Migration Period sword
Encyclopedia
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
s of the Migration Period
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
(4th to 7th centuries AD) show a transition from the Roman era Spatha
Spatha
The spatha was a type of straight sword, measuring between , in use throughout first millennium AD Europe, and in the territory of the Roman Empire until about 600 AD. Later swords from 600 AD to 1000 AD are recognizable derivatives, though they are not spathae.The spatha was used in gladiatorial...
to the "Viking sword
Viking sword
The Viking sword is a form of spatha, evolving out of the Migration Period sword in the 8th century, and evolving into the classical knightly sword in the 11th century with the emergence of larger crossguards...
" types of the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
.
The blade is normally smooth or shows a very shallow fuller, and often has multiple bands of pattern-welding within the central portion. The handles were often of perishable material and there are few surviving examples.
Surviving examples of these Germanic Iron Age
Germanic Iron Age
The Germanic Iron Age is the name given to the period 400–800 in Northern Europe and it is part of the continental Age of Migrations.-Germanic Iron :...
(Vendel period) swords had blades measuring between 28" and 32" (710 and 810 mm) in length and 1.7" to 2.4" (45 to 60 mm) in width. These single handed weapons of war sported a tang only some 4" to 5" (100 to 130 mm) long, and had very little taper in their blades ending in usually rounded tip.
Names and terminology
There is no single term that can be reconstructed as having referred specifically to the spatha in Common Germanic. There are a number of terms and epithets which refer to the sword, especially in Germanic poetry.- *swerdan "cutting weapon" (whence sword). BeowulfBeowulfBeowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
has the compound wægsweord (1489a)referring to a pattern-welded blade (the wæg- "wave" describing the wave-like patterns). A mære maðþumsweord "renowned treasure-sword" (1023a) is given to Beowulf as a reward for his heroism. The same sword is called a guðsweord "battle-sword" later on (2154a) - heoru/heoro/eorEOREOR could refer to:* Earth Orbit Rendezvous, a proposed method for space missions to the Moon* Electro-optic rectification, a non-linear optical process* Enhanced oil recovery, a term in petroleum production...
, tentatively associated with the name of AresAresAres is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
(identified with Teiwaz) by Jacob GrimmJacob GrimmJacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy... - maki/meki/mækir/mece (also hildemece "battle-sword"), found in Gothic as well as in Old English and Old Norse, perhaps related to the Greek μάχαιραMakhairaMakhaira is a term used by modern scholars to describe a type of ancient bladed weapon, generally a large knife with a slight backwards curve...
; in any case, Gothic meki in Ephesians 6:17 translates this Greek word. The compound hæftmece in Beowulf, literally "hilt-sword", presumably describes a sword with an exceptionally long hilt.
Terms for "blade", "point" or "edge" which pars pro toto could also refer to the sword as a whole include
- *biljo "splitter, cleaver" (West Germanic only); a bill could be any bladed tool, especially farm implements such as scythes or sickles; the compound guðbill, wigbill, hildebill "battle-blade" refers to the sword, but also the simplex bill is used. HeliandHeliandThe Heliand is an epic poem in Old Saxon, written in the first half of the 9th century. The title means saviour in Old Saxon , and the poem is a Biblical paraphrase that recounts the life of Jesus in the alliterative verse style of a Germanic saga...
(v. 4882) has billes biti "sword-bite". The Hildebrandslied has a parallelism establishing bill and suert as synonyms (v. 53f. suertu hauwan, bretun mit sinu billiu "[he shall] hew [at me] with [his] sword, lay [me] low with [his] blade"). - *þramja "edge, blade", perhaps Tacitus' framea "spear, lance", but Old Norse þremjar means "edges, sword blades"
- *agjo "edge".
- ord "point"
- *gaizo- meaning "cutter", the normal term for "spearMigration Period spearThe spear together with the sword, the longsax and the shield was the main equipment of the Germanic warriors during the Migration period and the Early Middle Ages.-Terminology:...
", but in the early period may also have referred to the sword (see Bergakker inscriptionBergakker inscriptionThe Bergakker inscription was found in 1996 near the town of Bergakker, near Tiel.It is a 5th-century Elder Futhark inscription on a metal mount for a sword scabbard....
)
From the testimony of Germanic mythology
Germanic mythology
Germanic mythology is a comprehensive term for myths associated with historical Germanic paganism, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, Continental Germanic mythology, and other versions of the mythologies of the Germanic peoples...
and the Icelandic sagas, swords could also be given individual names. Examples include the magic sword of Högni, named Dáinnleif after the dwarf Dáinn (Skáldskaparmál
Skáldskaparmál
The second part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda the Skáldskaparmál or "language of poetry" is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined...
