Seax of Beagnoth- Mystery
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2020
- The Seax of Beagnoth is an iconic Anglo Saxon long seax - you may not know the name, but if you are interested in historical weapons you will have seen it; but is it everything you assumed? Using a replica I have made we discuss some of the aspects of the piece.
The blade is a whopper at 55cm long and 9mm thick and inlaid with wire work on both sides. Geometric work on one side and a runic alphabet on the other - but it is a complete incoherent mess and yet it was very expensive.
Can anyone explain to me why this is the case?
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Maybe this was a "portfolio" piece the blacksmith made, to show the buyer all the different pattern options he could do to let the buyer pick what they liked better for the final product. Could also explain why it's broken. The forging wasn't done with the intent of it being a perfect final product. Also explains the "ABC" lettering. So the buyer could see how each letter he chose would turn out.
In that case though, wouldn't the decoration just be on one side? For when its laying down on a table with other wares? Edit (tbh I thought I edited this ages ago but it seems there's a reason people keep replying): there are some succinct counterpoints below that are better than my own. I just wanted to throw an initial idea out there to add to the conversation.
@@ARUclipsAccountName I think it is entirely possible that a client would pick up a blade to look at it. at that point as a store owner you could point out the work on the other side
I like this "floor model" idea. I also have a theory on the different types of inlay. My grandfather was a jeweler/watchmaker, and there was always a little box filled with scrap filings and bits of precious metals that would accumulate over years, then you would sell them to some place to be re-used. I bet if this piece was just for show it might not have been worth it to use all your good inlay wire, and instead use whatever leftover bit you had from other projects.
@@freerundjs I'm not saying it rules out being a 'portfolio piece' but it does seem strange. You would think a skilled blacksmith would be busy when they go to market and not always able to serve multiple customers at once. So having something that shows everything without explanation, at a single glance would make more sense to me. It could be though that they chose one side to practise for the other.
Dude thats actually a brilliant idea. The name could just be a "John Doe" type one as well.
I started out as a jeweler and I have now been a bladesmith for about 6 years. This is the sort of thing we do in jewelry all the time when learning new skills. When we have small cutoffs and drops and mess ups we drop them into a recycling bin. Then we just use random materials to practice. Usually someone always wants the practice pieces because of thier uniqueness and whackyness but of course you can only sell it at a fraction of what you sell the actual final piece for. I can see a master smith instructing an apprentice to do lettering and just chosing an alphabet. I've also done custom pieces for people in several iterations where the design evolves.
I have literally no experience in any way but I think the idea of it being a practice piece makes a ton of sense.
1. Full alphabet to practice each letter.
2. Random uncommon name from the era.
3. Geometric patterns with little significance but a high degree of precision. Almost as if they're "doodling".
4. Scrap wire
5. Tip is broken, suggesting material failure- Perhaps a poor quenching resulted in a brittle structure. The smith knew this (if not by the science then by experience) and turned it into a vanity piece for practice.
See that was what I was thinking. It looks like a practice piece made from scrap materials. I'm and artist and often I'll do a piece were I'll practice with several different styles, materials or techniques and that is what this looks like.
Yeah this makes the most sense. A practice piece from start to finish would explain just about all the issues. Now the question is, was the master or the apprentice who made it? Both cases are just as probable the master needed a test piece before working on the final version or the Apprentice is was very skilled but working with scraps.
Definitely this! Also consider - the break? Did that occur as part of an already identified flaw? Had the seax been made and a crack/flaw identified during its forging? You can imagine a frustrated blade-smith turning the piece over to some of his apprentices as a piece to practice their inlaying on - or maybe he wasn't a practiced inlayer himself, and instead of risking doing a bodge job on a serviceable blade, thought he might practice some new forms and layouts on a lade he knew wasn't going to be any martial use
Yes someone messed up a nice sword and they kept it as practice piece
Hi! I'm a bit late to the party here, but I'm a medieval historian and studied runology. Inscriptions with the whole fuþark alphabet are actually very common, they are found on bone, on stone, on metal and even in manuscripts written by Christian monks. Runes were probably not viewed as inherently magical (although of course they could be used to write charms and curses), but knowledge of runes had a certain prestige because it gave you the ability to communicate in ways that others couldn't (the word rún even means "secret" in Old Norse) and so by displaying knowledge of them you displayed your own wisdom and prestige. That was the case even after the conversion (and given the dating, Beagnoth was almost certainly a Christian). Both wisdom and martial prowess were venerated in Anglo-Saxon and Norse society (both pre- and post-Conversion), so it's not that strange that a warrior would want to display his knowledge of runes on a highly decorated weapon - it would simply emphasise his prestige and high status.
The order of the alphabet was also not set in stone (well... apart from when it literally was), especially with the Old English fuþorc as it had gained a lot of new characters, which tended to be added onto the end, so the pattern we see here is consistent with what I'd expect.
As for the decoration, I got nothin'.
Hope that helps!
...I think you are spot on...
@@janrobertbosagreed
Thanks for comments. Seems a sensible suggestion!
Maybe it was an example piece that a craftsman would show off. Covers a bit of everything
He could have run out of the proper material and improvised. Maybe he was really hung over that day and just didnt give a fuc# about his work on that occasion. Maybe he was trying to start some kind of new aesthetic trend.
@@jonathonfrazier6622 could be any number of things
Hahaha! like a sampler blade. See, I could do these letters, and can do all different types of colors. He had it in the front of the shop just to show what you could have done. "I'll take a seax, yeah, about that big. Oo, I like your lettering skills. Can you make it say 'Happy Birthday Aescwine" in silver and bronze?"
