Jan Petersen (historian)
Encyclopedia
Dr Jan Petersen was a Norwegian
historian notable for writing De Norske Vikingsverd ("The Norwegian Viking Swords") in 1919. This book was the "standard and authoritative work" on Norse
sword
typology and "remains an invaluable guide today." The Oakeshott typology
is based on Petersen's work.
An online English translation of De Norske Vikingsverd is available here.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
historian notable for writing De Norske Vikingsverd ("The Norwegian Viking Swords") in 1919. This book was the "standard and authoritative work" on Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
typology and "remains an invaluable guide today." The Oakeshott typology
Oakeshott typology
Ewart Oakeshott's typology of the medieval sword is based on blade morphology. It categorizes swords into 13 main types labelled X to XXII. Ewart Oakeshott introduced it in his The Archeology of Weapons: Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry in 1960.The system is a continuation of...
is based on Petersen's work.
An online English translation of De Norske Vikingsverd is available here.