The inspiration for this project was the magnificent lyre from Grave 58, Trossingen, Baden-Wuttenberg, South-West Germany, uncovered as part of emergency excavations in winter 2001/2.   During these excavations 12 graves of this late Migration-Age presumed "Alemannic" cemetery were uncovered, of which Grave 58 was the most spectacular; a princely chamber-grave with organic grave-goods remarkably well preserved due to the waterlogging and uniquely heavy clay subsoil. 

Grave 58 contained a man aged around 40 years old who, thanks to dendro-dating of the chamber timbers, we know was buried in the late summer of the year 580 CE.  Strontium isotope analysis revealed he was local to the Trossingen area. He was 1.78m tall and his skeleton showed little signs of physical labour. He lay in a frame bed constructed from beautifully turned beech posts, furnished with red and yellow woollen blankets, and was surrounded by many other sophisticated grave goods, including candle-holders, a turned round table, an elaborate throne, wooden canteen, various bowls, a 3.6m long spear, a bow, a shield of alder, a riding crop and remains of a saddle. A comb lay by his head, a sword (with silver inlaid hilt) lay at his right arm, and at his left was the most perfectly preserved warrior lyre so far discovered.  The overall picture is of a high status princely burial that must inevitably be compared to the likes of Sutton Hoo, Prittlewell and Taplow, though with fewer examples of jewellery, and, instead, a great array of wonderful organic items. Trossingen 58 creates the tantalising possibility that other contemporaneous princely graves may have been as, of not more lavishly furnished with beautifully made organic items (in addition to their preserved metallic finds) which have simply not survived.
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​Prior to the discovery of the Trossingen lyre, it is fair to say that our understanding of Germanic warrior lyres was largely based on ill-preserved fragmentary remains from various contexts, preserved but isolated components, manuscript depictions, conservatism and sensible conjecture.

​Being so wonderfully preserved, Trossingen provides the first evidence for previously unknown features including sound-holes, and elaborate surface decoration beyond anything we could have dared imagine prior to its discovery. Its entire surface was covered with decoration, including friezes of animal interlace, and processions of warriors carrying shields and spears. 
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​Our reconstruction, produced over approximately 6 weeks, is overall faithful to the original, though differing in some aspects to account for material limitations.  The first lyre Æd had ever made, it was produced following detailed instructions and advice from personal communication with experienced lyre-maker Michael J King (www.michaelking.com).

Given difficulty sourcing a large enough piece of Acer campestre wood for the body, we instead used a piece of English lime, having excellent properties for carving and lacking the characteristic "flame" seen on sycamore maple which could obscure the decoration. For the soundboard we sourced a minimally flamed sycamore tonewood (Acer pseudoplatanus - again an appropriate substitute for the original's field maple) though it wasn't quite long enough to allow the sound board to extend all the way up the pillars on the original. We therefore terminated the sound board a few inches lower on the pillars, in a fashion consistent with the design of the remarkably similar contemporaneous lyre from Oberflacht. 

The body of the lyre was cut, the sound-box carved using chisels, scraped out, and then, importantly, the profile of the body was gradually tapered down to be considerably thinner at the at the string arch than at the base, following closely the dimensions of the original.   The sound-board was carefully shaped and sanded, and positioned using ash (Fraxinus excelsior) positioning-pegs as on the original, and finally installed using hot animal-glue.   After a week of drying the outside of the lyre was shaped and sanded. 
The original lyre showed various signs of repair in antiquity, including non-original iron pins used to re-fix the sound board to the body. We chose not to include these so as to give an impression of the lyre when it was first made.  Similarly the original lyre had an unusual mixture of ash and hazel pegs, of different design, and it is suggested that some of these were replacements.  We chose to incorporate a matching set of ash pegs, corresponding to the spoon-shaped design of the original's ash set, whittled by hand and knife.  
The bridge was hand-carved, as the original, out of a piece of willow (Salix spp.).

​Recreating the elaborate surface decoration took a substantial part of the time spent on this build, and was undertaken closely following the instructions of lyre-maker Michael J King. This unusual technique - "Kolrosing" - is essentially a means of 'tattooing' the wood, leaving decoration which is totally smooth to the touch and does not remove material or alter the surfaces of the instrument, thereby not affecting its sound.
The technique involves finely sanding the surface of the lyre, then incising the design into the surface using a scalpel, in the form of many shallow vertical cuts, removing no material in the process. Charcoal is brushed into these cuts, and the surface is then sealed with an oil or wax and sanded over. 

