C. 900 AD. Viking age. Medieval Scandinavian, pointed iron knife; expertly cleaned and conserved with hand-carved, cylindrical bone handle. The flat end of the handle features an eight-pointed star, while the sides of the cylinder each bear eight-pointed stars terminating in dot-in-circle motifs and framed by lathe-cut grooves. Knives were a vital part of everyday life in the Viking world, where forks were not used, and everyone had to carry their own knife, both for self-defence and for eating. The item is extremely well preserved and has been professionally cleaned; it comes on a custom-made stand. Provenance: From an old British collection formed in the 1990s; previously acquired in Austria.