The American Swedish Historical Museum explores cultural identity through the story of Swedes and Scandinavians in America. While this mission seems specific to the last three-hundred years, our museum actually looks more than a thousand years into the past! That is, we also tell the stories of the Viking explorers who were the first Europeans to discover the Americas more than 1,000 years ago.
While we often consider the Vikings as raiders, they were also crafty merchants and brilliant navigators. Their explorers sailed across much of the known world, trading with Islamic caliphates past the Caspian Sea, raiding along the Mediterranean, and reaching the Americas more than 500 years before the voyages of Christopher Columbus! Led by Leif Erikson, these explorers founded settlements in modern-day Greenland and Canada. These settlements lasted until the sixteenth century, linking the ages before and after the rest of Europe knew of the New World.
This sword, although it has no connection with Vikings in the New World, offers a lens for understanding war in medieval Scandinavia. While spears and shields were the most common Viking weapons, only the wealthiest warriors carried swords.