– I had not called an archaeologist. I had it in my room. 7-year-old Jenny sits at a table at Innlandet county council with her brother Even (10) and father Hjalmar Rogne. She looks with wide eyes at the rusted sword that is well preserved on the paper. – It’s cool that it’s from the Middle Ages, then it’s cool that my dad has found a sword. I don’t think it has been used for anything other than fighting, but maybe it has been used for decoration, she says. Father Hjalmar Rogne has indeed found the sword. In connection with new cultivation on the farm at Biristrand, a bulldozer was driven last autumn to remove tufts and vegetation. But when Rogne went over the area recently, something extraordinary happened. – I simply kicked at it, and immediately saw that it was a sword, says the farmer. He saw immediately that it was very old. Archaeologist: – Rare The sword was relatively well preserved. The jaw was in good condition. It indicates that it has been lying a good distance down in the ground, while the tip and parts of the sword blade had rusted off. Farmer Rogne thinks it’s fun to have found something like this. He has never come across anything like this before. – It shows that there have been people here before us, he smiles. ON THE PLOT: Farmer Hjalmar Rogne with his children Even (10) and Jenny (7) on his property, where he came across the sword. Photo: Lars Erik Skrefsrud / news Rogne has experience from many years in the construction industry, and knows that such things must be reported. – The archaeologists in the county council were interested, and came to look at it. They have followed up well, he says. And it turns out that it was a rare sword Rogne came across. The archaeologists in Innlandet County Municipality have provisionally dated the sword to the 13th-14th century. Photo: Lars Erik Skrefsrud / news According to archaeologist Kjetil Skare, around 3,500 swords from the Viking Age have been found. Back then it was common for swords to be included in the grave. That custom disappeared with Christianity and the Middle Ages. Thus there are far fewer swords from the Middle Ages. The archaeologist had never held a medieval sword in his hands until now. – This is rare. I have not found out how many swords have been found from the Middle Ages, but there are far fewer, says Skare. UNUSUAL: Archaeologist Kjetil Skare says the sword is rare. – Swords from the Middle Ages are not common, he says. Photo: Stine Bækkelien / news Costly weapons Hanne Lovise Aannestad works as an archaeologist and is responsible for the archaeological collections at the Cultural History Museum. She has worked a lot with swords, especially from the Viking Age. It is a relatively rare discovery that has been made at Biristrand, Aannestad also believes. – I would say that it is quite rare. She estimates that at the Museum of Cultural History they have just under a hundred swords from the Middle Ages. In comparison, they have 1,700 swords from the Viking Age. RARE FIND: Hanne Lovise Aannestad, archaeologist at the Cultural History Museum, believes the find is rare. Photo: William Jobling / news There are several reasons why such finds are rare. Among the reasons is that in the Middle Ages people stopped putting weapons in the grave. In addition, swords were valuable and expensive to produce. Therefore, it should not have been common to lose swords. And swords that eventually broke were often reused, and not thrown away. – The iron was expensive. It takes a lot of iron to make a sword, so it was probably reforged if the blade was broken, she says. – Hidden away Archaeologist Kjetil Skare has thought a lot about why the sword ended up with the farmer. – It took a lot to lose a sword. Then you were either drunk or very ill. It had then also been left on the ground and rusted down, says Skare. The sword was found by a large rock and this may have indicated that someone was going to find it again. It may have been stolen. The find is very similar to a sword that was found in Nord-Fron in 1993. It was also found by a large stone. GOOD CONDITION: The sword from the 13th-14th centuries is well intact. Photo: Innlandet County Municipality The sword will eventually go to the Museum of Cultural History for further dating and conservation. Aannestad emphasizes that it is good that people deliver items like this, and encourages others to do the same. – This means that eventually we may be able to get a better overview of the sword material from the Middle Ages. There are some items that are rarer than others, and have greater informational value, she says.
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Farmer found rare sword from the Middle Ages on the farm at Biristrand – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
