Customer Reviews

The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England: Its Archaeology and Literature

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H.E. Davidson is one the best European/English historians of the early to mid 20th century, having written many great works including the now unavailable "Road to Hel", "Myths in Pagan Europe", numerous works on Norse mythology, and many works on Goddess-lore that never strays into the "fluffy bunny" utopianisms of Gimbutas or other fantasies. Here, Davidson puts her considerable skills as a compiler of numerous fields including Anglo-Saxon poetry, lore, archeology, history, and just about anything else she can think of to put together an excellent monograph on the most potent ancient weapon and symbol, the sword. Since there is no preview available, I will list the contents here:

List of swords in Museums in the British Isles
THE MAKING OF THE SWORD
1. Iron for the Blade
2. Eastern Sword-blades
3. Pattern-welded Blades
4. When and Where were they Made?
5. The Teutonic Sword
6. Inscribed Blades
7. The Construction of the Hilt
8. The Pommel
9. The Grip
10. The Guard
11. The Decoration of the Hilt
12. The Ring on the Hilt
13. Inscribed Hilts
14. Sword Attachments
15. The Scabbard
16. Scabbard Inscriptions
THE TELLING OF THE SWORD
1. Historical Records
2. Anglo-Saxon Wills
3. Some Sword Terms in Beowulf
4. The Sword Hrunting
5. The Sword from the Lake
6. Other Swords in Anglo-Saxon Poetry
7. Sword Riddles
8. The Sword-blade in Old Norse Literature
9. The Hilt in Old Norse Literature
10. The Scabbard in Old Norse Literature
THE USING OF THE SWORD
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX A. The Forging of a Pattern Welded Sword
APPENDIX B. The Shifford Sword, by RE OAKSHOTT

Anyone with an interest in ancient European sword-craft, warrior society lore and mythos, or Beowulf scholarship will find this an excellent resource. I hope this review has been helpful.

First published in 1962, this is still the most respected text on the sword in the Anglo-Saxon period.

The book includes detailed research about the making of the swords, hilt decoration, blade inscriptions, and the weapon as mentioned in Anglo-Saxon literature. She even goes to the trouble of consulting with modern experts in steelworking to assess the forging techniques and the physical characteristics of the blades.

By the end we have gained a real appreciation of these objects not only as masterpieces of art and technology, but as powerful symbols in Anglo-Saxon culture.

Sweyn
The Rune Primer: A Down to Earth Guide to the Runes

The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England: Its Archaeology and Literature was originally published in 1962. There have been a number of discoveries since that time, however, Davidson's book is still relevant and a primary text on the subject.

The book is reasonably easy to read and grasp. The author chose to write the book in two parts, one part on morphology and a second on swords in the literature (wills, receipts, etc...). A good bit of space is devoted to pattern welding - a subject often glazed over by other authors. The text is very well researched and cited. Davidson presents a few theories that would eventually prove true, but she avoids stating speculation as fact. Make no mistake, this is a text. Reading it requires an interest in the subject.

Incidentally, Oakshott illustrated the book. He would go on to succeed Davidson as the foremost authority on European swords. His association with Davidson, I suspect, had a hand in that.

Thoroughly researched scholarly book with details and details about the details, plus excellent sections addressing the how-it-was-made pattern welded blades. Great book for the student of history, not for the fantasy buff.

".....
Hilda Ellis Davison EXPLORES THE REVELATIONS OF ARCHAEOLOGY, METHODS OF SWORD-MAING, AND references in Anglo-Saxon....."
[from the frotn flap]