Viking spear-head
- Gallery: Room 41
- Culture: Viking
- Date: 9thC(late)-10thC
- Object type: spear-head
- Materials: iron; copper; silver
- Museum number: 1893,0715.2
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is a Viking-era iron spear-head, a stunning example of ninth to tenth-century craftsmanship. The slender, lozenge-shaped blade tapers to a sharp point, with an angular shoulder marking the transition to the socket. This socket is richly inlaid with intricate patterns of silver and copper wires. These wires form criss-cross striations along the borders, where alternating silver and copper chevrons shimmer subtly. Between these borders, twisted pairs of metal strands alternate with plain wires to create a delicate herring-bone pattern, a detail characteristic of Norwegian artistry. This beautifully decorated spear-head was recovered from London’s River Thames in 1848. The fine, hammered designs speak volumes about the skill of Viking metalworkers.
See it in person
Viking spear-head is on display in Room 41 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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