4.4 The Viking axe

When people think of Viking age weapons, they usually think first of the battle axe, and the image that forms in their mind is a massive weapon that only a troll could wield. In reality, battle axes in the Viking age were light, fast, and well balanced, and were good for speedy, deadly attacks, as well as for a variety of nasty, clever moves.

The axe was often the choice of the poorest man in the Viking age. Even the lowliest farm had to have a wood axe for cutting and splitting wood. In desperation, a poor man could pick up the farm axe and use it in a fight.

Axes meant for battle were designed a bit differently than farm axes.

A wide variety of axe head shapes were used in the Viking age. In the early part of the Viking era, the cutting edge was generally 7 to 15cm (3-6in) long, while later in the Viking age, axes became much larger. Breið-øx (broad axes) had crescent shaped edges 22 to 45cm (9-18in) long.

S ome axe heads were elaborately decorated with inlays of precious metals, notably the Mammen axe head. The head is decorated on every flat surface with inlays of silver and gold and was found in a rich grave that dates from the year 971.

Decorated axe head

Typically, axe heads had a wedge-shaped cross section. The cross section of the head near the edge was sometimes diamond shape, which provided for greater strength for a given weight of iron.

Virtually all Viking-age axe heads are iron (or steel), although a bronze axe head was found in Iceland in a Viking age context, which raises a number of interesting questions about why bronze would have been used in this application. The head has an iron cutting bit, now heavily eroded.

One wonders whether men used sheaths on their axes in the Viking age to protect against accidental cuts. There is no archaeological evidence to suggest their use, and the little available literary evidence suggests they were not used.

Axes (as well as other weapons) were sometimes used to strike a blow that was not intended to be lethal. The öxarhamar (axe hammer), the backside of the axe head, was used for that purpose. Sometimes, the blow was made to humiliate an opponent, or in other cases, was made against an opponent so inferior that he didn't seem worthy of a proper blow.

Swedish Viking axe

A xes of Swedish design have been discovered in finds from the Viking Age (800-1100) in several locations around Sweden, indicating that the model was quite common at the time. As well as the shape of the axe head, a key feature of the axe is the curved handle. Its basic structure is reminiscent of the Franziska, a common axe design in the late Iron Age in parts of Central Europe.

Viking double axe

The light and well-balanced Swedish Viking Axe was most probably used as a hand weapon for the most part, but also as a tool.

Vikings’ preferred weapon was a massive double axe: Vikings did use axes in battle, however, they were of a very different type than suggested in the modern popular culture. It should be remembered that no double-headed axe has ever been found from early medieval Europe. Viking axes were light and used single-handed. The most common weapons found on Viking sites are spears.