@@safarityler The shop didn't exist as such. I can't confirm or deny people had samples (though in that case we have literally 0 surviving examples, or they've been misinterpreted), but trade was mostly ambulatory, commission-based, etc.
This is actually a very good suggestion. It really makes sense
It’s an educational piece, it makes perfect sense If Bagnoth is an apprentice weapon smith, the point is to demonstrate the ability to inlay all letters using ok to good steel for the forging and left over bits to do the inlay. The material in the inlay isn’t particularly important if you can inlay copper you can inlay any other metal with just a little practice.
Oh wow yeah! that explains the alphabet!
I agree with you
This was my immediate reaction as well! A demo-piece from a smith showing what he can do. The listing of the entire futhark alphabet to show he could do all the letters (and he got the order wrong :-), inlays with various materials in different directions, and the piece is then signed!
That's exactly what I was thinking. It's a showcase of the smith's skill, not a specific commission by a customer. Perhaps it was a practice piece, or some sort of "job application" to a guild?
Maybe the smith was illiterate?
Maybe the blade was made for a Viking? (Runes ~ alphabet)?
Maybe something like proto-portfolio? "Just look at this baby and choose what you like".
my thoughts exactly
Yeah, like "You dont like this section of the blade with the wires? Try this other section that has some pattern/color that you may like"
That's my opinion as well. There's no realistic and reasonable explantation for that to occur otherwise
Agree 100%
That was kinda my thought. Maybe a sort of journeyman project and menu, all in one. Proving to a superior (master smith or whatever) that they can do it, and a functional object which both demonstrates skill and lists what the smith can do.
4:37 "Why would an accomplished warrior want an alphabetical primer on his weapon?" I mean, the Germanic people as a whole, not just the Norse, held the idea of the "Warrior-Poet" in high esteem. I can totally understand such a man desiring to have the very foundational elements of language, the alphabet, to be on his blade. This is obviously ignoring the "showroom" idea, which I also love.
I mean it's not impossible but that's a very 21st century interpretation. From our perspective the alphabet is a very fundamental part of language however that simply wasn't the case for the Anglo-Saxons, for them writing was something which had really become widespread only fairly recently and was largely restricted to religious texts and legal records (e.g.charters)-in fact even most of our Anglo-Frisian futhorc inscriptions date to later in the period and only really emerge after the Latin alphabet was gaining popularity. In particular Germanic poetry (especially war poetry or epic poetry) was very obviously a form of spoken poetry intended to be recited rather than written so even a warrior poet probably wouldn't be too fussed about an alphabet primer on his weapons.
Mr Beagnoth: Let's make a sword that doesn't make sense to annoy future generations
I think people still do that sort of thing
My guess is that it was made for a high status person and was rejected or not paid for. The smith then used it as a "demo" piece to show the various ways he could do inlays. He likely was illiterate but knew the alphabet characters, just not the proper order. Since it showed all of his skill, it was very valuable to him, so he put his name on it. Beagnoth was the smith and this was a show piece of his skills.
D. Pulliam I would also add that the reason he wasn’t payed is because he used brass instead of gold. He think he could fool his client that the brass was an alloy of gold , thus making a better profit, but the client have a gold plated equipment. The client compare the two and come back for a refund.
Could also be a test to see if dissimilar metals have a negative reaction to each other or proof that they do not or trying to start a new "fashion" and bigger profits.
Scrolled down to suggest the same thing.
@@rndargis0
As if a high status client wouldn't know what gold was.....come on!
i have to agree with this, i do some craft work myself and the only time i've ever put the full alphabet on anything is when i've been trying out new techniques or materials
I've just looked up a bit about the seax and found this line on wikipedia interesting.
> This seax represents the only surviving epigraphic inscription of the basic twenty-eight letter Anglo-Saxon runic alphabet,
Other runic alphabets are incomplete often only showing the first portion of the alphabet.
Perhaps the Anglo-saxon alphabet's order wasn't as standardized as we think it was. All other copies of the runic alphabet in full are from manuscripts I.E written by latinized clergy who may have had a different understanding of runes. It is possible that their were two slightly different variations of the younger futhorc alphabet, one official one as recorded by the church and a slightly different colloquial one for the layfolk. Perhaps it is not a mistake at all.
L Monk This seems very possible. English speakers at different times didn’t even spell their own names the same way all the time (Shakespeare is a famous example from a much later era). Middle English varied in relatively extreme ways from region to region (Chaucer’s London Middle English is very unlike the English of Gawain and the Green Knight, even at an alphabetic level). It is highly likely that their alphabet had regional and even idiosyncratic variations.
Had similar thoughts.
Yes, it is possible the order and even the symbols had alternative versions that were excepted, had no set order, and/or had many regional and personal variations. The standardization of a language has to be done by an authority holding institution, like a religion or government, or it will vary all over the place. Take English, for example. Spelling barely had guidelines until the first English dictionary (lets not even begin to talk about the mess that is its grammar and vocabulary), where as something like French was standardized by their monarchy in the 17th and 18th centuries and blended in or replace multiple dialects spoken in the country.
Seems a fairly decent hypothesis to me, the Mayan alphabet was completely messed up when it was first written down by somebody else, they completely left out sounds that didn't conform to their type of alphabet
This is actually my Seax. Tod and James are talented guys, honored to have this on display. Thanks guys.
You know people who use Comic Sans unironically? Maybe our Saxon was one of those guys.
You're a lucky man. That is a very fine piece.
