1,100-Year-Old Viking Sword Found in UK River
A corroded sword pulled from an English river by a magnet fisher is a Viking weapon dating to between A.D. 850 and 975, experts have confirmed.
Trevor Penny was searching for lost and discarded objects in the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire in November 2023 when he made the discovery. The magnet fisher had been down on his luck that day and only pulled scaffolding poles from the water, he said in a message on Facebook. When Penny lugged out the sword, he didn't immediately recognize what it was.
"I was on the side of the bridge and shouted to a friend on the other side of the bridge, 'What is this?'" Penny, who is a member of the Thame Magnet Fishing Facebook group, recalled in the message. "He came running over shouting, 'It looks like a sword!'"
Penny immediately uploaded images of the sword to Google to try to identify it. "Whatever photo angle I tried was coming up with Viking sword," Penny said. The magnet fisher then contacted the Oxfordshire county liaison officer responsible for recording archaeological finds made by the public, and took the sword to be examined by experts.
The sword, only provisionally dated until now, has been authenticated as Viking and estimated to date as far back as 1,200 years ago.
The weapon dates to a period when the Vikings, who were originally pagans from Scandinavia, traveled to the British Isles to plunder, conquer and trade with the ruling Saxons. The Vikings set foot on British soil in the eighth century, having raided a monastery on Lindisfarne, an island off Britain's northeast coast, in 793. Similar raids in Britain occurred for several centuries and escalated after 835, when larger Viking fleets started arriving and fighting royal armies. British kings gradually reconquered territory seized by the Vikings throughout the 10th century and unified what was a patchwork of kingdoms into a new realm called Englalond.
Viking incursions and periods of rule continued until the 11th century, but the Viking Age ended following the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, with the defeat of the king of Norway, Harald III Sigurdsson, by the Saxons.
The newly discovered Viking sword is in the care of Oxford museum services and may eventually be put on display, the Oxford Mail reported.
"The officer said it was archaeologically rare to find whole swords and treasure of historical importance still intact," Penny told the regional newspaper last week. "There was a little dispute with the landowner and the rivers trust who don't permit magnet fishing. The latter sent a legal document saying they wouldn't take action on the condition that the sword was passed to a museum, which I had done."
By Sascha Pare.
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haunted w conrad GO
okay so you’re trying to fucking kill me. i’m convinced.
warnings: language, mentions of drinking, a little bit of fluff, angst and just pure heartbreak idk.
inbox 💌 | listen
if there was one thing you knew about conrad fisher, it was that he was unpredictable.
you had always been friends with the fisher and conklin siblings, living next door to them every summer for as long as you could remember. it wasn't a secret that you and conrad were the closest out of the group. but, as the two of you got older, you had realized that it was because you had fallen for the brunette boy with floppy hair that always seems to end up in his eyes no matter how short he cuts it.
you thought back to the moment on the dock, the two of you laughing as you sat with your feet in his lap. he was looking down at his phone, trying to figure out which song to play next on the speaker. belly, jere, and steven were all back by the pool, laughing loudly and carrying on.
you looked over at him as you caught his glance, you smiled, "what?"
she shook his head, "nothing,"
you raised an eyebrow, "sure it's not just nothing, con?" you could tell when he was trying his best to keep a secret, but it never worked. not around you, anyway.
"i just... you have a crush on me?" he asked, his lips turned up in a smile. your eyes widened as you sat up.
"uhm," you trailed off, looking at his expression. he didn't seem grossed out and if anything, he looked relieved? "uhm, yeah. how do you know?"
he smiled, "belly."
you rolled your eyes, "that girl is going to be the death of me."
he laughed, "it's okay. i mean, i guess i kind of have a thing for you, too."
you looked over at him, "you have a crush... on me?"
he smiled, nodding as he moved closer to you. you smiled as he brushed a loose strand of hair behind your ear, "i do,"
your heart pounded against your ribs as you smiled, "cool."
"cool." he echoed back.
you made the mistake of looking down at his lips. he smiled softly, doing the same. you had always wanted this exact moment to happen, every wish on a candle, every penny in a fountain, you had wished for him. for this moment.
and now it was finally happening.
"can i kiss you?" he asked. you nodded your head.
"please."
he smiled before connecting your lips with his. every thing about the kiss was all you'd been waiting for. it was finally happening.
and the two of you had been together ever since. even during the spring, fall and winter, he was yours during every season.
now it was the next summer, and everything had changed from when you'd last seen him. he was quieter, kept to himself more. spending his days daydrinking, and smoking more. something was off, and it was like he was forcing himself to act happy around you.
you had tried asking him about it, but he always just shut you out, insisting he was fine when he really wasn't.
you sat in your bed, putting down your book as your phone buzzed on the mattress next to you.
connie
can we talk?
your heart dropped, things like this never ended well.
y/n
beach in 5?
connie
sounds good
you tugged on a hoodie and slipped on your flip flops before making your way out the back door. you walked onto the beach, spotting conrad sitting down in the sand.
"you wanted to talk?" you asked, hugging your knees to your chest. he looked down at the sand by his feet, not making eye contact with you.
red flag number one.
"i uhm," he started, brining a hand up to run through his hair, "i think that we should put us on pause, for a minute.."
his voice trailed off as looked over at him, "are you serious?"
he finally decided to look over at you, his eyes red. had he been crying?
"yeah," he said, "i just... i don't think we should do this, not right now, anyway."
he knew that look on your face, you weren't listening to what he was saying, instead your eyes studied his facial features, "what's wrong, conrad? what aren't you telling me?"
he groaned, "for fucks sake, are you even listening?"
you repeated your question, "are you listening to me? i'm trying to help you!"
"i don't need your fucking help, y/n!" he was yelling now, standing up as he rubbed his face with his hands, "jesus."
you looked at him, standing up to face him again, "why're you pushing me out? what's going on, just talk to me. please."
the please came out quieter than you had meant for it to, and he knew it was because you were on the brink of tears. he looked over at you, "this was a mistake."
you looked at him confused, "what was?"
"us," he didn't mean it, he just was doing what he knew how to do best, push people out and hurt the ones you love the most.
you scoffed, looking away from him and looking out towards the ocean. the moon was hitting the water at just the right angle for it to reflect onto the waves. it would've been a pretty sight, a nice moment if he hadn't ruined it.
ruined you. with that one word. mistake.
you thought you had conrad all figured out up until now. up until this summer, he was different.
"don't leave it like this," you whispered, looking back at him with tears in your eyes. he desperately wanted to reach out to you, tell you he didn't mean any of it. tell you the truth about his mom's cancer, and his dad's affair.
but he couldn't. he didn't know how to.
"please, don't," you whispered, "i love you."
he let a tear fall from his eyes as he shook his head, turning to walk away, "i'm sorry."
he ignored you calling back for him as you stood on the beach. you were frozen in the sand, watching the love of your life walk away from you. he let the tears roll off his cheeks and disintegrate into the sand as he walked away from the one form of true love he had ever felt.
you.
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