Man Finds 10th Century Sword

A group of men who went goose hunting last weekend in South Iceland stumbled upon a most unusual find: a sword, in relatively great condition, that The Cultural Heritage Agency of Iceland believes dates from the 9th century [Updated, see below – Ed.].

“Meant to go to a goose area, but ended up finding a sword that I think once belonged to [Viking settler] Ingólfur Arnarson,” Árni Björn Valdimarsson posted on his Facebook, with a photo of the sword in question.

Kristín Huld Sigurðardóttir, the director of The Cultural Heritage Agency of Iceland, told RÚV she believes the sword is from the 9th century. As Ingólfur did find Iceland in 874, the weapon might very well be a contemporary of his, if not his actual sword.

“We were hunting [in the area] and found the sword just lying in the sand, completely exposed,” Árni told RÚV. “You can believe there’s more to be found there.”

The sword is now in the possession of the Agency, who will begin work on testing the sword, first and foremost to determine its actual age.

UPDATE: RÚV reports that a more detailed look at the sword dates it to most likely being from the late 10th century.