File:The arts in early England (1903) (14761728526).jpg

Identifier: artsinearlyengla03brow (find matches)
Title: The arts in early England
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Brown, G. Baldwin (Gerard Baldwin), 1849-1932 Webster, A. Blyth (Adam Blyth), 1882-1956 Sexton, Eric H. L. (Eric Hyde Lord), 1902-1980
Subjects: Art Architecture Architecture, Medieval Church architecture Crosses Decoration and ornament, Celtic Inscriptions, Runic
Publisher: London, J. Murray
Contributing Library: Wellesley College Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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h have suggested to Professor Earle the translation knife and dirk, to Benjamin Thorpe knife and c poniard.It was worn by her side by Grendels mother, line 1545, andby Beowulf himself attached to his coat of mail, line 2703, butit was at the same time an effective weapon of war, strong anddeadly though of manageable size. This might be regardedas a knife-scramasax, and the mediaeval dirk or dagger em-ployed at meals as well as in fight would give a good idea ofits use though not of its form, for the dagger is essentially atwo-edged pointed weapon meant for the thrust. The matterhas been somewhat complicated by the endeavour of somewriters to give a special name to a class of weapons verylike the scramasax but a little more slender. This is called Langsax by the Germans, and * coutelas by M. Pilloy, whoinsists that Childerics weapon cannot be called a scramasax 1 Societe Archeologique et Historique de la Charente, Bulletin, 1890-91,p. 186. XXVIII facing p. 2:7 SCRAMASAXES. KNIVES. ETC.
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THE KNIFE 227 because this particular arm only makes its appearance towardsthe end of the 6th century.x We have therefore to distin-guish four different species of the same genus. 1. The knife pure and simple which was perhaps called seax by our forefathers and of which innumerable exampleshave come to light in graves apparently of all periods. Theform of this is pretty constant. Its special characteristic is itsstraightness, in which it differs from the curved knives of theBronze Age and of Romano-British times, specimens of whichare shown PI. xxviii, 5 and 9. A tang is always present, andthe length of blade and tang together ranges from some 3 in.upwards, while the blade varies considerably in width in rela-tion to the length. The handle was no doubt generally ofwood 2 but some plates of bone have been found, as at GlenParva, Leicestershire, which may have formed knife hilts.PI. xxviii gives a number of these knives from differentcemeteries, and the lady of PL xn (p. 151) has a broa

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