And again, line 3535:—

In this passage, æscum, ash, is put for the spear itself. Mr. Roach Smith has collected several other instances of a similar kind. "In Cædmon, the term æsc-berend, or spear-bearer, is applied to a soldier." In the fragment of the poetical "History of Judith" we have æsc-plega, the play of spears, as a poetic term for a battle. So we have æsc-bora, a spear-bearer; and in the Codex Exoniensis, æsc-stede, a field of battle. And again, in "Beowulf:"—

In the eleventh century we find the ashen spear again mentioned. Robert of Aix, describing the knights his companions in the First Crusade, says: "Hastæ fraxineæ in manibus eorum ferro acutissimo præfixæ sunt, quasi grandes perticæ[54]." The Abbé Cochet, however, describes the remains of a lance-shaft found at Envermeu as being of oak; black with age, and of an extreme hardness[55].

The staves were sometimes of a rich and costly character. The heriot of the Anglo-Saxon Wulfsige consisted of two horses, one helmet, one byrnie, one sword, and a spear twined with gold[56].

The spear-staves deposited in the graves are necessarily of the shorter kind: the length of the entire weapon being about six feet; a fact easily ascertained by measuring the distance from the blade to the iron shoe, where that is found. This iron shoe is generally a hollow spike, into which the wood was fitted; as in that of the "Fairford Graves," Plate xi.; the one from Northfleet, (figured in the Journal of the Archæological Association, vol. iii.); and another in the Faussett Collection, found at Ash-by-Sandwich. Sometimes it was a button, to be driven into the shaft by means of a nail issuing from its centre. An example of this variety is engraved in the Nenia Britannica of Douglas.

Those who used the shorter spear or javelin were provided with several of these weapons, which they hurled successively at the enemy. In Harleian MS., No. 603, folio 30[57], may be seen a spearman holding three lozenge-headed javelins. Cædmon's Paraphrase (Archæologia, vol. xxiv. Plate lv.) has a figure carrying three barbed javelins (angones). In Harl. MS., 603, folio 56^b, the Destroying Angel has three barbed spears, one of which is represented in its flight, another poised in the right hand, ready to follow, while the third is held in the left hand, to be employed in its turn. This curious example has been figured by Mr. Akerman, to illustrate his paper, "On some of the Weapons of the Celtic and Teutonic Races," in vol. xxxiv. of the Archæologia.

Vegetius (lib. i. c. 2.) tells us that, in his day, the barbarians were armed with two or three javelins, a weapon which had fallen into disuse among the Romans. In the Bayeux tapestry there are figures of the Anglo-Saxons furnished with three or four of these missiles. Even in the graves of these people, the spears are sometimes found in pairs. Sir Henry Dryden, in his explorations at Marston Hill, in Northamptonshire, met with two warriors having two spears each. And the Hon. Mr. Neville found at Little Wilbraham, in Cambridgeshire, another example of a similar kind. The Wilbraham Cemetery disclosed another curious usage. Where cremation had been employed, spear-heads (and knives also) were in several cases discovered in the urns. Kings as well as their followers were buried with their weapons beside them. The spear-head found in the tomb of Childeric, which is of lozenge form, is engraved in the Milice Françoise of Father Daniel. This tomb was discovered in 1655, and the weapons found in it are preserved in the Imperial Library at Paris[58].

A singular usage appears to have prevailed when the spear and the axe were deposited in the same grave. The spear in this case was reversed,—the point at the feet of the warrior. Examples of this practice have been observed in Normandy, at Mondorf, and at Selzen[59]. At Wilbraham, spear-heads were found at the feet[60].

The pagan Northmen sought to enhance the value of their arms by referring their fabrication to weapon-smiths of a preternatural power. The Christianized Germans of the tenth century obtained a similar result by the employment of iron from the reliquary. At the coronation of the Emperor Otho the Great, in 961, Walpert, archbishop of Milan, presided at the solemnities: the prince placed on the altar of Saint Ambrose all the royal insignia; the lance, of which the head had been forged out of one of the nails of the true cross, the royal sword, the axe, the belt, and the royal mantle. After some intervening ceremonies, he was again armed with the weapons which had been laid upon the altar, and the archbishop placed on his head the iron crown of Lombardy[61].

