44502 m85

appeared two ncw types of pommel, now named the ‘tea cosy’ and ‘brazil nut’ after their shapes, and in the i ith century a few disc-shaped pommels appeared.

Some of these hilts had smali rings attached to them by a loop rivetted to the end of the pommel. In later examples the ring is no longer free moving, and later still it adopts a solid, merely decorative form. Such ‘rings’ could have had no practical value and it is believed they may originally have been awarded to warriors for valour—the rings do not occur on the swords of kings, so were not used for oath taking—or as a symbol of comradeship. Some pommels without rings show signs of wear where rings had once been worn, and as a warrior’s sword was freąuently passed on this may conhrm the awarding-of-rings theory; such a ring would naturally be removed when the sword changed hands.

Scabbards consisted of two thin laths of wood covered in leather and with the mouth and tip protected by metal. The inside was freąuently lined with fleece, the lanolin in the sheep’s wool preventing rusting and the spring of the wool helping to hołd the blade hrmly in the scabbard. The iay’ of the wool was upwards, to enable the sword to be drawn easily.

The scabbard was slung on the left hip, either on a baldric over the right shoulder or on a waist belt. Both belt and baldric were freąuently ornamented and the buckles were generally of bronze, some-times of copper, and not infreąuently gilded, embossed or enamelled; some were set with garnets and other Stones.

Ali warriors, from the highest to the lowest, also carried a single-edged knife known as a scramasax. This was used to finish a felled opponent, and in the case of the peasant classes took the place of a sword. Its length therefore varied according to its role, and examples found rangę from 7-5 to 75 cm in length. However, the average size for most of the hundreds found is around 15CIT1 from hilt to point. This was probably the knife usually referred to as the hadseax: the extremely long examples were some-times called langseax. Most blades were broad heavy and with an angled back sloping in a straight linę towards the point, and were often inlaid with copper or bronze wire. The guard, if any, was insignificant; the grip ofwood, sometimes carved;

and the tang usually without a pommel. Some of the longer knives have a grip long enough to be clasped with two hands. The scramasax was carried in a sheath of folded leather, the edges rivetted together on the side of the cutting edge, and suspended on the thigh from the waist belt by smali bronze loops.

The reign of Knut and his successor saw the introduction of the two-handed Danish axe as a substitute for the sword. However, it was in use for a relatively limited period in the Saxon army, and that it was not a common weapon amongst the ordinary soldiers is proved by the rarity of its occurrence at archaeological sites. Its use may have been limited to the housecarls and Danish mercen-aries. It is described morę fully under Vikings.

The plain crossguard and pommel of an earły Saxon sword belonging to the 8th or gth century. The grip is missing.