John Barnett 10th Cent Norman long sword, museum quality

By the beginning of the eleventh century a new style of sword was making its appearance in Western Europe. With a Brazil nut shaped pommel, a long straight guard and a long tapering double-edged blade the first clearly recognisable medieval sword had made its debut. The Viking name for this sword type was gaddhjalt-spikehilt. When the Normans invaded England in 1066 many of these swords came ashore with heavily armoured horse-mounted warriors — the era of the medieval knight was about to begin. These swords, with their greater reach, were well suited to Norman battlefield methods; Saxons and Vikings of the time used similar sword types.