Beautiful blade
@@georgeharvey2471 heh... Comic Seax
It’s a very seaxy seax 🔥
The best part is 500 years from now an archaeologist might find your sword and be very confused.
@Cpl Soletrain I love it!
@Cpl Soletrain Some future humans will make some crazy conspiracy theory thousands of years from now when they find them.
It's interesting that when regarding ancient times; A lot of discoveries of text discussing mythical creatures, or drawings/illustrations depicting fantasy things could of been drawn up merely for fables or entertainment (like old maps drawing in sea monsters in open/uncharted areas).
Seems we often forget this.
@@OwlskiTV Imagine the world being so full of medieval weapon makers, collectors and larpers and so forth, that in a 1000 years archaeologists will find flails, arrow heads, chainmail and smartphones, all carbon-dated to the same era. All weapons and armors stems from western Europe, and the smartphones stems from Asia... How the hell will that be interpreted by the future historians?
@@raven_of_zoso455 I imagine we'd have not only physical stuff to go by, as we'd leave a history ripe with digital media, sorta logging/tracking our events through modern history.
We're not like our ancient ancestors where we only had their drawings and any surviving literature to go by.
@@OwlskiTV yeah, but don't forget the electromagnetic wave that will hit us in 2361 and wipe all hard-drives so we will have to reset the whole internet. And if we are to avoid that EM wave (which we might, dependent on who Russia chooses for their president 2358.), there's almost guaranteed for something to happen in the next millennia that will delete everything on Internet today. I mean, how many billions of Tb of data will there be on the Internet by then? Even today there are stuff from 2010 that is literally impossible to recover.
Hi, Tod! My first guess was "maybe he had those materials in that order".
But seeing the size of the blade and the alphabet, I think is a practice blade from an apprentice and a form of a diploma.
He, maybe, used the materials owned on a single piece, being a bit short on resources, and he probably tested how those combinations of metals look together and can be inlaid. That is his name or more likely the name of his master.
It took him some years or months to make it. First he tested his skills on different patterns, then on the alphabet, then inlaid that name as he ended his apprenticeship.
All of this while working on his master's projects. First he practiced what he learnt on that blade, then he was allowed to work on real projects. Probably after many lessons of drawing and engraving on lesser pieces of metal.
And considering that, I think the name is the name of his master and the blade was a proof of his qualification at that specific workshop.
Then, maybe in a rage, after he went "bankrupt", he broke his qualification diploma and flung it in a river and enjoyed a happy life as a farmer.
Or maybe not.
A "Meisterstück" you could say.
@@Kackpuh Or a "Gesellenstück"
Before checking the comments I was wondering when/why I might do something like this (though I carve wood, not metal). Trying things out, practice. Given the other comments - yeah, seems likely.
Yes, that seems plausible. An apprentice using leftover materials for his practice piece. Also practicing making letters, hence the alphabet.
There is logic to you story, plus sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. So why not this scenario?
In terms of medieval aesthetics, they didn't care that much about perfect symmetry or things that looks "pleasing" to our modern eyes. As a professionnal blacksmith I studied medieval strap hinges on doors, cupboards and chests, and clearly in terms of modern aesthics and actual ironwork standards they look sometimes very wrong or off. Sometimes there is no symmetry, defaults in repeated patterns, the curves of the scrolls are off, the stamps and patterns used on the same piece are differents etc etc... It can be observed in lots of fields : no matter how well it is executed there are always imperfections in historical artefacts, and too often modern replicas make the mistake of being far too "perfect".
Edit : Looking through some comments about a practice piece/masterpiece theory.
I love the idea and it seems very plausible. This kind of practice is not unheard of in accounts or sources (down to wax tablet of student scribes). In some corporations, an apprentice could not become a master craftsman without proving his skills to his peers. So it explains practicing engraving and inlaying of letters, and the error in the alphabetical order. And it can perhaps explain defaults in the pattern because it is his technique that is tested or to be proven and not the form.
But I stand that what is pleasing to our modern eye may largely differs from what is pleasing to a medieval eye. Some defaults in patterns did not bother them while it is very unsatisfactory to our modern sense of aesthetics
I think everyone who examined the blade is aware of the relative lack of symmetry in medieval aesthetics. Were it just the geometric patterns I would agree with you but an out of order alphabet, or an alphabet at all, is pretty weird.
@@404Dannyboy Not if it is a practice piece from a craftsman, reading and writting is a skill that needs to be practiced to be mastered. Either this craftsman was still learning or did not mastered this aspect completly, an aspect that he or we could have deemed to be not that useful (learning letters in the wrong order do not prevents you from learning to write or read properly)
However this is not medieval, it's Saxon, and the Saxons really liked knotwork. I think the chevrons would have looked as odd to them as they do to us.
@@SoBeKprod I was agreeing with the practice piece bit.
@@timharris3292 This seax is dated to the 10th century, so still medieval. I was speaking about the Middle Ages (5th to 15th century) in a broad way.
Knotwork and chevrons are not the same thing, as well as drawing and ironworking are not the same thing.
And you can look at a lot of knotwork from the same period, it is often freehand-drawned and sports the same "problems" of irregularity, lack of symmetry or pattern changing without reason.
I just spent a week collaborating with a friend to see if we could make a handmade violin in 7 days. Any violin expert finding this object in a thousand years would be baffled by the creative choices we made on such an expensive instrument(a handmade violin is generally several months work from a skilled craftsman) that don't make any sense. We were just showing off different techniques we've learned for each other and having fun. Could be something similarly frivolous and hard to explain.