As this is the only example of such a warrior lyre where the surface of the body was preserved, it opens up the possibility that other lyres were similarly decorated with this technique, although we will never know for certain. The evocative processions of shield-carrying warriors, all with unique faces, reaching for a huge spear, may be a reference to some story or myth in the owner's oral tradition, and may have served as a visual aid for storytelling in the mead-halls of the 6th century.   The decoration on the reverse of the lyre, however - particularly the hugely complex knot work of snakes, must surely be simply an aesthetic indulgence. 

​"Dreamgifu" - meaning "gift of music" in Old English, we hope, helps to illustrate the wonderful craftsmanship that those in what we call the "Early Anglo-Saxon period" applied not just in their now much-celebrated metalwork, but also in organic materials. We hope it also highlights the importance of music and performance in Migration-Age warrior culture. It could not have been a more perfect find to recreate for Connor - combining three of his greatest loves; historic music, tattoos, and snakes. 

The earliest and most abundant examples are narrow bands with simple patterns, from female graves in Kent and the Isle of Wight. These are almost always found near the head, and may have been used as glistening headbands for securing veils. More spectacular are the remains from the famous Taplow princely burial - the second most lavish burial found from the Anglo-Saxon period, which contained, alongside shields, feasting gear and sword, over 2.5m of exquisite, often very wide, finely woven metallic gold brocade.

Due to the shortcomings of the 19th century excavators of the burial, the position of the fine strands of gold found in the burial cannot be stated with any confidence, and as such, we cannot say for certain if the huge amount of gold brocade formed the decoration of a cloak or other garment, or perhaps a sword harness or belt.  The famous gold Taplow buckle had adhesions of both leather and tablet-weave-structure textile on its back, so it may have been associated with the brocade.

To illustrate what such a belt may have looked like, and as part of ongoing efforts to recreate and "bring to life" princely treasures from the 7th century, in 2016 we embarked on a project to build a gold brocaded belt inspired by the Taplow burial. The project began with team member Aed learning the gold brocade technique, first experimenting with a narrow band based on one from Chessel Down, Isle of Wight (in blue, at the top) before moving on to the more complex band from Taplow. The pattern we chose to reproduce is known as the "narrow band" for it is the narrowest element identified from the burial, although it is still wider and more complex than any gold brocade from any other early Anglo-Saxon burial.  The replica band took over 150 hours of high-concentration work.

 Upon completion it was sewn, using the same threads, to a piece of prepared, stained and burnished veg-tan leather, and the buckle and retaining loops were installed, such that the belt could be clasped without the buckle being covered, or the delicate brocading needing to pass through the buckle or be strained. 

Rather than the Taplow buckle (a replica of which we had used on a previous build) we chose to incorporate an exquisite replica of the contemporaneous and similarly styled buckle from Alton, Hampshire, produced by Ganderwick Creations. 

The final result was more subtle than we expected; the gold foil woven through the belt is quite subtle until light hits it at just the right angle and flares, revealing the pattern vividly against the ground weave. It looks particularly good glistening in firelight, and it may have been this that attracted our ancestors to the technique. After all, while coloured tabletweave will appear dull in the dim light of the meadhall, gold brocade glistens and sparkles in light cast by dancing flames.  What better assemblage to, along with replicas of finds such as the Staffordshire Hoard, illustrate that the 7th century really was the "Age of Gold"?

Beginning in 2014, we embarked on a project to envision what a complete, kingly-status, large broadseax from the late 7th century would have looked like, drawing on elements from the corpus of English broadseax burials, and taking inspiration from the later phase material from the Staffordshire Hoard.

Our associate specialist weapon-smith Paul Binns (of Paul Binns Swords) produced a blade of extraordinary beauty and breathtaking complexity. This has a slim band of ‘pattern-welding’ sitting below two deep parallel grooves, themselves bearing subtle ribbons of patternation, and a graceful wave-like pattern interface between the blade-core and the carbon-steel cutting edge.
The blade is 48cm long, 4cm wide and 8mm thick at the spine edge. Longer than is typical for a light broad-seax, and a little more slender than is typical for a heavy-broad-seax, this blade arguably falls into the category of “atypical broad-seaxes”; a more elegant form which arguably foreshadowed the advent of the more familiar and fearsome longseaxes of the 8th-10th centuries.
Paul, an artist of iron, relishes interesting projects and the opportunity to push his skills to new limits. I am sure he would not mind me saying that the blade he produced for us was, to a great extent, far more elaborate and impressive than we had really anticipated, and necessitated us re-thinking our original plans in order that the other elements; hilt and sheath, would live up to the magnificence of the blade. It is a nervous and sometimes agonising business, attempting to add to another craftsman's masterpiece, and we only hope we have done it justice.