Not the least interesting among the many singular objects discovered by the Abbé Cochet in his researches in Normandy, is the little silver coin containing the portrait of "un guerrier frank debout." In his right hand the warrior carries his lance, while the left appears to hold the well-known round target of his time. This curious little relic is engraved on page 359 of the Normandie Souterraine.

The Swords of the ante-Norman period may be divided into three classes: the earlier broadsword without cross-piece, straight, double-edged, and acutely pointed; the later sword, similar in fashion to the above, but having a guard, or cross-piece; and the curved weapon with a concave edge, called in Anglo-Saxon the seax; the sica of classical times. The first has become familiar to us from the numerous examples procured from the graves of France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and England. This type agrees exactly with the description left us by Sidonius Apollinaris; who, recording a victory obtained by the Franks over the Goths, has this passage: "Alii hebetatorum cæde gladiorum latera dentata pernumerant. Alii cæsim atque punctim foraminatos circulos loricarum metiuntur[62]." We have engraved, figure 1 of our plate of swords, a fine specimen of this kind of weapon, which was found among the "Fairford Graves." It is nearly three feet in length (the usual size of these swords), and when dug up, had fragments of the wood and leather which once formed its scabbard, still adhering to the iron. Other examples discovered in England are engraved in Mr. Neville's "Saxon Obsequies," Mr. Akerman's "Pagan Saxondom," and in the account of the Ozingell Cemetery[63]. German specimens appear in the "Selzen Cemetery," Swiss in the Tombeaux de Bel-Air, Danish in the "Copenhagen Museum," p. 66, and Frankish in La Normandie Souterraine. The Irish swords are shorter than others of this date,—not exceeding thirty inches,—as we learn from the researches of Mr. Wakeman[64]. That this sword of the earlier Iron Period resembled the anterior bronze sword in being without cross-piece, seems clear from two facts. Firstly, no such provision (except in one or two isolated cases) is found to accompany the weapons disclosed by the graves; secondly, it has been remarked, that in many instances, where the wood of the handle and that of the sheath remain, they approach so closely together, that there is no space left for any intervening appendage.

The sword with cross-piece appears to belong to the later Iron Period. When real examples are found in this country, and in others early Christianised, they are generally dredged from the beds of rivers, or turned up among old foundations; though in states where paganism held a longer sway, they are obtained from the graves. Two very early English specimens are figured in the "Pagan Saxondom:" one found at Gilton, in Kent, and now in Mr. Rolfe's Museum; the other found at Coombe, in Kent, and preserved in the collection of Mr. Boreham. The cross-piece in these examples has projected but little beyond the edges of the blade. From specimens given in our plates, and from the numerous representations of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, we see that the guard eventually became a much more prominent feature of the Northern brand.

The third variety of the Anglo-Saxon sword, the seax, which Mr. Kemble[65] defines to be "ensis quidam curvatus," is apparently that old Thracian weapon, the sica, which among the Romans was in such little repute, that sicarius came to mean a bandit, or an assassin. The Anglo-Saxon curved sword never appears in their book-paintings, and has not been found in their graves. But in the Copenhagen Museum is a weapon which seems exactly to answer this description of the Northern seax. It is engraved in Mr. Worsaae's "Illustrations of the Copenhagen Museum," p. 97, fig. 384.