Love the workmanship sir :)
My stab at it. Beagnoth was literate, knew runes and his own name. He drew the runes and exactly how he wanted them on the sword for the blacksmith / inlayer who followed them exactly. Who would dare question a lord. My theory: Beagnoth had made a mistake when writing them down.
Time travel: The sword in the British Museum is the very piece Todd Cutler is holding in this video.
I audibly snorted reading that comment. Good one.
Be careful. If the time-space paradox figures out that you've figured it out, the entire universe will implode into a puff of logic!
Michael Chrichton's Timeline was my first thought as well lol
This is the best 😂🤘
It's got to be a show piece. "These are what my chevrons look like going in this direction, this is what they look like going in the other direction, this is what my A,B,Cs look like, this is what my geometrics look like".
Maybe even laid out with other swordsmiths' pieces, hence he had his name on it. As some kind of sword show.
As for the end of the alphabet being in the wrong order, isn't there some variance in the length/content of the Saxon Alphabet? If so could the order vary too?
> If so could the order vary too?
The swordsmith could have just been illiterate and just know the characters for his own name, that's why the final characters are out of order, he just didn't really knew the "good" order. Maybe he asked someone else whom gave him the "right" (Or so they thought!) order
The order would vary based on region, not uncommon with languages then.
@Aint Jack, I'd be interested to see some evidence on the claim that most people could read and write during the Dark Ages. To do that there would have to be some sort of educational system and such a system simply was not available to the masses. Literacy started being more widespread in England from 1500s onwards - and even then mostly among the city folk.
@La Nausée, but the very first stumbling block is who will teach teach the parents, the serfs, or a serf, to read and write in the first place. People are above all practical beings, and if their current lifestyle has no use of letters then they won't see the need to spend time learning them.
Here's a little anecdote from a personal experience. When I joined the army, my first assignment was as an office clerk in the draft board. Whilst there we had to fill in all the records of the soldiers of our battalion, which included their literacy level. I can't tell you how shocked I was at the number of either completely illiterate, or functionally illiterate people that were there. Interestingly, the majority of them shared a similar background: country folk, working in agriculture, animal herding and such like.
@@ManoNegraCG In the UK there are up to 8 million functionally illiterate people, apparently there are 32 million illiterate people in the US. I'd say it's entirely possible that the swordsmith could've been illiterate in that period.
First time I ever saw runes was in a history book of my father's, with a little drawing of, yeah, the seax of Beagnoth on it. Fast forward many years, and I had the opportunity to ask a Norse religious scholar why *all* the runes would be included. "To include all their positive aspects and blessings," was the answer I was given.
This aligns with my own thoughts on the different types of metal. If the different metals were seen as having special significance that aligned to those of the runes, then someone might go out of their way to use them, even if it is not as visually pleasing.
@@timaitken2277 this could be, perhaps as a homage to the wit of the gods, to display reverence for all the materials in the forging processes. would smithing and writing be governed by the same diety?
Yeah was hoping someone would mention the possibility of spiritual meaning behind it, since these letters did have more to them than just the sounds they indicated. I do love the ideas people came up with aside from that though. It could be any combination of these things.
I also wonder if maybe the one making it could have been taught the sequence of the runes at some point and just didn't know when he was making it that he had the last few out of order due to faulty memory.
Looks like an examination piece. An apprentice showing all the elements he could produce.
Like a "sampler" of embroidery
I've had a relative who had learned "marqueterie" with the french "compagnons" artisans (an interesting rement of middle ages / renaissance artisan guilds aimed at safe keeping old artisanal arts and teaching these arts to apprentices by having them traveling all over france to learn stuff from many masters). This blade reminds me of one of the "grading" pieces he made. These "grading" pieces are to be kept and shown to a new master compagnon artisan as a porfolio in order for the master to know what you have learned so far. And what you what he has to teach you.
Basically, the piece is an assemblage of things not making any sens to be put together, but all made in the same technic in order to show case the bearer's skill for that technic.
So considering that how the "compagons" teach is basically how every artisanal skill weere tought since the beginning of artisanal arts ... this blade could be some sort of "grading" piece. "Here's what i know" kind of stuff.
Yeah. Using the entire alphabet seems like a proof-of-concept or filler text thing. Like "hey I can write with anything if I really want, this is roughly what it'll look like".
Either that, or a hoax.
It's a resume
Your idea bridges what many are saying about it being a "show/proof piece" and one of my own ideas. I had a similar theory in that the inscription/writing/detailing was done in stages. Perhaps based on significant events the owner wished commemorate (like some folk get tattoos for, or some other "touchstone" type of representative object, i suppose).
My initial impression is that it is a craftsman’s “demo” piece, it explains several things, the size is impressive, it shows the whole alphabet, multiple different patterns of inlay Including a name(possibly the maker) and is broken from a test gone wrong. This is just my guess as another knife maker
They propably used a broken blade for a demo piece because it couldnt be used for an actual weapon anymore
I wanted to say, maybe this was some sort of code for deciphering coded letters, but I read all the answers and realized it is probably just a wild fantasy :D
@@Belznis My first intuition was that it was some sort of cipher too, but then I saw "show piece" in the comments and gave myself a smack in the forehead :)
Exactly.
So there should be the second one...
@@Belznis Oooh., Ye of little faith.
Right ☑️ idea., But ❌ application.
Hint.., a 'Noble' effort. 😏👋
my opinion as a metalworker is that it’s likely a demonstration piece, but, to address your question around 5:30 where the wire combinations are changed rapidly. in smithing we go to extra lengths to create a multitude of intricate facets and surface finishes to create random spots on the piece that reflect like light much like a jewel does. i can imagine the blade being shown to its peers over a campfire, where the seemingly random combinations of color would shine back like a prism, mimicing the heavens with the randomly placed stars with their multitude of glow colors.