​Gilt bronze hilt collars, decorated with filigree work, were custom-made for the blade by our associate historic jeweller George Easton, taking inspiration from a number of items from the Staffordshire Hoard. The hilt was capped with a gilt bronze replica of the pommel-cap STH-K347 made for us specially by Mr Easton for this project.
Although some broad-seaxes, notably those from Northolt Manor and Purton have very long grips of at least 24cm in length, most vary between 10 and 20cm. Taking into account the proportions and balance of the blade we settled on a hilt length of 19cm, with the actual grip (excluding the jewelled elements) measuring 9.5cm, producing a grip comfortably wide enough for one hand. Because of the size of the grip collars, the hilt was made wasp-waisted to some degree with an offset central widening to promote a comfortable grip. The haft was carved in sections from walnut using spacers of black cow-horn.
The result is, expectedly for such a weapon, blade-heavy, but nevertheless comfortable in the hand. Such weapons, and their even more substantial brothers – heavy broadseaxes – seem to have been optimised for heavy chopping blows, and this is no exception.

The thick veg-tanned leather was tooled to a conservative and well evidenced design, featuring lines delineating the shape and fullers of the blade contained within, with other tooled elements having been designed in a manner informed by, and sympathetic to the metallic elements of the sheath. It was lined with fine animal hide to further protect the blade (-an approach more commonly associated with wood-cored sheaths, but nevertheless evidenced having augmented the core-free sheath of the seax from Buttermarket G2297). The sheath was closed using a myriad of tiny copper-alloy pins on the suspension-flap following the style of Buttermarket G1306, and likewise, an L-shaped copper-alloy fitting of U-cross-section was added to the suspension-flap at the mouth of the sheath. Further decoration came from 7 rivets interspersed with 5 larger decorative copper-ally buttons 16mm in diameter showing what at first sight looks to be an abstract chip-carved design but is actually a devolved Salin Style-II picture of what I take to be a raven. Such large decorative rivets are seen on the sheaths of continental large seaxes but are not unknown in England, being found in Buttermarket and the smith’s grave at Tattershall-Thorpe, which was dated to the late 7th century. The buttons and rivets used here, though not precise replicas of either find, mirror their styles and arrangement closely and together, we hope, are highly representative of these overtly Frankish-influenced, highly decorative and wealth-displaying sheaths.

The suspension system relies on two iron three-way strap-dividers and utilises two of the large brass studs to secure the vertical straps. Adjustment is via a small iron buckle on the anterior strap and a larger iron buckle on the breast strap of the baldric. This system produces very comfortable carriage of this big seax with no damaging torsion being placed on the straps.

This is a speculative weapon reconstruction but the sheath and suspension have been kept very disciplined and within what is well-evidenced.

The name we have given to this ‘atypischer Breitsax’ is ‘Átorþorn’, which means ‘poison-thorn’ in Old English. The Anglo-Saxon term ‘þorn’ actually means ‘a sharp point on a stem’ and has always had the associated idea of its causing pain. In Norse poetry the term was sometimes used to describe a jötun. Our blade has the classic seax twist-welded pattern now described as ‘herringbone’ or ‘Anna’ but which was known in Anglo-Saxon times as ‘átertánum fáh’. This meant ‘poison-twig pattern’ and was clearly a kenning for the venomous adder whose markings it resembles. We particularly like the wave-like appearance of the area of the blade which marks where the hard steel edge meets blade core. It is now known that good quality seax-blades did sometimes show this interface which some have likened to the hamon on a Japanese sword.

Having taken well over two years of planning and research, this project has, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, taken copious quantities of ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’. We hope the end result has been a replica seax and sheath worthy of a late c7th king of Mercia, and brought to life what such a weapon assemblage might have looked like at the time of its making.