The handle of the earlier sword appears often to have been a mere haft, like that of our knives; sometimes it had a pommel. The later sword-handle consisted of grip, pommel, and cross-piece. The grip seems to have been commonly of wood, and it is not unusual to find portions of this wood still adhering to the tang of those swords which have been recovered from the graves. Part of such a hilt, found at Northfleet, in Kent, was submitted to the examination of Professor Lindley, and pronounced to be pine. Mr. Worsaae is of opinion that the Danish swords had the handle covered with "wood, leather, bone, or horn; which, however, is now consumed[66]." Mr. Wakeman tells us that some of the Ancient-Irish iron swords "have been found with the handle of bone remaining." Generally the cross-bar was straight; but sometimes it curved towards the blade; as in Cott. MSS., Tiberius, C. vi. fol. 9; Cleopatra, C. viii., in many places; in that fine sword found in the river Witham, and preserved in the British Museum; in the sword discovered in a tumulus in Lancashire (engraved in Archæol. Journal, vol. vi. p. 75); and in the examples given in our plate of swords, figs. 9, 10, 11, from Dr. Bähr's Livonian Collection. These cross-pieces of metal were often, as well as the pommels, richly decorated. The specimen from the Witham, named above, has both pommel and guard, which are of iron, inlaid with gold and copper in a pattern of lozenges. The most usual forms of the pommel were trefoil, cinquefoil, hemispherical, round, and triangular. To some a little ring was added, probably to attach a sword-knot; as in the example already noticed from Gilton, and figured in the "Pagan Saxondom." Of the other kinds named above, the first four occur constantly in the miniatures of Anglo-Saxon books, and it is difficult to understand on what grounds the swords with foliated pommels, when found in this country, are so generally assigned to the Danes. The triangular pommel is more rare. In our plate, fig. 7, we give an example in an ancient Norwegian sword in the possession of Dr. Thurnum. It is entirely of iron, measuring 3 feet, 1½ inches. A sword of similar form is engraved in Worsaae's "Copenhagen Museum," p. 97.

That the sword-hilts were occasionally of a costly character, we have the concurring testimony of ancient charters, poets, chroniclers, and of the graves. The poetical Edda records that Gunnar, a regulus of Germany, replied to the messenger of Attila,—"Seven chests have I filled with swords; each of them has a hilt of gold: my weapon is exceedingly sharp; my bow is worthy of the bench it graces; my byrnies are golden; my helmet and white shield came from the hall of Kiars[67]." Kiars was a regulus of Gaul. In "Beowulf" (line 1338), the "Great Prince" delivers into the keeping of his servant "his ornamented sword, the costliest of blades" (irena cyst). Again: "The son of Healfdene gave to Beowulf a golden ensign, as the reward of victory; a treasure with a twisted hilt, a helm and byrnie, a mighty valued sword many beheld borne before the warrior." (Line 2033.) At line 3228, we have "the hilt variegated with treasure;" and afterwards (line 3373,) we read of a "sword, the costliest of irons, with twisted hilt, and variegated like a snake." In this passage, both sword and simile are curiously illustrative of the ornamental art of the Anglo-Saxons, of which so many examples have come down to us. A document of the early part of the tenth century, given in Mr. Thorpe's "Anglo-Saxon Laws[68]," distinguishing between the eorl and the ceorl, declares, that if the latter "thrive so well, that he have a helm and byrnie, and a sword ornamented with gold, if he have not five hides of land, he is notwithstanding a ceorl." We have already seen that Canute's huscarlas were armed "with axes, halbards, and swords inlaid with gold." Eginhard tells us that the belt of Charlemagne was "of gold or silver, and the hilt of his sword was made of gold and precious stones." And of the splendid galley fitted out by Earl Godwin, as a present to Hardiknut, we are told that the warriors had "swords whose hilts were of gold."

