in the man's nose.

It's not clear how boys trained to learn the use of weapons. A few wooden swords and fragments have been found, some of which represent faithful copies of real weapons, but we don't know if they were toys or serious practice weapons.

Nor is it clear at what age boys started training. It has been suggested that as soon as boys were able to stand and grasp objects, wooden toy swords were put in their hands. Perhaps the first steps in teaching the use of weapons began with boys as young as three years old.

Archaeological evidence suggests that even young boys had exposure to and skill with weapons.

A number of child-size iron weapons have been found in children's graves. The sword, spearhead, and axehead shown to the left were found in a child's grave in Norway, along with a similarly sized shield boss. The sword, probably cut down from a full-sized sword, is only 39cm long (15in). The hilt suggests a date in the first half of the 10^th century. A modern reproduction of the child's axe is shown to the right. Although small, it's still a formidable weapon.

a reproduction of the child's axe created by Eric McHugh

Other saga evidence suggests that young boys did use weapons to kill, notably chapter 40 of Egils saga Skallagrímssonar. Young Egill used an axe to kill a player on an opposing team in a ball game in retaliation for some rough treatment in the game played at Hvítarvellir (right).

Egill was six years old. The deed is quite believable if young Egill used an axe similar to the one shown just above.

In chapter 44 of Eyrbyggja saga, the story of the fight in the hayfield at Kársstaðir is told (left, as the farm appears today). After Snorri goði broke up the fight, he allowed Steinþórr and his men to ride away without being followed. Subsequently, it was discovered that Snorri's son Þóroddr had been seriously wounded by Steinþórr. The boy was twelve years old. Snorri immediately gathered his men to chase after Steinþórr in order to repay him for his shameful act.

Other berserks could enter a trance-like rage, exhibiting extraordinary strength. Once in this frenzied state, they were not like human beings, but more like animals. They howled like wild animals, and they bit the edge of their shields. The image of a berserk biting his shield has been preserved in a 12^th century chess piece (right).

These beserks had no fear of fire or iron. Swords would not bite them, and they could walk through fire without being burned. A berserk could blunt his opponent's weapon by looking at it. They were shape-changers, taking on characteristics of wild animals. When they charged, they were unstoppable. But when the frenzy wore off, they were exhausted and powerless and had to lie down and rest.

Chapter 6 of Ynglinga saga says that these skills were first taught to men by Óðinn, the highest of the gods.

Some modern scholars have suggested that berserks used medicinal herbs (such as mushrooms) or other drugs to enter their trance state. To my knowledge, there is little in the sagas, or in other sources, to suggest that foreign materials were needed to bring on this frenzied state.

The etymology of the word berserkr is greatly debated. Some have suggested the word derives from "bare shirted", since berserks went into battle without mail, and thus bare of any armor. Others suggest an older German derivation meaning "bear shirt", since these men wore the skins of animals, which could have included bear skins. Both suggestions would seem to have problems.

In the sagas, berserks sometimes appear as stock characters. They are suitable villains for the saga hero to vanquish. Chapter 25 of Eyrbyggja saga tells the story of Halli and Leiknir, two berserks who were given to Styr. At first, Styr was able to put them to good use against his enemies, but later, the berserks became troublesome. In chapter 28, Halli asked for the hand of Styr's daughter in marriage, which would have been a disgrace for Styr's family. Styr went to Snorri goði for advice, who devised a plan.

Styr told the berserks that they must prove themselves worthy of the marriage by building a road through an impassible lava field. When they finished the arduous task, Styr invited the berserks to take a hot bath and to rest. Styr locked them in the bath-house, and then made the house unbearably hot. As the berserks broke down the door and burst out, Styr killed them with a spear. He buried them in a deep hole alongside the path through the lava. The grave mound is still visible along the path (left), and when it was investigated, the mound was found to contain the bones of two very large men.

Not everyone in the sagas is depicted as being skilled with arms. In chapter 24 of Finnboga saga ramma, Uxi struck at Finnbogi three times with a two-handed axe, and three times failed to connect.

In chapter 24 of Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa, Þórðr sent the brothers Beinir and Högni armed with axes to kill Björn at his home at Hólmur, on the shore of Hítarvatn (right). When they made their attack, Björn used no weapons on the brothers, but he was able to grapple with them and bind their hands behind their backs. Björn then stuck their axes under their bonds in back and sent the brothers back to Þórðr, thoroughly humiliated.