Drawing on research for the previous reconstruction (see discussion here), work began with fashioning the board.  Once again, 10-year seasoned ash planks sourced from trees felled less than 14 miles from Bidford were used. While ash sits among less commonly used timbers for Anglo-Saxon shield construction, evidence  from the Tranmer House cemetery suggests that this timber was used preferentially (and even imported from neighboring regions) for high status shield boards, perhaps due to its outstanding toughness, split-resistance and durability compared to wood such as willow, poplar or maple more commonly used for shields.  The toughness of ash surely posed a challenge for shield-makers, being highly resistant to carving, and it is this fact which most likely made other, weaker but more easily worked timbers more widely used.

Planks for the board were laboriously thinned to within a few millimeters of the target thickness, glued together with hot hide-glue, then re-thinned and painstakingly sanded by hand, before being cut to shape and sanded further, with board thickness declining gradually towards the edge which was itself carved thin on the front-face, producing a subtly very slightly convex outer face (yet with flat reverse) corresponding to inferences from cases such as the shield from Sutton-Hoo mound 1.    Unlike the previous reconstruction (Bidford-182) this shield was made larger but thinner, measuring approx 5mm thick at the centre - corresponding to the lower end of estimated shield thicknesses inferred from early Anglo-Saxon finds. Given the greater durability of ash compared to other potential shield woods, but also it's increased density, it is argued that shields made of this material may well have been carved thinner than otherwise to normalize weight without strength being compromised due to the excellent properties of the timber. 
 
Leather was added to the front face with hide glue, with a leather edge stitched in place and hand-burnished. The leather face was treated with natural oils and finally, polished with a protective coating of beeswax.  The grip - corresponding to the extant remains of the type 1b grip from the grave, was formed around an ash core and fixed in place by means of small clench-nails.    The boss - produced by our associate smith closely corresponding to that of the original, was rivetted in place along with two disc fittings and a rare lozenge fitting, in an arrangement based upon the positions of these finds relative to the boss in a photograph of the grave in-situ during excavation in 1923 (see below).  Larger, more elaborate lozenge fittings feature heavily on impressive shields from high status burials of the roughly contemporaneous related east-Swedish Vendel-culture, but all extant Anglo-Saxon examples are smaller, plain, and usually single. The fitting from Bidford grave 33, precisely reproduced here, was the largest found in England at the time of publication of Tania Dickinson's influential synthesis of early Anglo-Saxon shield finds in the 1990s, and is the 'type specimen' for such fittings in England.    Although the purpose of such lozenge fittings is not known, and they may have been purely decorative, it is possible they were added to shields to reinforce observed weaknesses or points of damage. Here, the lozenge has been positioned bracing two of the planks. 

The result - the final in this series, we hope provides a representative impression of what a more typical early Anglo-Saxon shield would have looked and felt like based where possible on evidence from the particular grave in question, and otherwise from understanding of early Anglo-Saxon shields more broadly. It is interesting to note that, despite being of considerably greater diameter than our previous reconstruction of the shield from grave 182 and constructed of precisely the same materials, the modest reduction in board thickness (through reduced thickness of both wood and leather) has led this larger shield to weigh slightly less than its brother.   Members of the public are often surprised by the weight of combat shields, but this reconstruction might demonstrate that Anglo-Saxon shields were perhaps not quite so heavy after all !

The modern town of Cannock sits in an interesting position in the heart of the Anglo-Saxon territory of Mercia, on the important Roman road of Watling Street, and only a few miles from the find-site of the Staffordshire Hoard.  Although the oldest part of the oldest building in the modern town (St Luke's Church) dates to 1100 AD, the parish and its surroundings are steeped in earlier history. 
The Thegns have been proud to be involved, this year, in helping St Luke's Church to communicate and promote Cannock's rich history as part of their 900-year anniversary celebrations. 
As part of this effort, the Thegns were commissioned to produce a special reconstruction to mark the 900 year anniversary. 

It is hoped that this reproduction will raise awareness of the detailed local history of the area dating back to the latter parts of the Anglo-Saxon period.  While the introduction to the charter mentions nearby town names including Bilston, Willenhall, and, significantly, Ogley (Hay) where the famous Staffordshire Hoard was found, the more detailed parish-boundary description for Hatherton contains a wealth of detail about the landscape which local people may still be able to recognise.   Finally, the detailed witness-list (including Æthelred, king of the English, and each archbishop and senior bishop in Anglo-Saxon England at the time) highlights that in the 10th century, this land transfer was sufficiently significant for the most important folk in the land to take an interest in the Cannock area.  