Among the heriots enumerated by Mr. Kemble[69], that of Beorhtric, about 962, includes a sword worth eighty mancuses of gold. And Duke Ælfheah was possessor of another of the same value. In the will of prince Æthelstan, dated 1015, is named "a silver-hilted sword which Woolfricke made." Guillaume de Jumièges and Dudon de S. Quentin tell us that Richard the First, duke of Normandy, rewarded the services of two knights by presenting to each a sword whose hilt of gold weighed four pounds, and a bracelet of gold of the same weight. In illuminated manuscripts of this period, the mountings of swords are generally coloured yellow, implying probably a surface of gold, whether from thin plates of that metal, or from gilding. In the Fausset Collection is the bronze pommel of a sword, which has been richly gilt. The mountings of another in the British Museum are inlaid with gold. In Mr. Rolfe's possession are examples both in gilded bronze and of silver. In Denmark, hilts have been found "partly of silver, or inlaid with silver, or with gold chains attached to them[70]." Other Danish swords were surrounded with chains of gold, or covered with plates of gold and silver; and swords with handles entirely of silver have also been discovered[71]. Coloured beads appear sometimes to have formed part of the decorations of the Anglo-Saxon sword. Mr. Neville remarks, in his description of the relics found at Wilbraham, that "an immense blue-and-white perforated Bead accompanied three out of the four swords, probably as an appendage to the hilt or some part of the scabbard." On Plate xxi. of his "Saxon Obsequies" he has figured two of these beads: one is an inch and three-quarters in diameter, the other an inch and a quarter. Occasionally, runic or Latin inscriptions appear upon these weapons. In "Beowulf" this usage is noticed:—

Mr. Rolfe had the good fortune to become the possessor of a sword-pommel thus "rightly marked." It is of silver, and was found at Ash-by-Sandwich. The runes occupy one side only of the pommel, the other having zigzag and triangular ornaments. This curious relic has been figured in the "Archæological Album," "Pagan Saxondom," and in Mr. Wright's "Celt, Roman, and Saxon." Professor Thomsen of Copenhagen informs the writer of these pages that, in Denmark, swords of the latest pagan period have been found, having runic inscriptions formed by letters of iron let into the iron blade. In the Tower collection may be seen a sword of somewhat later date, in which also is exhibited this curious practice, of inserting letters of iron into an iron blade. Among the swords found in Ireland, attributed to the Scandinavian settlers in that country, instances have occurred of inscriptions "in Latin letters[72]." In the Northern Sagas, frequent mention is made of the swords of their heroes being marked with runes; and the evidences we have adduced are of no small value in shewing the correctness of these writings as regards the ordinary usages of the time.

A further distinction was conferred on the swords of the great heroes of the North;—they were honoured with particular names. In the Wilkina Saga we read of "the sword called Gramr, which is the best of all swords," with which Sigurdr slays the cunning smith, Mimer; and again, of the weapon named Naglhringr, obtained for Dietrich of Bern, by the dwarf Alpris, (c. xvi.) Vermund the Wise armed his son Uffe with the brand Skrep, none other being proportioned to his strength. That of Rolf Krage was called Skrofnung. In "Beowulf" (canto xxi.), we have "the hilted knife named Hrunting,"—

whose "edge was iron stained with poisonous twigs, hardened in gore." And in canto xxvi. of the same poem we learn that—

King Hacon the Good, Snorro tells us, "girded round him his sword called Kuernbit" (millstone-biter). Thorolf, in Egil's Saga, "was armed with a sword named Lang, a mickle weapon and good." In Magnus Barfot's Saga (cap. xxvi.), the king wore "a most sharp sword called Leggbitr, the hilt of which was made of the tooth of the Rosmar (walrus), and ornamented with gold." The sword Mimung was no whit inferior to any of these. It was forged by Weland, in a trial of skill with another celebrated weapon-smith, Amilias by name. Weland first made a sword with which he cut a thread of wool lying on the water. But not content with this, he re-forged the blade, which then cut through the whole ball of floating wool. Still dissatisfied, he again passed it through the fire, and at length produced so keen a weapon that it divided a whole bundle of wool floating in water. Amilias, on his part, forged a suit of armour so much to his own satisfaction that, sitting down on a stool, he bade Weland try his weapon upon him. Weland obeyed, and there being no apparent effect, asked Amilias if he felt any particular sensation. Amilias said he felt as though cold water had passed through his bowels. Weland then bade him shake himself. On doing so, the effect of the blow was apparent: he fell dead in two pieces[73].