That is the most elegant wire work I’ve ever seen!!! Beautiful blade!
Thanks people - Very, very useful and intriguing. This is going to be long. There are some themes coming through and I will explain my thinking about them, but there are a couple of thoughts that are very interesting.
Post manufacture repairs - Bits fell out and were later replaced. If there were repairs, all the materials were used in the repair, but put in to make what was once coherent, messy. Makes no sense.
Demonstration piece - maybe, but it is a mess and you could for example do chevrons one way and then the other, but this switches back and forth and also the length of the twist sets is different above and below the letters, whilst a lot of the geometric work is very uniform and they could have used different materials to demonstrate, but they missed that 'opportunity'
Apprentice finished because master died - If I was left holding the baby, I would at least try to use the right materials in the right places to demonstrate to my next boss that I could do a good job. Makes no sense
'Masters piece' - an apprentice is showing what he can do. Technically demonstrates this, though some of the work is pretty shoddy on the original, but again doesn't explain why it was made incoherent.
Uses the scraps left over - some wire twists are literally 1.5mm or 1/16" long and if you are collecting scraps that small, you are likely to have a pile of pieces and selecting ones that matched would be easily possible. Choosing to change you material selection all the time actually makes more work and longer material pieces would have been available for an expensive piece like this - makes no sense.
Mixed up letter order - Literacy rates were far lower so quite possibly neither maker nor customer knew the runes were in the wrong order, it was enough that they could recognise they were there.
'All the runes' - If one rune is magic then surely having all the runes is more magic and who cares what it says? I like the thoughts here as there is a purity of logic.
Rune and material combination - a lost language. There is a deeper meaning of the combination of the materials and the runes and so there is a deeper second language in the layout of material choices that we no longer have any idea about at all. I have heard something like this before and I think I am right in saying that this is established thought, but we just can't decipher it - correct me if I am wrong! But a distinct possibility
Colour blind - it sort of works for me, but doesn't remove the aspect of he presumably knowing he is and wanting to check with another if he was getting it right as the implications are high if he is completely wrong - I just couldn't think of another reason, but it is looking weaker....
Finished in a hurry - just as quick to use the right twists, so makes no sense to me
Ceremonial/ritual/fetish - for those who don't know the 'joke', when an archeologist is unsure of the use of an item or feature on an item, they ascribe it to an unknown usage of ceremonial/ritual/fetish type nature (not that kind of fetish), which rather cruelly can be taken to mean there have no idea either, but that they need to sound like they do. Effectively, "very interesting but who knows?" This is doing the people involved a disservice, but perhaps in this case it may be the case; see "a lost language" above.
Cipher/code - again, see Rune and material combination - a lost language above, but probably no X marks the spot treasure trail.
I struggle to believe this was accidental or patched up etc and I think it was a deliberate choice at time of manufacture - why? I am liking a combination of the 'All the runes' , lost language/cipher theories.
I would like to thank you again for being and interacting with this community, I have and continue to learn so much from you lot and on this occasion, the 'hive mind;' has not disappointed.
Discuss!
Regardless of the reasons for crafting the original as it was, your workmanship on the replica is phenomenal (as always), Tod.
You never fail to impress.
Have you any idea where the weapon smith might hail from originally? I'm just speculating whether or not its just a transposed smith experimenting.
I'm going to reiterate the apprentice master theory just a little differently. An apprentice was learning how to inlay a sword, and someone wanted it or needed a sword quickly so the master finished the blade which is why the pattern on one side looks wacky and the runes are out of order because he was practicing his letters and they didn't need to be in the right order. The name was so he could do them in a specific order. He messed up on the right metal he was supposed to use but that didn't matter as it was just for practice. Someone may have brought this up already, but I thought I'd share.
Beagnoth could have been an apprentice smith that made the sword towards the middle or end of his training. It could explain his name being on the blade, the alphabet would show that he can do the entire alphabet if someone wanted their name or something on the blade, the weird material combination could be to show that he has access to and can use the different metals, the chevrons alternating directions is just showing he can do it either way or just that he liked the way it looks.
The main thing with the chevrons being in different directions is that it's still kept in a pattern of sorts. I can see it as him wanting to make the chevrons alternate directions when he switches materials from silver to brass, but making mistakes ever so often because he's still learning or was rushing or not paying attention when he was working because the chevrons sometimes switch directions while using the same metals.
If I had to make a final guess, I'd say Beagnoth was an apprentice smith trying to show off and make a sword with different inlays, metals, and the alphabet just to show that he can.
Hm. All the runes and lost language/cipher is interesting.
I imagine my 'perhaps a foreign raised 'noble' (excuse my lack of a better word) or merchant replica piece (for the runes) and possibly commissioned with someone who didn't *quite* know how to do the exact work (for the wiring)' is a bit too much out there?
This is clearly an encrypted treasure map to infinite riches. The "wrong" chevrons create a pattern which could be applied to that alphabet. Just figure it out and the riches of Beagnoth are yours!
...which is probably just an old pair of boots, some bent coins and a [now dead] cow.
You're welcome.
*Spaniards feverishly studying it in hopes of finding El Dorado*
A new movie takes Tom Hanks all over Europe.......
And the cows last crap (now fossilized)
or an undead cow. 😯
This treasure was designed by Bethesda
Beautiful work!!