It is fortuitous, to say the least, that our ancestors chose to write their records on a material which if properly prepared and treated well can last over a thousand years, and therefore that these important pieces of local history have not been lost.     There is no reason why this reconstruction might not last equally long, and we hope that, in the keeping of Cannock's central church and oldest historic building, it might serve to help future Cannock residents feel connected with their area's rich heritage. 

Following the success of the previous project to reconstruct the famous 6th century shield from Bidford-on-Avon grave-182 with the kind help of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, we were honoured to be asked by the Trust to produce for them a reconstruction of a 6th shield to be shown to visiting school groups, alongside the original finds in their collection vaults, as part of their educational programme in support of teaching for the new national curriculum.   

Although simplifying some aspects of the construction to maximize durability and keep costs for the Trust low, we were pleased to be able to produce a  satisfying result; a highly durable but convincing reconstruction with details linking directly to items in the collection and drawing particular inspiration from Bidford-on-Avon graves 33 and 182. 

A size of approximately 60cm in diameter was chosen; a reasonable size to be handled by pupils in the target agegroup, close to the modal size for 6th century Anglo-Saxon shields, and also fitting comfortably in the upper half of the "medium shield" category (Dickinson and Härke, 1992). Key details of interest which were integrated into the reconstruction included a boss hand forged by our associate smith corresponding to the form of the well preserved boss from grave 33, in the SBT collection, with rivets capped with pure tin achieving a similar look to those of the boss from grave 182, tinned board disc fittings like those of grave 33, an iron lozenge fitting corresponding to the type specimen from grave 33, and a type 1a(i) grip. 

On completion of the project, three members of the Thegns of Mercia were pleased to be warmly welcomed to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon to present the reconstructed shield to staff in person. It is hoped that this shield, displayed alongside matching finds in the collection, will help to bring the Anglo-Saxon age to life in the minds of visiting school pupils, inspire learning about the period, and encourage pupils to consider various basic aspects of interpretation of archaeology. 

With the kind help of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, over 2013-14 we researched the find and attempted a convincing reconstruction with the help of our associate craftspeople, hoping to recreate what the shield may have looked like when new, and with the intention to raise awareness of this important Midlands find. 

The effort began with substantial research; first to track the find down, and then to explore its context. With Bidford-182 sitting in the "borderlands" between the Wessex-influenced upper Thames valley region and the tribal regions that would later form Mercia, it was particularly important to investigate the affinities of the Bidford finds, and the items from grave 182 in particular. Before recreating the artistic elements, it was also worthwhile exploring their meanings. (Our discussion on the cemetery, its finds, affinities, and the meaning of the 182 shield art can be seen here). 

A shield boss closely matching the dimensions of the original was commissioned from our associate smith, while replicas of the decorative gilded copper-alloy fittings were commissioned from our associate historic jeweller. It was necessary to be extremely precise with these items so as to ensure that the gently curving fittings would, in shape, to the sweep of the boss flange. Our jeweler was also able to produce gilded disc fittings corresponding to the reported measurements of the originals. 

The board was constructed by Thegns members Dr Andrew Thompson and Æd Thompson, using 10-year seasoned ash which had been cut from trees felled less than 14 miles from Bidford-on-Avon itself. The board planks were thinned using authentic adzes and chisels to an appropriate thickness, then glued together using hot animal-glue, producing strong bonds between the plank edges. (More detail on the reconstruction here).  With no evidence to infer the size of the board of the Bidford-182 shield, a diameter of 68cm was chosen, taking into account inferences from neighboring finds. 

The board was then covered with oak-tanned leather, fixed in place using hot animal glue, while an edge, again of oak-tanned leather was sewn in place through pre-drilled holes with strong linen thread. The leather was then treated with a beeswax and oil mixture, applied warm and with considerable polishing, to achieve a rich, water-resistant and scratch-resistant finish.  Meanwhile, a grip had been prepared (Dickinson and Harke type 1a(I) ) corresponding closely to the degraded remains of the original. This was fixed in place using soft iron clench-nails (again corresponding to extant remains) atop a wooden component continuous with the boards themselves, then bound with thin calf-skin for added comfort - a technique well evidenced from other 6th century finds.   Although previously skeptical about the security of this rather simple type of shield grip (and preferring the common and more sophisticated type 1b) we found the result to be both surprisingly sturdy and comfortable. 

