John Ljungkvist is a researcher at Uppsala University and has worked extensively on graves, centres of power and the material culture of resources and trade/exchange in the First Millennia CE. He is currently co-director of the Viking phenomenon project and World in the Viking Age (WIVA) excellence center.
In the world of swords and warrior history, the Japanese practice of carrying two swords is an iconic picture to which many can relate. This practice, carrying a long sword (katana,刀, かたな) with a shorter one (wakizashi 脇差) was exclusive to the samurai warriors. Carrying a pair of swords, in Japan called daishō (大小), is only occasionally found elsewhere.
It would be wrong to see direct parallels between Japan and other cultures in this practice, but it is also seen among rich graves in Scandinavia and parts of western Europe between c 520–760 CE. The most common sword in this period was a short single-edged sword that goes by different names but I use the term seax here. Richer or more well-equipped persons might also carry a longer double-edged sword, the successor of the Roman spatha.
One of the well preserved Seaxes from boat grave 5 in Valsgärde. The blade is encased in the richly decorated wooden scabbard.
These Scandinavian swords were not exactly worn as a pair as in Japan. It rather appears that the short sword was hanging from a belt while the long one was suspended in a different way, often hooked on a baldric—a belt worn over the shoulder. But carrying two swords obviously signalled to others that these persons held a special position. These sword bearers had also invested in far more highly decorated weapons than those in common graves.
Colour plan of boat grave 8 from Valsgärde. Note the approximate contour of the body with the seax placed by the waist of the dead and the long sword lying by the left arm. Modified from a plan by Allan Fridell, Museum Gustavianum collections.
The practice of carrying two swords in both Japan and Northern Europe is in most cases not very practical from a military angle. Spears were the most important battle weapon in both cultures with North European warriors also carrying a shield in their left hand. It was probably very rare that someone wielded both a spear and two different swords in battle. Although lethal tools, they were also carried as signals of a certain position in their respective societies.
In Japan the practice of daishō became formalized and was ratified by law in the 17th century. One cannot assume that the same formalized rules existed in Early Medieval Scandinavia, but for some reason there was a symbolic meaning and value in carrying two exquisite swords. But in c. 800 when the Viking Age begins, the practice has disappeared completely.
There was, however, a brief revival in the 10th century. During a period of perhaps only 50 years, it again becomes ‘fashionable’ to carry a long knife together with long sword among some Viking warriors. In contrast to the seax, this knife is not found used by common warriors but is rather a characteristic feature for richer persons particularly in Sweden and eastern Europe. It also seems to disappear quite quickly, maybe as it was restricted to be a side weapon to the spear and the iconic Viking long sword.
Although though there is no suggestion of a link between these two practices, separated by 8000 km and 100 years, it is fascinating how the symbolic meanings of swords have contributed to the emergence of a similar phenomenon in two cultures on either edge of Eurasia. There are other parallels related to the warrior and rider burial practices between Japan and Scandinavia that are nearly contemporary. These will be considered in a future blog post.
John Ljungkvist, September 2025
Portrait of a samurai. (c. 1865-1870). Rijksmuseum, Item No. RP-F-2016-76-7. Public Domain.
References
Ljungkvist, J. 2018. A prelude to the Vikings. The Vikings begin – Treasures from Uppsala University. Uppsala. 13-23.
Pedersen, Anne. 1999, Waffen und Gräber. Weapon chronology in Southern Scandinavia in Late Iron Age – Merovingian Period – Vendel Period. Nordiske Fortidsminder 17. København. https://www.academia.edu/40119369/32_Waffen_und_Gr%C3%A4ber_1999_Weapon_chronology_in_Southern_Scandinavia_in_Late_Iron_Age_Merovingian_Period_Vendel_Period_Anne_N%C3%B8rg%C3%A5rd_J%C3%B8rgensen_417p_