The Anglo Saxon Broken Back Seax A selection of 11th Century Anglo Saxon seaxes Swords were enormously expensive weapons 1,500 years ago, and the Anglo Saxon warriors of those times needed a blade that could be used for everyday work and double as a fighting knife or sword.

First two images show the roughed out handle for this broken backed seax blade. Broken-Back Seax First two images show the roughed out handle for this broken backed seax blade. It is certainly possible that there was more than one way to fight with a seax. It may have been used simply as a short sword or a knife along the same principles set down by later masters of the English martial arts, but there are a few other clues about the martial use of the seax. A cutting blow would smash flesh and bone beneath mail. The literature of other cultures may offer further clues about Anglo Saxon use of the seax. The blade is 10” long, and the overall length of the knife is 16.5”. It's difficult to improve upon Richard Underwood's description of the basic seax form in his book Anglo-Saxon Weapons and Warfare: The blade of the knife terminates in an iron tang by which the grip was attached. Blade and fittings are patinaed. The Thames Scramaseax: the only example with its entire Anglo Saxon runic script intact. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose certain likenesses in the military skills of the Engle and the methods of other early Germanic peoples of Western Europe.

I do not have a lot of use for a knife with a 13" blade, but it sure was fun opening christmas gifts and using it around the house for a few days. Frank Docherty is an English martial arts practitioner with 23 years training and who is a Provost and Assistant Instructor to Ancient Maister Terry Brown in the English martial arts.

Forged 'Broken-Back' Seax Knife for Sale.

Later examples sometimes feature a shallow rounding of the blade towards the point.

* A Seax (also Hadseax, Sax, Seaxe, Scramaseax and Scramsax), was a type of Germanic single-edged knife and were carried for nearly 600 years. I shortened the blade by about an inch to give it a bit more heft at the shoulders, broached a hole for the tang in a piece of burr elm, made a hammered copper guard … The long slender blade is hand-forged to a needle point in tempered spring steel and filed to its final shape. What is Historical Medieval Battle (HMB). The physical features of the broken back seax itself provide some clues to how it might have been used in combat. The guard is deeply filed copper set between two iron plates. Think it will get a copper butt plate, some black leather spacers for a bit of contrast, and some simple carved knotwork... Second two images show the handle shaping finished, and design laid out for carving. His interests lie in the broadsword, backsword, sword & buckler, sword & dagger, quarterstaff, bill hook, threshalls, and knife work based on Silver's System and Principles. His seax is shown suspended from his waistband. He also practices bare fist fighting, and has a special interest in the seax, particularly the English broken back seax. The seax was worn in a horizontal sheath at the front of the belt. It can therefore be presumed that the grip was bored out to hold the tang which was held in place by friction, perhaps aided by softwood wedges or glue. England is not the first home of the English. I shortened the blade by about an inch to give it a bit more heft at the shoulders, broached a hole for the tang in a piece of burr elm, made a hammered copper guard plate and pin, and rasped the handle into rough shape. In spite of extensive research on the way this weapon was made—including metallurgical tests, examination of grave finds, and even practical experiments in making modern day seaxes (of which I have several good examples of all sizes—relatively little is known about how it was used in battle. A 10th century burial cross in a churchyard in Middleton, Yorkshire shows a warrior surrounded by weapons. The larger ones (langseax) were probably weapons, the smaller ones (hadseax) tools, intermediate sized ones serving a dual purpose. The long slender blade is hand-forged to a needle point in tempered spring steel and filed to its final shape. Their ancestral home—known as Angeln—was situated on the mainland of continental Europe in an area that roughly corresponds to the southern half of present-day Denmark. I wanted to have a seax that would be substantial enough to be a battlefield backup weapon, but also handy enough in size to be an effective utility knife for everyday use. Blade and fittings are patinaed. Fortunately, we have evidence from literary and archaeological sources about many historic weapons and fighting techniques. First and foremost is its distinctive "broken back" blade shape. Seax seem to have been used primarily as a tool but may also have been a weapon in extreme situations. Anglo-Saxon Weapons and Warfare: Richard Underwood, The Battle of Maldon: Translated and edited by Bill Griffiths, Beowulf: Text and Translation: Translated by John Porter, The English Elite in 1066, Gone but not forgotten: Donald Henson, The English Warrior from earliest times to 1066: Stephen Pollington, Peace-Weavers and Shield-Maidens, Women in Early English Society: Kathleen Herbert. © Copyright 2009-document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Larry Gotkin, All Rights Reserved. On an unarmoured body, a cut would prove to be crippling or deadly. Copyright © AgeOfCraft.com All rights reserved. The Anglo Saxon seax corresponds with the Frankish variety in date, but has some distinguishing characteristics. For example, the famous British Antiquary Leland tells us that King Alfred the Great (871-899AD) had his warriors trained in unarmed as well as armed combat. The tang is usually a plain iron bar tapering towards the end. Unique Custom Handmade Items: acid etching, architecture, blades, candle holders, cheese slicers, clasps, cribbage boards, chess sets, custom knives, daggers, desk knives, dirks, edged weapons (knives), edged weapons (tomahawks), flint knives, guns, hadseax, handmade knives, Japanese swords, jewelry, katanas, kitchen knives, knife bags, knives, menukis, metal sculpture, obsidian knives, powder horns, powder_horns, puukkos, sax, scramaseax, scramsax, scrimshaw, seax, seaxe, sgian dubhs, skeans, skinners, spears, sword bags, swords, tallit clips, tantos, tomahawks, wakizashis, war clubs, weapons (knives), weapons (tomahawks), weapons (war clubs), yoga pose meditation candles, yoga pose metal sculptures. Swords were enormously expensive weapons 1,500 years ago, and the Anglo Saxon warriors of those times needed a blade that could be used for everyday work and double as a fighting knife or sword. Architecture and award-winning museum-quality custom handmade knives, edged weapons, powder horns, tomahawks, war clubs, jewelry, metal sculpture, cribbage boards, flint and obsidian knives, Japanese swords, menorahs, and more from Tucson, Arizona artist and architect Larry Gotkin. It may then be possible to extract some understanding of the military practices of the Engle from classical sources such as Tacitus. The term "scramaseax" is sometimes used in modern descriptions of this weapon, but it occurs only once in an historical account. Its sharp wedge shape gives it great—even armour-piercing—strength. The hand-filling grip …

