Who doesn't think of a sword (500262) when talking about these brutal warriors? In fact it was so preferred and highly valued that a sword would be named and treated with reverence. Often it was passed down from father to son and then again until broken or buried with great honor with a chieftain.

In the cases where the sword did pass to the afterlife with its owner it was also ritually killed. The reason this was done is not entirely clear, but may symbolic honoring the warrior- it's soul going with the warrior or simply a matter of practicality- so the sword would not pose as a tempting prize to tomb raiders or dug up to be used again, possibly against the same people it defended.

This killing was done by laying the blade across a fire until it softened enough to be bent over and over again. Thus forming an S shape ensuring the value was truly killed.

As much as the sword is thought of, it was not always the favorite weapon. It's thought by many to be the spear (600050), not so much as a throwing weapon, but as a hand weapon giving lethal reach. The blades were long and designed for cutting and thrusting. The axe was also highly prized as a weapon from the small hand axe to the huge, long shafted two hand battle axe. With these showing up frequently in digs as well as the sagas, it is pretty clear that blunt trauma weapons like hammers, were of little interest.