Following installation of the decorative pieces, the boss was installed using soft iron rivets peened onto roves on the reverse, while, for security, the decorative disc fittings on the board were attached in a similar manner. The shield boss rivets themselves were capped, prior to installation, with tin, as the originals had been, resulting in an impressive juxtaposition of black iron, gold mounts and silver-coloured rivet caps. 

The result, we hope, reflects well what the original shield may have looked like before deposition at some time in the 6th century, with the elements available for study effectively recreated, and conservative choices made with respect to aspects which could not be inferred from the archaeology. 

In April 2014 we conducted a scaled-down simulated Anglo-Saxon cremation, in order to investigate the process, and produce a replica of a fairly typical Anglian cinerary burial as it might be found during excavation. 

To achieve this, we built a small pyre of seasoned oak branches cut to length (simulating round logs), with animal bones placed on top. The pyre took the "criss-cross" form broadly accepted to have been the method for such cremations, and was lit using authentic techniques.      The resulting transformitive roaring flame lasted for approximately two hours, achieving temperatures far in excess of a typical campfire. It was interesting to note that this arrangement encouraged inward, rather than outward collapse, such that un-burned timbers, and the bodily remains themselves were deposited further into the heart of the fire as it burned.   Various aspects of this simulation had been carefully balanced; much of the energy in an open cremation is used up boiling off the huge quantity of water in tissues, but, on the other hand, various constituents of the body (particularly high-energy fats) are thought to promote high temperatures in the pyre.  The ratio of fuel to cinerary matter was carefully chosen to go some way to accounting for other issues resulting from the scaling down of the pyre. 

The following morning, ash, coals, and the degraded bone fragments remained. It was interesting to note that,for the most part the bones remained fairly intact, although they had lost most of their mass, becoming light and brittle.  In a full cremation it is likely that falling timbers would often smash these fragile pieces, but the relatively intact state in our simulation goes some way to explain why bone fragments found in real cremation urns survive in identifiable pieces. 

The remains, including ash, coals, and manually crushed degraded bone, were added to a small replica Anglian cinerary urn fashioned after examples from Loveden Hill, Lincolnshire.  Added to the remains were modest grave goods; a small token bone comb and a copper-alloy toilet set.  

The result was a fairly convincing cinerary urn and contents, ready to be buried at educational events and exhumed by plucky budding archaeologists.    Although simulated inhumations are becoming a familiar feature at educational events, it is very much worth emphasizing the importance of cinerary burials too. Such burials dominate in early cemeteries in Anglian regions, and although the goods associated with this rite are usually less impressive than are found in inhumations, the spectacular nature of such send-offs, and the materials necessary for them show that this rite was not the poorer cousin of inhumation, but rather an elaborate expression of wealth, culture and belief among the pre-Christian communities of England in the 5th-7th centuries. 

Completed in early 2014, the sword "Grásiða" was designed to contrast with our other 9th-10th century sword assemblage "Gram". 

The weapon itself, produced by our associate weapon-smith, is of Petersen Type-K with a substantial iron hilt integrating a large lobed pommel. This, combined with its long and broad blade (again of piled-steel construction but this time more vividly visible) gives the weapon a substantial and severe feel, contrasting well with the rather more elegant Gram. 

Finds of this sword-type have been found across western and central Europe, including Great Britain and Ireland, with well known 'Ulfberht'-branded examples suggesting a Frankish origin of the type. There is nevertheless evidence of widespread manufacture of such swords (including many poorer-quality examples, particularly in Norway) suggesting this style, if initially of Frankish origin, was widely copied.  Remaining in use for some centuries, the Migration-Age origins of the design of such swords is clearly visible, therefore making re-creations like Grásiða a useful illustrator of evolution and transition in sword design, into the "Viking Age".

The sheath of Grásiða, crafted by Thegns member Æd Thompson, was designed to compliment the sword while remaining, as far as possible, true to Anglo-Viking sword scabbard finds. A fleece-lined wood core was carved, accommodating the sizeable blade of the sword. In a deviation from usual procedure, but in line with a number of early Scandinavian scabbard finds, the core was deliberately carved to be slightly loose then wrapped in a "bandage" of linen before the foundations for the leather-moulding were added.       The structure, then coated with animal-glue, was wrapped with wet oak-tanned leather and sewn up the back, with the leather moulded along the foundations as the leather dried and the glue cured. This led to the foundation-moulding designs showing crisply, with the linen-bindings beneath shown as faint diagonal lines. 