The skilful weaponer was always a person of high consideration in these days. This is curiously shewn in the law of Ethelbert which enacts that "if one man slay another, he is to pay his wergyld: but not so, if the slayer happen to be the king's weapon-smith or his messenger; in that case, he is to pay only a moderated wergyld of a hundred shillings[74]."

We have already noticed the curious custom of burying the spear-head in the same vase with the bones of the Anglo-Saxon warrior. An analogous practice has been observed in Denmark; where the sword of the hero, broken into several pieces, is placed over the mouth of the urn. An example of this kind of interment is engraved in Worsaae's "Copenhagen Museum," p. 98. Occasionally the iron sword, having been softened by the fire, was bent, and in this state deposited in the grave. The Abbé Cochet remarks:—"Cet usage des sabres ployés au feu et enterrés avec les morts est très-rare chez nous: il s'est rencontré en Allemagne, en Danemark, et en Suisse, ou M. de Bonstetton en a vu un grand nombre, en 1851, dans les sépultures de Tiefenau, près Berne. Ce savant ajoute que cette coutume, plus barbare que romaine, peu connue des Helvètes, était très-fréquente chez les peuples Scandinaves. Il existe, dit-il, au musée de Schwerin plusieurs glaives en fer que l'on croit provenir des Vendes, et qui ont été rougis dans le feu et ensuite ployés. Baehr signale le même fait dans les tombes d'Ascheraden et de Segevold[75]."

The Sheaths of the swords were commonly of wood covered with leather, as we learn from the graves; and they were sometimes mounted in bronze. Figure 2 of our fourth Plate shews an example from Wilbraham, in which the locket and chape are of bronze; and the Livonian sword, Plate v. fig. 10, has an ornamented bronze chape. In the British Museum is an Anglo-Saxon blade found in a grave at Battle Edge, Oxfordshire, which retains the bronze chape and locket of its scabbard. These fitments were sometimes gilt, or even of gold. Mr. Worsaae, in his "Primeval Antiquities of Denmark," page 50, has figured the gold locket of a sword-sheath, adorned with the winding pattern so characteristic of this period. Wood and leather were the ordinary materials used in the Danish scabbards. Of the sheaths formed of these substances, which have been partially preserved to our times, the most curious example is that figured by Mr. Bateman in vol. vii. of the Journal of the Archæological Association. It was found in a barrow in Derbyshire, and is constructed of thin wood overlaid with leather, the surface of the latter being covered with a pattern of alternate fillets and lozenges. A scabbard found at Strood, in Kent, was formed externally of a substance resembling shagreen. Dr. Bähr, in Die Gräber der Liven, Plate xv., has engraved a dagger-sheath, which is entirely of bronze, from Ascheraden; and in the Abbildungen von Mainzer Altherthümern for 1852, is another bronze dagger-sheath, containing an iron dagger, which was found near Treves. Several are in the British Museum. Mr. Roach Smith has another, found in the Thames;—all of them probably belonging to the period under consideration. There is also a curious type of sword-scabbard, formed entirely of bronze, which further observation may probably shew to be of Northern make. The example here engraved was found on a moor near Flasby, in Yorkshire; it contains the blade of an iron sword. Several similar ones have been discovered. One dug up at Stanwick has been presented by the Duke of Northumberland to the British Museum. Another is engraved in Dr. Wilson's "Annals of Scotland," found near Edinburgh. A fourth, from the bed of the Isis, is figured in the Archæological Journal, vol. x. p. 259. The Earl of Londesborough has another, dredged from the Thames, which differs from the rest in having been ornamented with enamelled studs. This is engraved in vol. iii. of the Collectanea Antiqua. See also the Danish example, figured in Worsaae's "Copenhagen Museum," p. 66. All these bronze scabbards have contained iron blades.