The origins of the seax are difficult to determine, but early forms of the weapon have been found in 5th century Frankish graves. Source: Wikipedia English - The Free Encyclopedia. They and warriors of many other Northern European cultures chose the seax, which can be considered either a large dagger or a short single-edged sword. This is surprising in as much as the weapon gave its name to the people known as "Saxons" who were one of three Germanic tribes who settled in Britain. Price: $425. The majority of knives have quite short tangs, between 3cm and 7cm long, although occasionally it is much longer, suggesting the grip was suitable to be gripped in two hands.

It is possible the tang was heated and burned into place although this would tend to weaken the fabric of the grip. In his History of the Franks, Gregory of Tours describes how sixth century Frankish king Sigibert was assassinated by two young men using "strong knives commonly called scramaseax" (cultris validis quos vulgo scramasaxos vocant). The Saxons may have derived their name from seax, the implement for which they were known. A selection of 11th Century Anglo Saxon seaxes. The guard is deeply filed copper set between two iron plates. The Engle, as the English were then known, were a Germanic race so it is likely that their culture would have had something in common with that of other Germanic races who settled the region. Keywords: Sax, seax, seaxe, scramsax, Viking knife, Saxon Knife, Creative Anachronists, Renaisance, medieval knife, museum-quality knife, collector's knife, collectible knife, knife, 13th century knife, presentation knife steel, forged knife, unique knife, custom-made knife, handmade knife, historical knife, art knife, re-enactor, reenactment, accoutrements, artisan knife.

The sheath is suspended from stitched leather loops, blade up in the traditional manner. The knife appears to have a rat tang as any broken back seax should and the handle is comfortable and gives a decent grip. Occasionally knives have metal hilt fittings, either a pommel or both a lower-guard and pommel. Likewise, its needle point would make thrusts devastating to the human body. (Shown at right). This knife will be available on consignment, and its progress shown On the Bench. The pommel is formed from the natural  joint. Even in its longest forms, the seax allowed a warrior to fight in close. In its shorter forms, sometimes just a few inches long, the seax typically was worn across the stomach with edge upright and with the hilt at the right-hand side. These sources tell us that the English warrior, and even everyday men and women, systematically trained in martial arts probably already ancient to them, and which comprised a fighting system. The grip was made of perishable material such as wood, horn or bone, and does not generally survive. The mahogany brown leather sheath is wet-molded and hand-stitched. They occur in a size range from 3” to 30”. Beyond this basic description, the typological classification of the weapon follows the system devised in modern times to describe Frankish finds: Class A: The narrow/small seax 5th-6th century. The hand-filling grip is elk leg bone, polished smooth and aged. The long seax, which could reach a length of up to 24" or 30", in broken back style seems unique to Britain. Compared to its continental relatives, the Anglo Saxon weapon sometimes has a much longer grip, with an upper guard curved away from the blade in a manner that suggests that this seax was adapted for two handed use. This seax commonly features pattern-welding, but usually only along the spine of the weapon. Mr. Docherty has a Shodan in Jodo (Japanese stick fighting), a Shodan in Iaido, a black sash in five animals kung fu, and has been a kickboxing Instructor.



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