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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

So our three scant spearheads show us a field army, campaigning for years and picking up materiel and recruits on the way - as ever, a different picture to how we often imaging 'Vikings' behaving.

As always, if you'd like to know more, it's all in our book, 'Life in the Viking Great Army'. /end

The cover of the book 'Life in the Viking Great Army', published by the Oxford University Press.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

Equally, our complete spears could have been carried by Anglo-Saxons, too: Northumbrians almost certainly joined the force, raiding into Mercia and Wessex. As we said last week, it's easy to lose sight of how multinational the Great Army was. Viking armies were equal-opportunity employers! /12

An imaginative reconstruction of the Viking Great Army camp at Repton, Derbyshire, showing the probably confused and crowded nature of such locations.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

It's easy to see our finds as 'loot' or 'scrap' - which, to be fair, DB1675 probably was. However, we have to remember that the Great Army was on campaign for many years, replacing tools and wargear on the move: as has been said, the longer you were a Viking, the less 'Scandinavian' you looked! /11

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

Halpin noted that the Dublin settlement has a high percentage of very small spearheads - whilst nearby burials contain larger ones. Torksey may be the same, with our two small, complete spearheads lost in the mud and chaos of the winter camp. But why were 'English' weapons in the camp at all? /10

The cover of Andrew Halpin's book 'Weapons and Warfare in Viking and Medieval Dublin', in which he analysed the spearheads from the Viking-Age settlement.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

There's also a good parallel on the PAS: LON-920814, again found in the Thames at Putney. Our spear doesn't have the same obvious raised central rib as this find, some of Swanton's E3 blades have a lentoid section - so the identification seems reasonable. DB1675 is also probably an English blade. /9

A 9th-century spearhead recovered from the Thames at Putney, PAS find LON-920814. The spear blade has long, tapering sides and the socket is again widely split.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

TDB1675 was first seen as a sword blade, but the lack of a fuller speaks against that. It may also have been a weaving beater, but if so, that was probably a secondary use. The narrow, gently curving blade suggests a Swanton Type E3. Spearheads of this type have been found in other iron hoards. /8

A Type E spearhead recovered as part of the metal hoard from Nazeing, Essex.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

The third spearhead from Torksey is broken, with only the blade surviving: this is TDB1675. It was recovered as part of the iron hoard found at the site... something I'll have to post about someday!

Obviously, when there's only a blade, a find gets harder to classify - and that holds true here. /7

An oblique finds photograph of iron blade TDB 1675 from Torksey, interpreted as the broken-off end of a spear blade.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

Spears are generally labelled as ‘Anglo-Saxon’ purely on the basis of having split sockets - a distinction which even Mortimer Wheeler thought was unsatisfactory! However, it seems broadly true here, as DB25 and 1423 don't fit Scandinavian types. Both our spearheads may well be English pieces. /6

An illustration of warriors carrying spears, taken from the Cædmon Manuscript (Bodleian Library MS Junius 11).

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

Our finds look more similar to a spearhead recovered from the Thames at Cookham, Berkshire, and now in the BM. This has the same ridged blade, angled shoulders, and split socket - here shown fitted to a reconstructed shaft. Again, this has a pattern-welded core, which our shorter examples lack. /5

A photograph of a complete spearhead found in the Thames at Cookham. This has a clear ridge along the blade, sharply-angled-'shoulders' at the base, and a very wide split along the socket.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

The spearhead recovered from Lugg Bridge, Hereford, is seen as a classic 'Viking' loss. The blade is ornately pattern-welded, and the ridged socket forms a complete tube which would have enclosed the spear shaft before being secured with rivets. it's quite a different style to our Torksey spears. /4

A photograph of a complete and well-preserved spearhead from Lugg Bridge, Hereford. The spear socket is tubular, and the pattern-welded core of the blade is obvious where it joins the socket.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

Blackburn originally saw DB25 as a Petersen Type A, but the 'shoulders' at the base of both blades don't match the leaf-shaped Type A form. Sharply-shouldered spear blades are seen on Scandinavian types - but the split sockets of our two are typically seen as an Anglo-Saxon style by the C9th. /3