The Sword-Belts appear to have been usually girt round the waist; the buckles and tongues of them having often been found in the graves. These fitments are generally of bronze, sometimes of copper; and the metal is not unfrequently gilt, or embossed, or enamelled. Some buckles in the Faussett collection, found in Kent, are set with garnets. The belt was occasionally worn across the body, suspended from the right shoulder; as in the fine figure in Cotton MS., Tiberius, C. vi. fol. 9. Our woodcut, No. 17, furnishes an example of the belt girt round the waist, from an illumination in Add. MS., No. 18,043.

The Axe, as we have seen, was a characteristic weapon of the Northern nations. It is not unfrequently found in the graves of these people on the Continent, but in Anglo-Saxon interments it is of the extremest rarity. In the Wilbraham excavations, a hundred graves yielded only two axes. In the Fairford researches, not one was found in a hundred and twenty graves; and in the many Kentish barrows examined by the Earl of Londesborough in 1841, not a single specimen was obtained. The axe appears to have been of three principal forms: the "taper axe," the broad axe, and the double-axe, or bipennis. The pole-axe and the adze-axe were varieties of these. The battle-axe was also called francisca, from the favour with which it was regarded by the Franks. Isidorus (lib. xviii. c. 8.) tells us of "Secures quas Hispani ab usu Francorum per derivationem franciscas vocant."

Examples of the Anglo-Saxon taper-axe, from the Ozingell Cemetery, are given in figures 1 and 2 of our Plate. Figures 3 and 4, found in Ireland, fig. 6, from Selzen in Germany, and fig. 9, from Livonia, closely resemble the Kentish ones. Fig. 8, from Livonia, differs chiefly in having a prolongation at the back. Specimens of the taper-axe found in France are given in Plates vii., ix., and xi. of La Normandie Souterraine; and Danish examples occur at pages 68 and 96 of Worsaae's "Copenhagen Museum." Some of the axe-heads dug up in Denmark exhibit a very curious transitional construction; the blade being of copper edged with iron. Another axe in the Copenhagen Museum, "of the very earliest times of the iron period," is inscribed with runes. The axe found in the tomb of Childeric is of the "taper" form already described; it is represented in Plate ii. of Daniel's Milice Françoise. We have already, by the passages from Sidonius and Procopius, seen how the sons of Odin commenced their attack by hurling their axes at the foe. A curious illustration of this practice of throwing the axe is afforded by a charter of Canute, granting to the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury, the port-dues of Sandwich, "from Pepernesse to Mearcesfleote, as far as a taper-axe can be thrown on the shore from a vessel afloat at high water[76]:" swā feorr swā mæȝ ān taper-æx beon ȝeworpen ū of ðam scipe ūp on dæt land.

The single-axe used by the Anglo-Saxons in battle does not seem to have differed in form from those employed in woodcraft; as may be seen by referring to the Calendar contained in Cotton MS., Julius, A. vi., faithfully copied in Shaw's "Dresses and Decorations." Indeed, it is probable that the blade which had felled an oak was often called upon to strike down an enemy. Manuscripts do not frequently give pictures of the battle-axe; but examples occur in Cott. MS., Cleop., C. viii., and in the Anglo-Saxon Benedictional of the Library of Rouen.

The double-axe is of still more rare occurrence in book-paintings. It appears in two places in Harleian MS., No. 603, but this is a work not earlier than the close of the eleventh century. In the graves, the bipennis has never been found at all; neither is it seen in the hands of the Anglo-Saxons in the Bayeux Tapestry. But if the bipennis of the true classical form, that is, having two vertical blades, has not hitherto been seen among the varied contents of the Northmen's graves, a very singular variety of this implement has been discovered among the tombs of the Valley of the Eaulne. It is a kind of adze-axe, the one blade being vertical, the other horizontal. It was found by the Abbé Cochet in the cemetery of Parfondeval, and has been engraved in his work, p. 306, and in the Archæologia, vol. xxxv., p. 229. The adze form of one of the blades would seem to indicate rather an artificer's tool than a warrior's weapon, and the Abbé tells us that the peasants have still such an implement, which they call their bisaiguë (p. 307). We may remember, however, that an authority for the military use of the horizontal blade exists in the effigy at Malvern[77].

