The Ulen Sword is an artifact which was unearthed in a field west of

Ulen Ulen may refer to: People *Thomas Ulen, an American law and economics professor Places Norway *Ulen (lake), a lake in the municipality of Lierne in Trøndelag county United States *Ulen, Indiana, a town in Center Township, Boone County, Indiana ...

Clay County, Minnesota Clay County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,318. Its county seat is Moorhead. Clay County is part of the Fargo, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The county was formed on ...

. It is currently on display in the Ulen Museum which is operated by the Ulen Historical Society. At first purported to be a

Viking sword The Viking Age sword (also Viking sword) or Carolingian sword is the type of sword prevalent in Western and Northern Europe during the Early Middle Ages. The Viking Age or Carolingian-era sword developed in the 8th century from the Merovingian ...

by Norse coloniers, it bears little resemblance to any sword of known early Medieval provenance and is more probably a 19th-century military sword.

Hjalmar Holand Hjalmar Rued Holand (October 20, 1872 – August 6, 1963) was a Norwegian-American historian and author. He was the author of a number of books and articles principally dealing with the history of Door County, Wisconsin, of the Upper Midwest and w ...

's book ''Pre-Columbian Crusade to America'' (1962) argues that the sword is authentic. Even though the validity of the sword is still debated it remains an important artifact in the town of

. The Ulen Museums former name was the Viking Sword Museum. The sword was also mentioned in an America Unearthed episode. The sword was found buried underground by Hans O. Hansen on his farm on April 20, 1911. Because of drought, Hansen decided to set his plow blades much deeper than usual, and unearthed the artifact. The blade of the Ulen sword is said to have had a -inch covering of rust, which Hansen polished away. The blade is long. The end of the sword has been blunted by a hammer or some other instrument. The pommel and the thick crossguard are made of brass. The sword's crossguard has a design on each side: one side depicts a helmeted soldier, and the reverse is a breastplate covering a dagger and two crossed axes.

References

Other sources

*Rath, Jay; Elizabeth McBride; Chris Roerden (1998) ''The M-files: True Reports of Minnesota's Unexplained Phenomena'' (Big Earth Publishing) *Oakeshott, R.E. (1996) ''The Archaeology of Weapons, Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry'' (New York: Dover Publications Inc) .

External links

Image of monument to the swordUlen Historical Society website
Modern European swords Norse colonization of North America 1911 archaeological discoveries Individual weapons {{Sword-stub