It quickly became apparent that internal linen bandaging represented an effective means of regulating the tightness of scabbard-core. Though, in general, tightening the scabbard, the linen bindings can be seen to progressively 'flex' to accommodate the sword, as it is inserted, such that the scabbard remains tight enough to keep the blade secure but not so tight that it is difficult to insert.  It is conceivable that this variation may have emerged as a means of achieving a well-gripping scabbard without the need for the careful fine-tuning of carving and animal-hair length normally involved. It is further, possible that such scabbards may have  maintained optimal tightness for longer, thus a more reliable blade-protector particularly in the context of a lengthy campaign. 

Finished with the trusty "three-strap sling" arrangement, the leather strap-work was supplemented with simple geometric stamped decoration (itself borrowed from a sheath from Coppergate, York) and an elegant bronze strap-divider, buckle and strap-end, of Scandinavian Borre-style contemporaneous with the sword itself. 

The name "Grásiða" - a sword name borrowed from the Sagas - means "grey-side" in Old-Norse, while the Old-English approximation of this name translates to "Grey-scythe"; both strong names for an 'Anglo-Viking' battle companion. 

Grásiða, now completed, we feel is representative of a moderate to high-status 'Viking' sword from the 9th-10th century; an elaborately smithed, substantial hacking blade with a hilt hearkening back to earlier styles, built for function, and with a sheath prioritising durability - with a little ostentatious wealth-display for good measure.

Two 'wælseaxes' or 'killing knives' are represented in the Staffordshire Hoard; a larger weapon represented by the famous Salin Style-II biting-beast decorated hiltplate K567 (previously reconstructed by the Thegns in 2011-12), and a smaller but more richly decorated knife implied by five gold and garnet cloisonné items which came together to form the most elaborate knife-hilt ever discovered from this period. 

In 2013, with the help of some talented associates, we undertook a project to produce a faithful reconstruction of this impressive knife, complete with a suitably complimentary sheath. 

Faithful replicas of the five hilt pieces (K354, k370, k449, k376 and k690) were produced, precisely to scale, by our associate jeweller. It was possible to infer from the aperture and staining on the lowermost piece the cross-section of the original blade, and, from that cross-section, a full blade profile (referring to typologies and contemporaneous finds) with a small margin of error. 

A replica blade was produced to the inferred measurements by our associate blade-smith, of twist-welded construction featuring the classic herringbone 'wrymfah' pattern, composed of two twisted bundles, each of 9 layers, forged flat with a layered iron back and carbon-steel edge. The edge itself had also been repeatedly folded, prior to addition, producing a delightful but subtle "watered" pattern when the blade was finished.   The seax was assembled by Thegns member Andrew Thompson with a composite hilt featuring walnut and dark coloured bovine horn. 

While we can be fairly clear on what the seax would have looked like, the sheath is more of a mystery, as no obvious seax-sheath components remain beyond two tiny buckles (with other possible uses) and a seax of this status is unprecedented. With particular reference to contemporaneous sheaths belonging to seaxes of similar type, a sheath in the well-evidenced "seax scabbard" form was produced by Thegns members Æd and Andrew Thompson, with a fleece-lined wood core, shaped to reflect the shape of the blade, then wrapped with thin, moulded oak-tanned leather. This was fixed with copper-alloy edge strips and clips, with the tip protected by a cast copper-alloy zoomorphic chape inspired by a similar component from the seax from Ford, Laverstock, Wiltshire. 

We were keen to augment this basic, well-evidenced sheath design to raise it to a status befitting the unprecedented richness of the seax, while sticking as far as possible to Staffordshire-Hoard pieces. We chose to integrate six further replica Staffordshire-Hoard pieces, beginning with a pair of zoomorphic terminals (k16 and k1184) adapted as strap-ends and two tiny buckles (based on k685 and k114).
The sheath was finally completed in early 2014 with the addition of two short pieces of gold and garnet cloisonné strip, of the kind abundant in the hoard (in this case featuring the patterns of k273), integrated into the sheath design after continental fashion (most notably demonstrated by the 6th century seax and sword of Childeric I). 

Taking well over two years of planning and research, this project has, we hope, produced a replica seax and sheath worthy of a prince of Mercia, bringing to life what such an assemblage may have looked like at the time of manufacture, and illustrating (particularly with respect to the seax itself) how the now disembodied components present in the Hoard originally fitted together.