Research:Seax
From The Viking Age Compendium
Accessories:
Accessories:
Contents
Images of Seaxes (C8th to C11th)
- 775-800AD St. Andrew Sarcophagus
- C8th England, Derbyshire, Repton. Stone carving, [CAMERON 2000]:p.200 [HINTON 2005]:p.105
- 850-900AD Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale, Lat. 9987. Psychomachia
- C9th Paris, BNF, Lat. 8085 fol.57r. Virtue, armed with a sword and seax, combating a Vice. [BNF]
- C10th Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale, ms. 10066-77 Psychomachia f.112r-139r
- England, Dorset, Cranborne. Silver strap-end [HINTON 2005]:p.113
- Middleton Warrior [BAILEY 1980]:pl.14
- 975-1000AD Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS23, f.23r.[PARKER]
- 1025-1050AD Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS lat 8824 - seax.jpg [OHLGREN 1992]
- 1076AD Bayeux Tapestry [WILSON 1985]:pl.6, 7
Literature (C9th to C11th)
- Beowulf c.1000AD
- "Grendel's mother; the hard man of conflict then heaved, now that he was enraged, the deadly foe, so that she fell to the floor; she again him quickly gave hand-reward with wrathful grips and clutched him against herself; hen, weary in spirit, he stumbled, the strongest man, warrior on foot, so that he was in a fall; then she bestrode the guest in her hall, and drew her seax, broad and bright-edged; she wished to avenge her son, only offspring;" lines 1538-1547 heorot.dk
- "Then again the king himself gathered his wits, drew a slaughter-seax bitter and battle-sharp, that he wore on his byrnie;" lines 2702-2704 heorot.dk
- "beside him lies his life-contender sick with seax-wounds" line 2903-2904 heorot.dk
- "Grendel's mother; the hard man of conflict then heaved, now that he was enraged, the deadly foe, so that she fell to the floor; she again him quickly gave hand-reward with wrathful grips and clutched him against herself; hen, weary in spirit, he stumbled, the strongest man, warrior on foot, so that he was in a fall; then she bestrode the guest in her hall, and drew her seax, broad and bright-edged; she wished to avenge her son, only offspring;" lines 1538-1547 heorot.dk
English Seax Blades (C9th to C11th)
Out of 128 knives found from Coppergate York, only 1 can be classed as a seax. [CAMERON 2000]:p.64-65
File:Seax Dimmock Cote.jpg 130x150px |
England, Cambridge, River Cam at Dimmock's Cote
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File:Seax Cumwhitton 634.jpg 130x150px |
England, Cumwhitton, Plough Soil
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File:Seax Cumwhitton 885.jpg 130x150px |
England, Cumwhitton, Grave 5
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File:Seax Sittingbourne.jpg 130x150px |
England, Kent, Sittingbourne
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England, London
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File:Seax London 1856 Honey Lane.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Honey Lane
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File:Seax London 1879 Park Street.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Park Street
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File:Seax London Princes Street.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Princes Street
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File:Seax London 1859 Thames.jpg 130x150px |
England, London,Thames
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England, London, Thames
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File:Seax London A9313.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Thames at Blackfriars
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File:Seax London A10721.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Thames at Brentford
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File:Seax London A13935.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Thames at Brentford
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File:Seax London O2136.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Thames at Brentford
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File:Seax London A24399.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Thames at Fulham
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File:Seax London A24909.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Thames at Fulham
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English style Seax Sheathes (C9th to C11th)
Seax sheaths are made from substantial leather up to 3mm thick and closed by rivets about 4 to 5cm apart. In England there are 12 finds of Seax sheaths out of a total of 61 [CAMERON 2000]:p.64-65
File:Sheath Aachen.jpg 130x150px |
Germany, Aachen
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File:Sheath Trondheim T5919.jpg 130x150px |
Norway, Trondheim, Sor-Trondelag
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File:Sheath Trondheim T5919.jpg 130x150px |
Norway, Trondheim, Sor-Trondelag
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File:Sheath Dublin DLS4.jpg 130x150px |
Ireland, Dublin, Christchurch Place
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File:Sheath Dublin DLS5.jpg 130x150px |
Ireland, Dublin, Christchurch Place
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File:Sheath Dublin DLS11.jpg 130x150px |
Ireland, Dublin, Fishamble Street
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File:Sheath Gloucester sf.65.jpg 130x150px |
England, Gloucester, 11-17 Southgate Street
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File:Sheath Gloucester sf.7.jpg 130x150px |
England, Gloucester, Berkeley Street
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File:Sheath Hexham.jpg 130x150px |
England, Hexham
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File:Sheath York sf.754.jpg 130x150px |
England, York, Parliament Street
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File:Sheath York Coppergate.jpg 130x150px |
England, York, Coppergate
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File:Sheath York sf.753.jpg 130x150px |
England, York, Parliament Street
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File:Sheath York sf.4332.jpg 130x150px |
England, York
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File:Sheath London Trump Street.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Trump Street
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File:Sheath London Cheapside.jpg 130x150px |
England, London, Cheapside
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A few Seax Sheathes from the C8th
- Dover, Buckland, grave 145, leather sheath dated to 700-750AD
- London, River Thames nr. Westminster Bridge, metal fittings, late C8th
References
Bersu, Gerhard and Wilson, David M. (1966) Three Viking Graves in the Isle of Man. The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Servies: No 1 [BERSU & WILSON 1966] *
Bjorn, Anathon, and Shetelig, Haakon (1940) Viking Antiquities in England. Edited by Haakon Shetelig. (Available Online) Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland: Part 4 [BJORN & SHETELIG 1940] *
Cameron, Esther A. (2000) Sheaths and Scabbards in England AD400-1100. British Archaeological Reports: BAR 301 [CAMERON 2000] ^ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 *
Cameron, Esther A. (2007) Scabbards and Sheaths from Viking and Medieval Dublin.. Medieval Dublin Excavations 1962-81: Ser.B Vol.08 [CAMERON 2007] ^ 1 2 3 *
Hinton, David A. (2005) Gold and Gilt, Pots and Pins ~ Possessions and People in Medieval Britain. [HINTON 2005] ^ 1 2 *
Okasha, Elisabeth (19920 'Anglo-Saxon Inscribed Sheaths from Aachen, Dublin and Trondheim'. (Available Online) Medieval Archaeology: Vol.36 [OKASHA 1992] ^ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 *
Cambridge, Parker Library http://parkerweb.stanford.edu/parker/actions/page.do?forward=home [PARKER LIBRARY] *
Paterson, Caroline; Parsons, Adam J.; Newman, Rachel M.; Johnson, Nick and Howard Davis, Christine (2014) Shadows in the Sand. Excavation of a Viking-Age Cemetery at Cumwhitton, Cumbria. [PATERSON 2014] ^ 1 2 3 4 *
Vince, Alan (1991) Aspects of Saxo-Norman London: II Finds and Environmental Evidence. [VINCE 1991] ^ *
Wilson, David M. (1964) Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork 700-1100. The British Museum. [WILSON 1964] ^ 1 2 *