+VLFBERH+T

Okay, one of the things I really like about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla are the weapon drops, which are pretty sweet looking. I’m especially a sucker for the Carolingian Longsword, which is a greatsword in the game, and when fully leveled up is a +VLFBERH+T sword, as you can see from the screenshot accompanying this Queue. The Ulfberht swords (as they’re known today) are found in graves across Europe and date from the 9th and 10th centuries, so right during the period of the game, and tended to be made from large blooms of steel forged in a pattern welded fashion, sometimes with edges of even harder metal forge-welded to the body of the blade. The inscription +VLFBERH+T or +VLFBERHT+ derives from a personal name, possibly the smith who first crafted one somewhere in modern day France.

The Ulfberht was an extremely popular weapon in Norway, where the protagonist of the game is from, with 44 of the known Ulfberht found in Norwegian warrior graves. It’s a nice detail that Eivor can find and use one, and I also like that the sword’s Frankish origins are preserved in its name, as the Carolingian dynasty was the royal house descended from Charlemagne himself. WoW needs weapons like this — the Ulfberht were prized weapons, although they were also crafted with a variety of techniques and materials over the hundreds of years of their prominence. There should be a blacksmith or two in the game that sticks a little flourish like the engraving here onto their work.