A reindeer hunter exploring a mountain in Norway stumbled upon a rather remarkable find in the form of an ancient Viking sword.
Found simply sitting on the ground atop the mountain at an amazing altitude of 5,300 feet above sea level, the newly-discovered weapon is believed to be around 1,100 years old.
Although archaeologists say that the sword is fairly standard as far as Viking relics go, the fact that it was recovered at such an odd location makes it particularly noteworthy.
Additionally, they point to the preservation of the sword, which appears to be intact and still solid after a millennium of being exposed to the elements, as a testament to the skills of its Viking creators.
While they stressed that the relic was not recovered from ice, researchers expressed little doubt that the sword certainly endured its fair share of wintry conditions over the course of a millennium on the mountain.
As to the owner of the sword, archeologists are left with a bit of a mystery in that regard as the lack of any other artifacts near the piece have left them wondering why a Viking would have gone to a remote mountain with only the weapon and nothing else.
One aspect of the story that is less perplexing is how the sword wound up being found now as experts theorize that receding ice patches due to global warming exposed the weapon for the first time in ages.
Should that be the case, the discovery of the sword may constitute one of the very few good things to have occured recently due to climate change.
Source: Fox News