I dont know, whether you have chickens or wildlife in the background, but I've now checked on my sleeping baby three times thinking that weird sound must be him wailing. He is sound a sleep, and I got tricked into exercise.. Well done, sir.. Well done.. :)
My first thought was "client demands that his specs are followed to the letter, and doesn't want to admit that he was drunk when he came up with them."
That was my first thought. There is no accounting for taste and maybe this was simply how the customer wanted it.
I have the contentious 'premise' that the 'Seax' held a key to a very clever cipher, not that I don't deny the many other plausible explanations, but I think it's 'funny-as-fuck' that the guy was 'wasted' when they explained the 'code' to him. so they actually PRINTED it on a sword Seax) so that even somebody as thick as him could use it?
That sit's with my rationale, it makes a realistic sense. How real? I just don't know.
Pax dude .. .... x
To apply Occam's Razor (the simplest solution is often the right one) to this conundrum: Perhaps that style of inlay was just simply aesthetically pleasing to the bladesmith or warrior who commissioned this piece. Just look at abstract paintings today. They make no sense to most people, but some people really like it.
Also: The runes of the Futhark weren't just letters, they were magical runes with power, so having all of them on your blade meant that you mastered this secret language of magic and power.
Somebody knew that literacy is power.
Jesus tod.... your craftsmanship is just incredible. That wire work inlay is gorgeous.
What a wonderful piece of art.
Lots of people saying trial piece, but i'm not convinced. If you look at chevrons in tapestries its quite common to see an almost random coloration to each chevron in the sequence. This appears to be very much a style of the time that just doesn't match what our modern eyes find appealing or finished. Continuing with the justification that the maker is following tapestry fashion is the use of bronze instead of gold, which was common in non-royal tapestries to keep cost to a reasonable amount. Finally in tapestries its common to have neighboring items of the same type in different colors so that the image 'reads' correctly. Just my 2 cents.
This does beg the question, was an apprentice copying the work on a tapestry?
Yep; also, in the past, this slapdash-looking style was not considered wrong. Hell, if you look at what Greek marble statues were supposed to look like, they are garish by modern standards.
@Jon Goat and they are not painted anymore ;)
@Jon Goat The assumption here is that inconsistent chevron directions are sloppy when to them it might had been irrelevant.
The bladesmith: so what kind of inlay and pattern you want to be added to your sword?
The warrior: yes.
LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!
My mind wandered to it being a sort of key for coded messages. You’ve got a color coded alphabet - but that alphabet is also offset etc.
That was my thought. It would explain why part of the alphabet is out of order. Of course it might also be a joke along the lines of OMGURTDS 😁
congratulations. you are hired. neal druckman would like to see you in his office tomorrow to discuss uncharted 5
that was my first thought as well. I wonder if each letter has a different wire combination.
Beautiful work!
Could it have been a piece for the master blacksmith to show his aprentices different combinations as a blueprint for example? Like "look here those two metals looks like that inlay, this is how this letter is supposed to look on a blade etc? Edit:inland to inlay
Well it could be, but would you (the master) submit to the customer the experimental work of your apprentice and hope to be paid?
Maybe a showroom peace.
I am Beagnoth, master bladesmith and this i what I can do:
These are the colors available and that's what my standard letters look like.
Or the final exam of an apprentice?
I would side with you and say that it´s some kind of show-piece. The smith could show his craftmanship to potential costumers and could show his apprentices what can be done with different metals and how different patterns would lok like.
@@kilianortmann9979 exactly my first thought. A showpiece from a master for customers and apprentices. Like a catalogue.
If I ever forge a sword, I'm going to put random stuff on it just to mess with people in the future.
@starshipeleven fear me
That is an awesome idea. I have not worked my way up to forging swords yet, but when I do eventually get to that point.....
@Jon Goat and oxidize it first
What a beautiful piece
Thanks for making this video
Have you ever seen a compilation of cakes that turned out all wrong, someone orders a cake, they say I want it to say happy birthday in blue. And they get a cake that literally says "happy birthday in blue" on it.
Blacksmith shouts"Oi Duncan, did you get the lords message he wants the alphabetic perfectly inscribed on the blade."
Duncan, "What he wants the alphabet on his blade?"
Blacksmith, "that's what I said lad get it done."
Duncan scratches his head mumbles to "himself bloody crazy lords" and gets to work.
"what, All the letters?"
"Yep"
"Um, ok I guess...."
As someone who has been through several recent adventures with my eyes--detached retinas; cataracts and 45 years of near sightedness, I suspect a smith with vision problems could have influenced some of the inconsistencies. This summer, after fumbling around half blind after retina surgery, I was finally able to get "elective" cataract treatment on my right eye. The lock down here stopped all non-emergency eye surgery--and fuzzy vision was not an emergency. Following my surgery (they remove the cloudy lens and replace it with a new clear one--amazing procedure) I was struck most with the color shift in my vision. My left eye sees things with a slightly amber tint. I never really noticed it. Now, my new lens in my right eye sees everything as slightly brighter and bluer. The contrast is pretty astounding. Couple that with a world lit only by fire. it seems possible the color blindness may have been caused by aging eyes and dim light.
@@wilhelmseleorningcniht9410 For me it was just 4 weeks between both cataract surgeries - during which time I most noticed that:
1) the green-blue-turquoise tints in Visual Studio were different between both eyes; and
2) the new lens showed all tints brighter than the old (cataract-inflicted) lens.
The way the light catches all the wire work on the blade is absolutely stunning. It occurs to me now that lovely green is probably just reflection of the grass in your backyard, but still. Wow!
