Ulfberht swords

The Ulfberht swords are a group of roughly 170 medieval swords, found mostly in Northern Europe and dated to the ninth through eleventh centuries, each inscribed along the blade with the makers mark VLFBERHT. Though the swords were most likely forged in the Rhineland at the heart of the Frankish realm, most surviving examples turned up outside Frankish territory, apparently carried north as loot or contraband rather than traded openly. Their real significance is metallurgical: some blades were built the old way, pattern-welded with a hardened edge, while others were forged from a notably pure, high-carbon crucible steel that may have been imported from Central Asia, marking a transitional step between Viking-age weaponsmithing and the later knightly sword.