A photograph of spearhead TDB1423 on a finds bag, laid out to show the split socket with its wedge-shaped gap.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

DB1423 is quite a small spearhead, with a diamond-shaped section and a central rib along the blade. Another spearhead, DB25, was recovered in the early days of the Torksey site and recorded by Mark Blackburn. DB25 is very similar to DB1423, although slightly longer and with a missing tip. /2

A finds photograph of another iron spearhead, also from Torksey. This is TDB25, longer and less well preserved, with the point an the ends of the socket missing.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 21h

Carrying on our theme of weaponry, I thought we'd take a short look at spearheads for today's Viking Camps #FindsFriday. Why just a short look? Because we really don't have many spears, and they're all only from one camp.

This is DB1423, one of the three possible spears from the camp at Torksey. /1

A finds photograph of a corroded iron spearhead, find DB1423 from the Viking Great Army camp at Torksey, Lincolnshire.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 2d

...destroyed because both Bilbo and Frodo choose to spare (and the latter try to help) Gollum when he's at their mercy. I complete agree that Tolkein's politics were somewhat contradictory, but the core of his most-read books hinge on ideals of compassion, justice, and not taking unfair advantage.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 2d

I think it's also true that LotR only ends as it does because characters make 'good' moral choices, rather than following tactical or personal goals: Aragorn only meets Gandalf the White, and thus comes to Edoras and Helm's Deep, because he refuses to abandon Merry and Pippin; the Ring is only...

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 2d

...and also had a cameo in a Janet Jackson video!

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Reposted by Trix

Irina Manea @shieldofskuld.bsky.social · 6d

Howard @archaeodeathprof.bsky.social and I have developed a cute little series on the archaeology and history of death and burial in the Viking age. I simply love these sessions and hope more people will discover us :D #vikingsky #medievalsky youtu.be/hi2MQG6ChXM

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 6d

Did you not watch Blazing Saddles at Marlborough Grove? I remember several group viewings there - including when you were a resident, I thought...

...although my memories might not be the most reliable source. I'm choosing to blame the intervening years, rather than anything else 😳

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 7d

Storming, thank you kindly! I'm going to be camping at the Abbey (predictably enough) so the Powdermill Lane place looks like a very likely drop-in spot.

Cheers again :)

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Reposted by Trix

Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 7d

Carrying on our theme of weaponry-related artefacts, we're going to look at these two Carolingian sword-belt mounts for our Viking Camps #FindsFriday today.

People have been known to duck and run for cover when I start talking about strap fittings... so I promise I'll contain my enthusiasm! /1

A photograph showing the front face of find TDB 580, a gilded silver Carolingian-stype sword-strap mount from the site of the Viking Great Army camp at Torksey, Lincolnshire.

A photograph showing the front face of find TDB 1633, a gilded and silver-plated Carolingian-stype sword-strap mount made of copper alloy. This was also recovered from the site of the Viking Great Army camp at Torksey, Lincolnshire.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 7d

Oh my, that looks good. I'm down in Battle next weekend, may have to try to find a bottle or two of that.

Cheers.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 7d

...brought to the camps by Scandinavians. I think that still speaks of the mixed nature of the Great Army generally, though: they're not the monolithic 'Danes' which past scholarship saw, but rather more complex, with equally complicated histories and points of reference picked up along the way.

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 7d

Oh yes, without question! This is the problem with me trying to be concise, it means I leave out perfectly sensible suggestions... 🫤

I think Shane McLeod made the case for there being Frisians with the Army and the early settlers - but I agree, our Frisian-centered finds could easily have been...

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 7d

It was misidentified in the 2020 report, with the suggestion it was cut down and converted from a larger fitting.

No blame for that interpretation - there but for the grace and all that - but it does show how much Frisian stuff there is in these assemblages, with a lot of it not recognised...

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Trix @trixranderson.bsky.social · 7d

As always, if you'd like to read more, then all our analysis is available in the book 'Life in the Viking Great Army', published by the Oxford University Press... and I'd best stop there! Ten posts isn't bad when I get talking about strap-ends, I'll quit while I'm ahead 😅 /end

The cover of the book 'Life in the Viking Great Army', published by the OUP.

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