The Pole-axe is the almost universal form of this arm in the Bayeux tapestry. Not only the Saxon soldiery, but Harold, and even Duke William himself, are armed with this fearful weapon. Indeed, for a force of infantry, as the English were, contending against cavalry, no other kind of axe could have been of much service. Wace, whose minute descriptions, wearisome enough to the general reader, are invaluable to the archæologist, has not lost sight of the long-handled axes of the islanders. He has even given us the particular dimension of the head,—"ki fu d'acier:"—

And again, line 13536:—

The same Master Wace has recorded his objection to the Northern axe; that, requiring both hands to wield it, the weapon cannot be used effectively with the shield:—

The handle of the Axe was of wood, traces of which have been observed in the relics obtained from the graves. In a single instance, it has been found of iron. This example occurred at Lède, in Belgium, and has been described by M. Rigollot in the Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie, vol. x.

The Guisarme is a weapon frequently mentioned by our early chroniclers and poets; but, though it is sometimes made to be identical with the pole-axe, at others it is distinguished from that arm. Wace tells us it was "sharp, long, and broad:"—

The Statute of Arms of King William of Scotland (1165-1214) enacts: "Et qui minus habet quam xl. solidos, habeat Gysarm, quod dicitur Hand-axe[84]." From another Scottish ordinance we learn that the hand-axe was a long-handled weapon. The Provost of Edinburgh in 1552 directs: "Because of the greit slauchteris done in tyme bygane within the burgh, and apperendlie to be done, gif na remeid be provydit thairto; that ilk manner of persone, occupyaris of buthis or chalmeris in the hie-gait, that they have lang valpynnis[85] thairin, sic as handex, Jedburgh staif, hawart jawalyng[86], and siclyk lang valpynnis, with knaipschawis[87] and jakkis; and that they cum thairwith to the hie-gait incontinent efter the commoun bell rynging[88]."

Knives of various sizes are constantly found in the Northern graves. The smaller were evidently for domestic purposes, for they are discovered in female interments as well as in those of the other sex. But the larger kind appear to have been used as daggers. They have been more frequently observed in the continental tombs than in those of our island; and, as they very rarely appear in the pictures of the Anglo-Saxons, we may conclude that they formed no necessary part of the equipment of these warriors. A fine example of this weapon is given on our ninth Plate (fig. 1,) from the Ozingell Cemetery. It is sixteen inches in length, of iron, and is provided with a cross-piece. In the following group from the Anglo-Saxon and Latin Psalter of the Duc de Berri, in the Paris Library, the spearman's adversary appears to be employing exactly such an instrument as the example from the Kentish grave[89]. Figure 2 in our Plate is a two-edged dagger of iron from the Faussett collection. It was found near Ash-by-Sandwich, and measures ten inches in the blade. Figures 3 and 4 are Ancient Irish. The first is the ordinary type of this weapon, of which many have been found. The second is remarkable from the retention of its handle, which is of wood, and ornamented with carving. Both these are from Mr. Wakeman's paper on Irish Antiquities in vol. iii. of the Collectanea Antiqua. Figures 5 and 6 are German examples, from the Selzen graves. The first is very remarkable from the ring at the extremity of the tang. In Denmark, daggers have been found of a transitional period, the bulk of the blade being of bronze, edged on both sides with iron. Other Danish examples are given in Mr. Worsaae's "Copenhagen Museum," pages 66 and 97. In Dr. Bähr's explorations in Livonia, a dagger of iron was discovered with its bronze sheath. (See Die Gräber der Liven, Plate xv.) Gregory of Tours, in the sixth century, mentions in several places that the Frankish soldiers carried large knives at their belts; and there seems no reason to doubt that the examples from the graves are the very "cultri validi" of the historian. Of these Frankish war-knives, several specimens are figured in the Normandie Souterraine. They closely resemble those found in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and England. The handles appear to have been of wood. One of the Frankish examples still had portions of the wooden haft remaining[90]. Other specimens of the Northern cultelli will be found collected on Plate lviii. of the second volume of the Collectanea Antiqua. Some of these weapons appear to have been inlaid with copper or other metal; for which purpose one or more incised lines are formed near the back of the blade. An Anglo-Saxon knife found in excavations in the city of London, and engraved (fig. 3.) in the Plate of the Collectanea Antiqua already noticed, still retains the bronze inlaying in the channels of its blade.

