Ulfberht blades

Lerion's Ulfberht-style longsword

Ulfberht blades are medieval European swords, dated to the 9th to 11th centuries and inlaid with the inscription +VLFBERHT+. Ulfberht was a Frankish personal name that became a trademark used by various blacksmiths. Early versions of the blade were pattern welded to replicate the wave pattern of rarer Damascus steel until the steel and its working techniques became more widespread.

History

In the mid-800s, one of these blades was fashioned into a longsword. It originated in the central European Carolingian Empire and was owned by East Anglian ealdorman Lerion, who kept it in his personal villa. Following his execution, his villa was looted by bandits who took the sword to their Forest Hideout.

In 866, following the Vikings' capture of York, Ivarr the Boneless gifted his late father Ragnar Lothbrok's Ulfberht sword "Odin's Flame" to Ulf Stensson for exemplary actions during the battle.

In 870, the Raven Clan Viking Sigurd Styrbjornsson also found one in Bulgar while on his two-year journey across the world. Seeking to possess "a blade worthy of Brokkr", one of the mythical Æsir's dwarven blacksmiths, Sigurd's quest brought him to East Europe, where he heard the smith Tekin could supply him with such a weapon. On Sigurd's arrival at the smithy, Tekin showed Sigurd a finished Ulfberht blade of Damascus steel, before declaring that the Viking would instead be its first victim for being a Norseman like the ones who killed Tekin's brother. At this, Tekin and an associate charged at Sigurd, who swiftly killed them and claimed the Ulfbhert blade and other weapons in the room as battle prizes.

Sigurd carried the sword with him into a rich merchant's castle and used it in his fight against the Hidden One Ammon after inadvertently alerting the guards, but Ammon's Hidden Blade proved stronger than the sword. Sigurd's shock at seeing his blade break near the hilt gave Ammon an opening to stab him in the side before jumping out a window. Sigurd survived this wound and took a bearded axe with him as he tracked Ammon, leaving the broken sword behind.

The shieldmaiden Eivor Varinsdottir, Sigurd's younger adopted sister, managed to collect three Ulfberht blades throughout her lifetime. On arriving at England in the early-870s as part of the Viking expansion, she explored the country and looted a chest at the bandit's Forest Hideout that held Lerion's sword, which she claimed for her own. A decade later, she sailed to Francia to aid the Viking leader Sigfred's efforts laying siege to Paris, and while there recovered a third Ulfbhert blade that was made into a short sword. Shortly after, she sailed down the River Rhine in Germany to raid it on the advice of the retired Jomsviking Vagn and defeated a local champion stationed along the river who wielded an Ulfberht sword.

A millennium later during the Victorian era in the 1860s, another one of the blades was kept in Buckingham Palace in Westminster. In 1868, it was stolen by Jacob and Evie Frye, twin members of the British Assassins, who used it to craft the Legendary Assassin Kukri.

Weapon statistics

Name	Alignment	Stats	Attributes	Availability
Carolingian Longsword	Bear	155 Attack 159 Stun 14 Weight 44 Speed 96 Critical Chance	Increased Critical Damage after executing a finisher [up to 5 times]	Loot chest in the Forest Hideout
Egbert	Bear	135 Attack 174 Stun 7 Weight 58 Speed 103 Critical Chance	Increase Stun after each hit [up to 10 times]	Complete Ulfberht Sword
Ulfberht Sword	Wolf	135 Attack 172 Stun 6 Weight 63 Speed 104 Critical Chance	Increase Critical Chance & Critical Damage when parrying	Complete The Ulfberht Sword

Gallery

• 
  Ivarr presenting Ragnar's Ulfberht blade to Ulf Stensson
• 
  Sigurd inspects an Ulfberht blade

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (first mentioned)
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Song of Glory (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Blood Brothers
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
  • The Siege of Paris