As an aspiring bladesmith, this reminds me of some of my projects that didnt quite make the mark.
My personal hunting knife has an odd blade shape, and highly carved, decorated handle, plus file work on the blade spine.
When I forged it, the shape of the blade wasn't perfect, so I couldn't sell it.
But since I kept it for me, I decorated tbe hell out of it.
I could see this sax being rejected fir the broken back shape, then decorated with scrap wire etc over time, either so the smith had a nice blade, a practice peice { doubt it} or most likely, a portfolio piece made from scraps.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts; I am loving the interactivity here and of course we will never actually know the answer, however I am going to wade in again. Perhaps I was all caught up in the moment and was wondering if there was a higher level meaning to the arrangement, but really because I am just lost in what is going on and it fits - on some levels.
But as a few have said 'Occam's Razor'. Basically the obvious and simplest solution is probably the right one and usually this is the case.
I cannot see how this 'haphazardness' was accidental, so I will settle on it being deliberate. Could it have been 'apprentice work' that was sub-standard? I doubt it, because it takes a few days to lay this in and generally an apprentice would not be left alone for such period without correction and also day after day the apprentice would get up, look at his clashing patterns and think "good stuff". This was an expensive piece of steel and the materials also had value so were unlikely to be thrown away, they would have been recycled and picking out badly placed wires and replacing is entirely possible. What this means to me is the piece left the workshop 'finished' and was later lost rather than thrown away because it wasn't good enough. So for me it looks like this was done under observation of the inlayer or by the inlayer.
So where does that leave my thoughts? The simple solution is that it left the workshop as intended and by supplier and client was deemed good enough. Horrible by modern standards but OK by their standards. However......It still remains that it is actually more work to keep picking up and putting down wires to allow for the alteration, than it is to keep holding the same ones and laying in the same type again and again. So the 'haphazardness' was not that at all - it was deliberate choice; but why?
Back to Occam's razor. In my mind it was deliberate choice, so what is the most obvious and simplest solution? In a modern context it would be an example show piece, but that doesn't work here as it does not display nearly all the possible variables and also did they do this?; that in itself is another leap. The other main contender is an apprentice piece, but again it does not ring true for the reasons above. So what have we got?
As an aside, the break looks to me like an impact break rather than something that happened whilst in the mud, and a crack like this would render the knife useless, so the break caused the end of its life. It could have been recycled, so I suspect either thrown away by the rich owner (in anger?) or was lost.
Dammit Tod, there's no conclusion! Are you not omniscient?
I already told you guys, it's a cipher key (probably) or something else entirely!
I cannot believe the 'shoddy workmanship' theory either, this Seax was adorned with a purpose and intent, Possibly!
This certainly doesn't solve anything, nor is it even a theory, but I'm sure you're aware how frequently the (younger) futhark was displayed in it's entirety on scandinavian finds from the period, continuing a tradition from an earlier period when the elder futhark was also used. On this seax, is obviously used the anglo-frisian futhorc. It this a continuous tradition brought from the continent, or was this inspired by the scandinavians? Similar inlay work was very, very common on eastern "varangian" finds and weapons. Could this have been an attempt to replicate "exotic" eastern art by a skilled smith, yet one unfamiliar with the style.
I still think it's an encryption key. Each letter has colors in unique places and the pattern is random. Guess pattern is for scrambling and colors to represent symbols for letters. Read my other comment here for an example.
If I had to take a guess, it was a meme blade. I'd say probably a gift that was either some sort of inside joke or something to show off in a humorous way. I mean I can certainly think of people sitting around showing off other weapons that they spent quite alot of money on and this fella pulling out his blade saying well all of you have finely engraved swords all done very well, but look at this bastardization of a sword that none of you can compare. I mean mine even has the alphabet on it. I couldn't help but smile when you explained this, and i certainly wonder if the person who had this made smiled as well having this made and showing it off.
I agree with other posters that it is a sample piece, with many variations and the entire alphabet, as comparable to paint chips at a paint store. I think that is the occum’s razor solution.
There are theories that the old, early futhark runes was used primarily for rune-magic and that it only later was used for writing. That could explain the alphabet, as all if all runes had unique magical properties, the strongest magic would be to use them all. That could also explain the use of different materials. The different materials could have been associated with different magical properties and was combined with the runes to create the strongest possible magic
That sounds like an awesome magic Rune system for a fantasy story. :)
While I know a lot less about Norse magic specifically, that is consistent with period esotericism in general. As an aexample, astral talismans going back all the way to the magi of Persia (and probably earlier) associated types of objects, especially things like stones and metals, with magical correspondences, and we have a good few extant talisman formulas that call for combinations of specific metals, stones, inscriptions and so on to produce a talisman that accomplishes a rather specific effect. And the system of runes was believed to be an extremely potent form of magic among the cultures that used them.
So, yeah, it could very well be that this sword was believed to be enchanted by means of those inlays.
Like, this isn't a list of letters but an abbreviated spell?
Dunno how this was supposed to work, but if the rune magic isn't like an "enchantment" on the sword, but rather something the owner would perform by remembering, reciting, or otherwise focusing on certain runes, it'd be quite useful to have them available.
My thought exactly.
Thank you , Tod .
I think that its possible that it was a gift for a younger son or heir to a throne ( thus the need for the basics of an alphabet ) - as far as the twisted different metal pairs - during this time it was definitely possible that the creator was a vitki metalsmith who used magic mushrooms or some other form of psychedelic while creating this sword. I am half Norwegian and have always been fascinated by the mystery of Odin hanging on the world tree who looks down to seize the runes of legend. The sword you made is an incredible piece of artwork and craftsmanship.
