The original weapon of mass destruction

Reputed to have been made by profiteering monks, the Ulfbert Viking swords from around the 1000CE time frame represent the original weapons of mass destruction.

In a time where the average warrior fought with farm implements such as axes and field tool handles fashioned into spears, the +VLFBERH+T+ sword could deflect any attack and literally cut through any opponent's weapon who tried to block it.

Though over a millenium old, their steel is nearly devoid of slag and holds up in modern stress tests comparably to current industrial-grade metals and alloys. The heating process used in forging the steel results in an ultra-reinforced lattice that currently can only be matched by using nanotechnology in conjunction with chemical and civil engineering.

Less than 200 have been recovered and it is uknown how many existed total. The name "VLFBERHT" was used by a consecutive series of blacksmiths over roughly 300 years using the same extraordinarily advanced methods. So revered was this steel that knockoffs have been discovered. The best swords made in history, found all over northern Europe, bear the Ulfberht name--so too do some of the worst, found shattered--perhaps by an authentic Ulfberht sword--amid bones of their weilders on history's battlegrounds.

But for those weilding an authentic Ulfberht sword, death was thy sacrament; your opponents weapon could be raised to block your blow, but their stave or axe would splinter the instant before your sword cut completely through their head. The music of your finest moments was the screams of your vanquished foes muffled by your boot propped against their throat as you twist and pull your sword from their dying body.

In conclusion, they were basicaly Awps.