The sword, which is associated with the name of Sviatoslav the Brave, was accidentally ‘fished out’ on November 7, 2011 near Khortytsia Island. The sword measuring 96 centimeters long and weighing about one kilogram, was made around the 10th century and belongs to the Carolingian type with a short crossguard. At least four non-ferrous metals are used in its decoration: copper, silver, and yellow metal, which can be either gold or brass. In the upper third of the sword is the inscription “+ULFBERHT+T” (Ulfberht), which indicates that this weapon was manufactured in the most famous Western European workshop.
Carolingian sword is the Viking age type sword prevalent in Western and Northern Europe during the Early Middle Ages. A universally accepted Viking sword typology was created by Jan Petersen in his 1919 book De Norske Vikingesverd. Viking sword type according to Petersen is determined by the shape of the sword hilt. According to Peterson’s typology, the sword found near Khortytsua belongs to the subtype V.
According to a simplified R. E. M. Wheeler‘s typology, the Khortytsya sword falls into the VII category:
What was so special about ULFBERHT anyway? In the first place, it was
Technology a Millennium Ahead of Time
“Ulfberht was like a Medieval luxury brand for swords—but unlike your Gucci purse, the swords were of such high quality they were almost … mystical. A previous theory held that the swords may have their origin in the Middle East or Asia, but surprisingly it seems the materials were sourced closer to where they were found, in Central Europe.
Ulfbehrt’s so-called “Crucible Steel” had high amounts of carbon. Carbon can make or break a sword; if it’s not controlled to just the right amount, the sword will be either too soft or too brittle. But with just the right amount, carbon greatly strengthens the blade. The Ulfberht has a carbon content about three times higher than that of other swords of its time. It would have been astoundingly stronger and yet more flexible than other swords, as well as light-weight. It also had almost no impurities, known as slag. This would have allowed for a more even distribution of carbon.
It had been thought, before Ulfberht was discovered, that the capability to remove slag to such a degree only became possible during the Industrial Revolution. Iron ore must be heated to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1649 Celcius) to accomplish this, a feat the Ulfberht makers apparently accomplished 800 years ahead of their time,” – states the ancient-origins article.
What are the reasons to believe that the sword found at Khortytsia may have belonged to Sviatoslav of Kyiv? The first reason would be the price of this particular sword.
Half a Kingdom for the Sword
“Swords were incredibly expensive. Depending on where you lived, a good sword could cost about $1,200 to $24,000 in today’s money. Of course, it’s hard to directly translate the cost between the medieval period and today, simply because the economy worked so differently. But the bottom line is if you wanted a good sword, it wasn’t cheap.
But what if you wanted a really good sword? A sword that was so much better than everything else of its era that it was almost mythical? Then you needed an Ulfberht. And you had better bring some serious cash.
The Ulfberht swords, largely associated with Vikings, were basically like the Ferraris of their time. They were a symbol of wealth, status, and they would perform better than what most other people were using…
These swords were said to have been sharper, stronger, and more flexible than anyone else’s. That gave the user a huge advantage in battle. You could block an enemy’s sword and trust that your blade wouldn’t shatter, which was a constant concern. And in an era where the best warriors wore mail coats, an Ulfberht sword would slice through that protection better than other swords,” – says another article.
The +ULFBERH+T swords were even more advanced than the ‘ordinary’ Ulfberht. They were extremely rare, more valuable, and were held by kings and exceedingly wealthy and outstanding warrior chiefs. It is possible that some of those swords were custom-made.
Dr. A..R. Williams in his ‘A Metallurgical Study of Some Viking Swords‘ separated four distinct groups among the ULFBERHT swords. Group A consists of swords bearing the inscription +VLFBERH+T. Williams connected the phenomenon of the cross changing its place to the locality of the smithy. According to him, blades with the inscription +VLFBERH+T (group A) are the “original”, high-quality pieces that were forged from possibly crucible steel. Williams considered the blades with the inscription +VLFBERHT+ (group B) to be later imitations, although fairly good ones since they had hardenable steel edges.
Area of Sviatoslav’s Final Battle
But an even more weighty reason is that the Khortytsia sword was found in the area of Sviatoslav the Brave’s final battle. He was ambushed by the Pechenegs as he was sailing up the Dnieper after his Bulgarian campaign and perished in the battle.
“The combination of geographical, historical, and archаeological data highlights the issue of the death of Prince Sviatoslav Igorovych in March 972 at ‘The Rapids’,” – says a scintific article at the site of the Ukrainian Academy of Science.
There is a strange coincidence in this story. Six years before the sword was found, in 2005 the Ukrainian community installed a 5-meter bronze monument to Sviatoslav across the place where the the historians believed his final battle took place. Incredible as it sounds, the Khortytsia sword was extracted from the river several hundred meters from the monument. And the sword the historians placed in Sviatoslav’s hand in the monument turned out to be very close in appearance to the one that was found afterward. The details of Sviatoslav’s famous campaigns are in the ‘Kyiv Rus in Heimskringla Sagas and Byzantine Texts‘ book. The cover of the book has the monument to Sviatoslav the Brave described above. The book also provides the answer if Sviatoslav was a King.
Nova National Geographic Documentary:
