posted 01-02-2001 08:21 PM            

I'm familiar with the Oakeshott example. Although it appears the grip would have been attached via rivets as you desribe, I don't believe the grip survived. There are a number of these in Du Chaillu's The Viking Age, BTW, including (I think), the one Oakeshott sites.

posted 01-03-2001 07:51 PM            

I'm actually not aware of any particular term to describe what you're referring to as a hidden tang--we just call them tangs.

Do Alcock's examples have surviving grips?

posted 01-14-2001 07:54 PM               

Plate II "Continental Swords of the Fifth Century" Fig. 9b "Childeric's Sax" Handle is missing but it has a cloisonne wide guard, a cloisonne washer pommel and indicates a truncated cone grip.

Fig. 10 "Pouan Sword and Sax" shows a sword and sax suite. The sax has an ornamented cloisonne guard, a simple fingered cylindrical grip with a cloisonne acorn pommel.

The illustrations are by Oakeshott.

posted 01-15-2001 07:53 AM            

The circles are lightly scribed and were obviously placed as decorations in and of themselves.

The "eye" is a simple incomplete drilled out hole.

The trianglular area between the tail and legs is exposed tang.

The hilt appears to have been carved and or drilled out from a single piece of wood.

posted 01-15-2001 05:45 PM            

So what secures it?

posted 01-16-2001 12:07 AM            

Just a thought.

posted 01-23-2001 04:04 AM               

My name is Peter Johnsson and I am working as a smith with swords being a speciality. I have been lurking on this forum for quite a while but not made any postings yet. I appreciate the atmosphere of this forum and enjoy the level of quality in the discussions.

Saxes have always held my interest even though I´ve never made one so far.
Still, I have noted different blade styles and grip designs when visiting museums and collections for future reference.
There is one rather early sax exhibited in the british museum with grip fittings of bronze. It has a pommel in a three lobe configuration. The weapon is smallish, not sword sized, but rather like a big fighing knife. I think it is of saxon (anglo-saxon?) origin.
In the Vendel/Valsgärde material there are several saxes with beautiful scabbards. Most of these have wooden grips with a decoration consisting of patterns set with bronze studs. ( Very similar to the decorative work American Indians sometimes did on the stocks on their rifles, really.)
There are also at least one sax with metal hilt parts. I have only seen an illustration of this one so I do not know wether it is bronze or iron, but the pommel is of a three lobe kind. More strict and less flamboyant than what is found on later viking swords, but there is still a vague kinship.
In Brescia, Italy, I got to handle a Longobardic sax this autumn. This was a unique piece not only because of its very good state of preservation, but since it had the iron parts of the hilt still intact. The pommel was substantial, being shaped like a "cylinder" in the length of the blade, showing a tear drop cross section. The "cross" was just a tiny bit wider than the blade and not very thick. A sout washer, really. There was no traces of the grip. I guess it was made of wood. The blade was solid, some 8 mm thick at the base with a distal taper of 50% or so. Width was about 45 mm and the point tapered with even curves to a symmetrical point.

It would be nice to see more well made reconstructions of scramasaxes, showing the variation in style and type. I think this is a very underestimated weapon in the european sword family. We would all benefit greatly from more research on the single edged european sword through the ages. Does anyone know about a book on the subject?

posted 01-23-2001 06:18 AM            

Glad you decided to come in from the cold.