Viking axe with christian cross? Pictures.

[Battara]

I'm moving this over to the European section.

[Radboud]

Interesting object, what's it made of? In the photo it looks like bronze, but that could just be the light.

As for the cross... it could just be a geometric pattern or a cross that isn't related to Christianity. Of course the Viking society gradually converted to Christianity during the 10th and 11th Centuries so a cross wouldn't be out of place later in the Viking Era.

Who's the auction house, we need to be careful. Some, like Timeline auctions have a reputation for peddling fakes.

[Esotec]

Originally Posted by Radboud

Interesting object, what's it made of? In the photo it looks like bronze, but that could just be the light.

As for the cross... it could just be a geometric pattern or a cross that isn't related to Christianity. Of course the Viking society gradually converted to Christianity during the 10th and 11th Centuries so a cross wouldn't be out of place later in the Viking Era.

Who's the auction house, we need to be careful. Some, like Timeline auctions have a reputation for peddling fakes.

Its made of iron.
I bought it from a well known Swedish auction house. And the provenance was very good. One of the reasons I bought it.
I can see now that the color is abit of in the pics. Maybe due to the background.

[fernando]

Esotec, who told you this axe is Viking ? Was it the auction house ?

[Esotec]

Originally Posted by fernando

Esotec, who told you this axe is Viking ? Was it the auction house ?

The auction house described the object as
"Beard axe, Viking age, ca 750-950".

[toaster5sqn]

My biggest concern would be the lack of any laminations showing in the corrosion as the most common manufacturing method for Viking axes was a softer iron body with a forge welded steel edge. This appears to be a homogenous piece of steel with no forging marks.

Robert

[Lee]

Very interesting! It appears that the eye is somewhat collapsed and has lost considerable material on one side. Direct-on views of the more intact side might help. It is absolutely amazing how much appears to be intact, but this is not unique, and most of the axes I have seen have suffered sufficient corrosion that similar decoration would have been lost or obscured. Any hint from the salesroom about where this was originally found? I'll look for something similar in the references I have.

Thanks to the Internet Archive for a pdf of Peter Paulsen's Axt und Kreuz (1939): https://archive.org/details/AxtundKreuz
Though present throughout, look first at decorations on the pdf pages 36 to 40 (original pages 68 - 77)