A curious variety of the war-knife is in the collection of Mr. Roach Smith, of which the single edge is straight, or nearly so, and the point formed by a diagonal cut at the back of the blade. It is believed, in its perfect state, to have measured upwards of thirty inches; is of steel; and has on both sides a double line of the channelling already noticed[91]. A weapon of similar form appears among the Livonian antiquities now in the British Museum, and is represented on Plate xix. of Dr. Bähr's Gräber der Liven.

The Long-bow was another weapon of this era. Agathias, indeed, has told us that the Franks used neither bow nor sling. But arrows are expressly mentioned in the Salic Law; and, to reconcile these conflicting testimonies, it has been suggested that the archery of the Salic Law is that of the chase alone. Poisoned arrows, however, are here named, and the hunter does not ply his art with poisoned shafts. "Si quis alterum de sagitta toxicata percutere voluerit[92]," &c. Further on, a fine is fixed for him who shall deprive another of his "second finger, with which he directs his arrow:"—secundum digitum, quo sagittatur. At a later period, the bow is especially commanded as a part of the soldier's equipment. One of the capitularies of Charlemagne directs—"that the Count be careful to have his contingent fully furnished for the field; that they have lance, shield, a bow with two strings and twelve arrows," &c. According to the testimony of Henry of Huntingdon, William the Conqueror reproached the English with their want of this weapon. The Bayeux tapestry, however, seems to authorize the belief that they were not entirely without it. (See the first group of Anglo-Saxons in Stothard's xiv^th. plate.) The probability seems to be that, while the Normans employed archers in large bodies, the English merely interspersed them in small numbers among their men-at-arms. The bow, at all events, was in use among the Anglo-Saxons: it is frequently represented in manuscript illuminations, and arrow-heads have been found in the graves. Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 in our Plate are from Kentish interments. The first two form part of the Fausset collection; the others, figured in the Nenia Britannica, were found on Chatham Lines. The whole are of iron. Pictorial examples of the Anglo-Saxon bow, arrows, and quiver may be seen in Cotton MSS., Cleop., C. viii., Claudius, B. iv., Tiberius, C. vi., and in the fine Prudentius of the Tenison Library. See also Strutt's Horda, vol. i. plate xvii. Arrow-heads of iron have also been found in France, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, and Livonia. Figures 5 and 6 of our Plate are examples from the cemetery at Selzen in Rhenish Hesse; figs. 7 and 8 from Livonian graves. With the latter was also found part of a quiver. The Abbé Cochet[93] has engraved and described specimens found in France, and M. Troyon notices Swiss examples in his paper in the Archæologia, vol. xxxv., and Plate xvii. Compare also Archæological Journal, vol. iii. pp. 119, 120. In the Suabian graves at Oberflacht, bows also were found. See Archæologia, vol. xxxvi. Among the figures of the ivory carving forming the cover of the "Prayer-book of Charles the Bald" are two archers, each holding a leash of barbed arrows; the arrows very clearly represented. This curious sculpture, illustrating the lvii^th. Psalm, (a favourite subject with the middle-age artists,) has been carefully engraved in the sixth volume of the Revue Archéologique. The original is in the Imperial Library at Paris.