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The name[edit]
"Ulfberht" is a Frankish word whose meaning is not known.[1] The inscription "+VLFBERH+T" used Latin letters. The most common hypotheses are that it was the name of a swordsmith who passed his craft on to apprentices or family members, that it was the name of a group of craftsmen.[1] The word is possibly a compound of the elements Ulfr 'wolf' (old Norse) and beraht 'light, bright, shining' (old high German, old Saxon).
There are several variant spellings on the Ulfberht swords, of the more than 166 found by archeologists. Dr. Alan Williams (an archaeometallurgist who works at the Wallace Collection, a national museum in London.) has looked at 44 Ulfberht swords, and made a key discovery in the metallurgical composition of the swords and the connection between the two different spellings. 9 of these 44 were found to have the very high carbon steel and were spelled in the "+VLFBERH+T" manner.[4]
+VLFBERH+T Swords spelled in this manner have a higher carbon content (crucible steel) making them stronger and more flexible than the iron swords of the day.
+VLFBERHT+ Swords spelled in this manner, and other variants, have a lower carbon content making them considerably weaker and brittle. Dr. Williams hypothesizes that these swords may have been copies or cheap knockoffs of the real "+VLFBERH+T" swords.
There are a lot of stories about the Franks, that the steel production was associated with the lifetime of one monastery and the craft quality there only lasted a couple hundred years. The quality of the steel is recorded in several ancient Islamic texts. It was sought after by Arab purchasers as blades and raw material. I hope the wiki quote helps.