Atgeir is first used as a term in Teutonic sources before the 'Viking Age'. The term is not used in any Viking Age source. The references from saga literature are not relevant to the Viking Age but come from Iceland of the thirteenth century and later. Originally it means 'most spear-like spear' i.e. best spear, and can refer to a light or a heavy weapon. The term has no association with a specific weapon until it is used as an anachronism in saga literature to lend weight to accounts of special weapons. There are no remains from archæology which can be identified with the term.