Tanged sword with guard and pommel, originally with organic hilt. The blade was broken and the fracture has been glued. Both the point and the tang are broken. There is a guard between the hilt and the blade, consisting of a crescent-shaped rib ending in three tongues on either side. The pommel is trapezoid and decorated with rings and grooves in relief; it might have been inlaid with organic material. Dark green, almost black patina, with red and golden patches. Length: 46 cm. Width: 3.4 cm across blade. Weight: 439 g, pommel weighs 33 g.

Photo: Svein Skare © Universitetsmuseet i Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Context:
The sword is reported to have come from a cairn near Fitjar Church, most likely the Rimsvarden cairn. This is a huge cairn with a diameter of 25 m and a height between 2 and 4 m, located on an outcrop 90 m.a.s.l. There are several craters in the cairn, which was opened by a local tavern owner (probably Bengt Magnussen (1743-1810)) ca. 1785. A cist was found near the bottom of the cairn; the cist was drywalled and covered by a large stone slab, measuring 1.9 x 0.6 m. A sword, dagger, and charcoal were found inside. There is no information as to what happened to the dagger.

Local tradition:
The sword found in Rimsvarden was used to cure illness and ease childbirth. If a patient was stroked with the blade, all would be well, while things would not go well if the patient was stroked with the point. The sword is likely to be B01825, which was handed in to the museum in 1866 with the information that it was found in a cairn near Fitjar church; however, the museum catalogue states that it came from a farm at Stord. According to Per Fett (1973), the tavern owner’s daughter was married to a man from this particular farm, and she was a midwife, so that it is likely that B01825 is in fact the sword found in Rimsvarden.

Location:
Rimbareid (gnr. 62/3,4,7, gnr. 63/7), Fitjar, Hordaland

Date:
Swords of this type are dated to the Early Bronze Age period 3.