), Skofnung and Hviting, two sword-names from the Kormáks saga
Kormáks saga
Kormáks saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It tells of the tenth-century Icelandic poet, Kormákr Ögmundarson, and Steingerðr, the love of his life. The saga preserves a significant amount of poetry attributed to Kormákr, much of it dealing with his love for Steingerðr. Though the saga is...
, Nægling and Hrunting
Hrunting
Hrunting was a sword given to Beowulf by Unferth in the ancient Old English epic poem Beowulf. Beowulf used it in battle against Grendel's Mother.Beowulf is described receiving the sword in lines 1455-1458:-Hrunting's failure:...
from Beowulf, and Mimung forged by Wayland the Smith.
Early development
Spatha
The spatha was a type of straight sword, measuring between , in use throughout first millennium AD Europe, and in the territory of the Roman Empire until about 600 AD. Later swords from 600 AD to 1000 AD are recognizable derivatives, though they are not spathae.The spatha was used in gladiatorial...
came into widespread use in the Roman army
Roman army
The Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
during the 3rd century.
It was during this time that the early Germanic tribes adopted the weapon. There are types of the spatha, dated to the 3rd and 4th centuries, associated with the northern parts of the empire (Germania
Germania
Germania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
), such as the Straubing-Nydam type, but these are usually still classed as late Roman spathae, as they are still found in a Roman military, not a "native Germanic" context.
An early find of Roman spathae in a native Germanic context (as opposed to Roman military camps in Germania) is the deposit of sixty-seven Roman swords in the Vimose bog (3rd century).
A native industry producing "Germanic swords" then emerges from the 5th century, contemporary with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
The Germanic spatha did not replace the native seax
Seax
Seax in Old English means knife or cutting tool. The name of the roofer's tool, the zax, is a development from this word...
, sometimes referred to as gladius or ensis "sword", but technically a single-edged weapon or knife
Knife
A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...
.
It rather establishes itself, by the 6th century, at the top of the scale of prestige associated with weapons.
While every Germanic warrior grave of the pagan period was furnished with weapons as grave goods, the vast majority 6th to 7th century grave have a seax and/or a spear
Migration Period spear
The spear together with the sword, the longsax and the shield was the main equipment of the Germanic warriors during the Migration period and the Early Middle Ages.-Terminology:...
, and only the richest have swords.
Swords could often become important heirlooms. Æthelstan Ætheling
Æthelstan Ætheling
Æthelstan Ætheling , early or mid 980s to 25 June 1014, was the eldest son of King Æthelred the Unready by his first wife Ælfgifu and the heir apparent to the kingdom until his death. He made his first appearance as a witness to a charter of his father in 993...
, son of king Æthelred, in a will of ca. 1015 bequeathed to his brother Eadmund
Edmund Ironside
Edmund Ironside or Edmund II was king of England from 23 April to 30 November 1016. His cognomen "Ironside" is not recorded until 1057, but may have been contemporary. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was given to him "because of his valour" in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut...
the sword of king Offa
Offa
Offa may refer to:Two kings of the Angles, who are often confused:*Offa of Angel , on the continent*Offa of Mercia , in Great BritainA king of Essex:*Offa of Essex A town in Nigeria:* Offa, Nigeria...
(d. 796), which at that time must have been over 200 years old.
Krefeld type
An early type of recognizably Germanic sword is the so-called "Krefeld-type" (also Krefeld-Gellep), named for a find in late Roman era military burials at Gelduba castle, KrefeldKrefeld
Krefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine...
(Gellep grave 43).
The military burials at Gelduba begin in the late 1st century with the establishment of a Roman camp in Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
, and they continue without interruption throughout the period of withdrawal of Roman troops and the establishment of early Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
presence in the mid 5th century.
The Krefeld type spathae appear in graves from approximately the 430s through the 460s.
In these graves, the exalted prestige of the sword is not yet fully developed, and some of them are surprisingly poor. They rather seem to still continue the tradition of military graves of the Roman period, of warriors buried with their personal weapon, the presence of a sword perhaps indicating service in the late Roman army.
Six Krefeld type swords are known from Francia, four from Alamannia, and another two from England.
Gold hilt spatha
Specimens are known mostly from Alemannia (Pleidelsheim
Pleidelsheim
Pleidelsheim is a town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, about north of Stuttgart. Pleidelsheim is situated on the right bank of the Neckar river across from Ingersheim. This historical town has buildings that date back to the 14th century.-External links:...
, Villingendorf), but also as far afield as Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
(Blučina).
An "Alamannic type" is distinguished from a "Franconian type" based on scabbard mounts and hilt design by Quast (1993). A total of 20 examples are known, ten of each type.
One of the "Franconian" examples is the sword of Childeric I
Childeric I
Childeric I was a Merovingian king of the Salian Franks and the father of Clovis.He succeeded his father Merovech as king, traditionally in 457 or 458...
