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.
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.
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.
'Wyrmfang'; replica Staffordshire-Hoard seax by The Thegns of Merica. 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.
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.
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