Seax
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A large knife with a blade length of 18cm (7") or longer possibly used in combat.
Harke defined knives and short seaxes by size with knives being under 175mm and short seaxes being over 180mm. [CAMERON 2000:p.49]. Like Esther Cameron we have also used this as our definition. Blades of over 12" in length are more usually defined as Langseaxes.
The short seax is also known as a Scramasax, a Hadseax or just a Sax. The term Scramasax comes from Gregory of Tours writing in 575AD, who speaks of "boys with strong knives (cultris validis), which they commonly call scramasaxes (scramasaxos)." in his History of the Franks (IV, 52). [WHEELER 1935:p.176] It is not known if this name continued in use into the Viking Age.
It is not uncommon for burials in the Viking age to contain more than one knife. [BERSU and WILSON 1966: p.41] Wheeler gives his opinion that small heavy seaxes were in use up until the end of the C10th but that as a weapon it really belongs to the pre-Viking period. [WHEELER 1927: p.30]
Seaxs from the Viking Age never have metal fittings unlike the pagan Anglo-Saxon examples.
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]
- 1076AD Bayeux Tapestry [WILSON 1985:pl.6, 7]
- St. Andrew Sarcophagus.jpg
St. Andrew Sarcophagus
- Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale, Lat. 9987 seax.jpg
Brussels Bib. lat. 9987
- Middleton Warrior.jpg
Middleton Warrior
Literature (C9th to C11th)
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]
England, Cambridge, River Cam at Dimmock's Cote
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England, Cumwhitton, Plough Soil
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England, Cumwhitton, Grave 5
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England, Kent, Sittingbourne
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England, London
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England, London, Honey Lane
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England, London, Park Street
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England, London, Princes Street
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England, London,Thames
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England, London, Thames
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England, London, Thames at Blackfriars
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England, London, Thames at Brentford
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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]
Ireland, Dublin, Christchurch Place
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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
- York [MOULD, CARLISLE and CAMERON 2003: p3379-3385]
- Ireland, Dublin. Style E1 [CAMERON 2007: p.15-20]
- [CAMERON 2000: p.64-65]
- England, London. One find from cheapside could have had a blade of 25cm. [CAMERON 2000: p.64-65]
See Also
References
<nocite> BAILEY1980 BERSU1966 CAMERON2000 CAMERON2003 CAMERON2007 HINTON2005 VINCE1991 WilSON1965 WILSON1985 WHEELER1927 WHEELER1935 </nocite> <biblio force=false>#Template:Bib</biblio>