(d. 481), recovered from his tomb at Tournai
Tournai
Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
.
Some authors have suggested that Childeric's sword was a "ceremonial sword" not intended for combat, perhaps produced for the occasion of his burial.
Ring-sword
The ring-sword (also ring-spatha, ring-hilt spatha) is a particular variant of the Germanic migration period swords.Ring-swords are characterized by a small ring fixed to the hilt (not to be confused are Late Medieval to Renaissance Irish swords with ring-shaped pommels, also known as "ring-swords").
Ring-swords come into fashion in the last phase of the Migration period (or the beginning of the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
, in the 6th and 7th centuries. They are found in Vendel era
Vendel era
In Swedish prehistory, the Vendel era is the name given to a part of the Germanic Iron Age ....
Scandinavia and in Anglo-Saxon England as well as on the Continent (Saxony
Old Saxony
Old Saxony is the original homeland of the Saxons in the northwest corner of modern Germany and roughly corresponds today with the contemporary Lower Saxony, Westphalia and western Saxony-Anhalt....
, Francia, Alemannia).
These swords were prestigious, prized possessions, probably reserved for kings and high nobility. The ring is interpreted as a symbolic "oath ring".
The design appears to originate in the late 5th century, possibly with the early Merovingians, and quickly spreads to England (from the earliest phase of Anglo-Saxon presence
Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain
The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain was the invasion and migration of Germanic peoples from continental Europe to Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, specifically the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain after the demise of Roman rule in the 5th century.The stimulus, progression and...
) and Scandinavia. The Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
poem uses the term hring-mæl, literally "ring-sword" or "ring-ornament", and scholars who interpret this as referring to this type of sword can point to it as one indication that the Beowulf poet was still drawing from an unbroken tradition of the pagan period, as ring-swords disappear from the archaeological record with Christianization, by the late 7th century.
Examples include:
- Continent
- the Beckum ring-sword, dated ca. AD 475-525, found at Beckum, GermanyBeckum, GermanyBeckum is a town in the district of Warendorf, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km north-east of Hamm and 35 km south-east of Münster...
- Wünnenberg-Fürstenberg, grave 61, 6th century.
- the Schretzheim sword, found in tomb 78 in the Schretzheim Alemannic cemetery, DillingenDillingen (district)Dillingen is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Donau-Ries, Augsburg and Günzburg, and by the state of Baden-Württemberg .-History:...
, Bavaria, dated to between AD 580 and 620. The sword is a rare example of a blade inscribed with an Elder Futhark inscription, four runes arranged so that the staves form a cross shape.
- the Beckum ring-sword, dated ca. AD 475-525, found at Beckum, Germany
- England
- the Kent (or Dover) ring-sword
- Sutton HooSutton HooSutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
ring-sword - the Chessel Down II (Isle of Wight) ring-sword), early 6th c.
- Scandinavia
- the Snartemo sword, found 1933 in tomb 5 at Snartemo, Vest-AgderVest-AgderIn the 16th century, Dutch merchant vessels began to visit ports in southern Norway to purchase salmon and other goods. Soon thereafter the export of timber began, as oak from southern Norway was exceptionally well suited for shipbuilding...
, Norway, dated to ca. AD 500. - Vendel ring-sword, found at Vendel, UpplandUpplandUppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...
, Sweden, 6th century. - the Vallstenarum sword, found in GotlandGotlandGotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
, provides an important indication of the spread of the fashion. The sword was made in the early 6th century, and a ring was added only later, around AD 600, damaging part of the existing hilt decoration.
- the Snartemo sword, found 1933 in tomb 5 at Snartemo, Vest-Agder
See also
- Iron Age swordIron Age swordSwords made of iron appear from the Early Iron Age , but do not become widespread before the 8th century BC....
- Migration period spearMigration Period spearThe spear together with the sword, the longsax and the shield was the main equipment of the Germanic warriors during the Migration period and the Early Middle Ages.-Terminology:...
- Gothic and Vandal warfareGothic and Vandal warfareThe Goths, Gepids, Vandals, and Burgundians were East Germanic groups who appear in Roman records in Late Antiquity. At times these groups warred against or allied with the Roman Empire, the Huns, and various Germanic tribes....
- Anglo-Saxon warfareAnglo-Saxon warfareThe period of Anglo-Saxon warfare spans the 5th Century AD to the 11th in England. Its technology and tactics resemble those of other European cultural areas of the Early Middle Ages, although the Anglo-Saxons, unlike the Continental German tribes such as the Franks and the Goths, do not appear to...
- Viking Age arms and armourViking Age arms and armourKnowledge about arms and armour of the Viking Age is based on relatively sparse archaeological finds, pictorial representation, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and Norse laws recorded in the thirteenth century.According to custom, all free Norse men were required to own...