Viking Dane Axe Head- Functional. High Carbon and Tempered.

Make your own Viking axe with this reproduction Viking Dane axe head based upon three extant artefacts found in the UK. The River Thames at Hammersmith axe held by the British Museum, Norwich-Axe held at the Norwich Castle Museum and the R560 & R523 held by the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The original artefacts are estimated to have been made in the late 10 to 11th century.

Axes of this type are categorised as type M using the Petersen axe typeology from the book De Norske Vikingsverd written by the archaeologist Jan Petersen from extant artefacts found in Norway and Sweden.

Type M axes of this type developed in the second half of the 10^th century around ca. 950 and were larger than previous axe types with a wider cutting profile. This most likely developed as a result of the increasing use of armour on the battle field. This type of axe saw use in Northern Europe, England and Rus localities until approximately the 13th century.

This axe was designed by us for re-enactment and HMB combat. Each axe head weighs between 975 - 995 grams. The edge thickness before rounding on the blade is no less than 2mm and 3mm on the horn of the axe. The edges of the horn of the axe have been rounded to the size of Australian two cent coin (21mm).

This Danish axe head is made from high carbon EN45 steel and is tempered. Unlike axes made from mild steel sheet with a rolled and welded socket this axe head will not bend when struck in combat.

The cutting edge of the axe measures 19cm and the length 25cm.