Tale of the Sword was commissioned by the Awtrey Middle School Band Program in Kennesaw, GA. When the school’s directors Tara Melvin & Stephen Cagle approached me about a work that would portray the school’s mascot, the Vikings, my research immediately drew me to the “Swords in Stone” monument in Stavanger, Norway. Erected in the early 1980’s to commemorate the Battle of Hafrsfjord and the uniting of Norway under their first king, this piece seeks to portray the creation of this monument with episodic moments of the Viking’s early conquests.