Migration Period sword
Late Iron Age and Early Medieval type of sword
大遷徙時代剑
- Type
- sword
The Migration Period sword was a type of sword popular during the Migration Period and the Merovingian period of European history (c. 4th to 7th centuries AD), particularly among the Germanic peoples. It later gave rise to the Carolingian or Viking sword type of the 8th to 11th centuries AD.
The blade was normally smooth or showed a very shallow fuller, and often had multiple bands of pattern-welding within the central portion. The handles were often of perishable material and there are few surviving examples. Blade length measured between 28–32 in (710–810 mm) in length and 1.7–2.4 in (43–61 mm) in width. The tang has a length of 4–5 in (100–130 mm) long. The blades show very little taper, usually ending in a rounded tip.
Surviving examples of these Merovingian-period swords have notably been found in the context of the Scandinavian Germanic Iron Age (Vendel period).
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q3965828 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.