"Absolute stonker"
I have no idea is this is a normal saying for brits, but as an American I find this hilarious
Not that current amongst the youth, but anyone of my generation would know know exactly what I meant and just in case it is rude over there its not over here.
@@tods_workshop I wasn't offended at all, it surprised me and I thought it was really funny
In my case I've never heard the word stonker in my life before.
wonder if its similar to "chonker" or"absolute unit" xD
@@frigglebiscuit7484 I can't vouch for the accuracy of this, but it is said to be a reference to a large artillery barrage, an abbreviation of "Standard Regimental Concentration" [of fire].
I disagree with ideas about portfolio and a "demo piece"- i think the explanation is simply a difference in aesthetic preference. We see a lot of other items with inscriptions that are done incorrectly (many Ulfberht and Ingelrii swords), and MANY Anglo-Saxon runic inscriptions that are complete gibberish (for example the Kingmoor and Bramham Moor rings) or in earlier periods single runes inlaid without context (one spear in the British museum comes to mind). I think then that the slightly shaky alphabet is a result of a mixture of lack of literary standardisation, and a simple desire for runes as an exotic aesthetic aspect of the weapon- to put it simply, Beagnoth didn't really care what his seax said, he just wanted runed on it.
I think the lack of symmetry can be explained by the demonstrable fact that symmetry wss not strictly valued by period eyes. The difference in inlay metals could have been for two reasons- the abundance of different hues could have been an attempt to demonstrate splendour and wealth, but more likely I think is that Beagnoth was rich enough to afford a weapon this nice but not rich enough to afford all the inlay to be done in silver, and as a result it got done in copper and copper alloys.
Sone great thoughts here Deryn - thanks
@@tods_workshop Maybe the inlay was added over time as he could afford it. Kinda like someone having a project car. You often end up with mismatched bits and pieces.
@@tods_workshop did you check the other Seax discribed on the wiki page? i cant get the book they source the information.
would be very interesting to compare those 2.
I like the notion about symmetry. It’s easy to think that our current notions of art and beauty are the way things have always been, but during this time period (as an example) poetry emphasized alliteration rather than rhyme like we’re used to. Ideas of beauty change often, and so perhaps the emphasis on symmetry would also fluctuate. Even the blade itself isn’t symmetrical if you compare the bladed edge to it’s back.
Agreed about runes -- Runes are not letters, even if you can spell your name with them.
Symmetry per se I disagree about. Germanic metalwork, engraving and inlay is, in general, highly symmetrical.
But is it possible that the mish-mash of metal types is deliberate or at least was not displeasing to the owner? It's certainly possible and a good hypothesis.
6:40 something very odd just happened.
I was watching this video while looking at a list of RPG systems. And just as he said "doing it randomly in the dark" talking about how the sword was forged, I was reading a line which had a system called "forged in the dark".
Beautiful
Never before have I enjoyed being known as a collective hive mind.
It was a practise piece? Somebody had to learn on something at some stage, and this may have just been left about the forge. Somebody with a bit of coin bought it, not being able to afford the real article, and went for the training piece?
And maybe the wire was scraps, that's why its inconsistent?
I agree. Similar to the embroidery pieces we find that just had random flowers and herbs and letters on it.
I would have thought as a practise piece we would have seen more of them in
Also a blacksmith would have been fairly well educated and from a fairly rich family I would be surprised if a blacksmith didn’t know how to list the alphabet correctly
I like the idea commented here a few times that this is an example sword for a blacksmith, like it can show off what they can do both with details and a physical example of what they could do.
Hey Tod love it!. I was wondering if this is a hardened blade and if so was it hardened after the inlays? Or was it engraved after hardening? Thanks, looking to make my own
My guess, absolutely no backing, just my first thought: some wealthy persons kid expressed an interest in forging/inlaying, got a mini-apprenticeship, ended up with this. Enough skill level to show that someone who knew what they were doing was at least guiding the creation, not enough skill to evidence that the worker (in this case, a kid with a passing interest) was an artisan/apprentice by trade.
Very unlikely given the nature of their society.
wolschou The idea of an “enthusiastic amateur” in the 10th century is pretty amusing.
People don't realize artistic hobbies came around after everyone had enough food to eat.
Gabe Morehouse Yeah that’s why they’re suggesting a noble did it
@@charlottewalnut3118 Noblemen and their offspring were not in the habit of performing manual labor. They had peasants and serfs to do that. Working with their hands, except when training with or using weapons, was beneath their station and would have been actively discouraged.
You said it yourself in a video of yours a while ago: medieval items of stature didn't enjoy the level of craftsmanship we would expect today. Somebody threw in all the letters of the alphabet, made a shiny random pattern and there you have it: the perfect sword for an illiterate Saxon warlord. More than enough to impress any 9th century farmer or soldier.
There may well be some good sense in this - thanks for the theory
or maybe it was a cheat sheet for a guy who barely knew how to read?
thats a long shot runes had a ritualistic usage with this name could easily be a scribe/þyle rather than a warlord the futhorc being just the emblem of his trade that introduced him to other members of the court right away, i cant picture how these were usable in battle or even how anyone can be sure what they called them...
This reminds me of weird old Chinese bootleg firearms sometimes covered on the Forgotten Weapons channel, which might have multiple copies of completely different Western manufacturers' logos stamped on a single gun.
Definitely agree with some of the other comments about it likely being a craftsman's display piece. Because that would really make sense especially since repairs are normally done to make it look like the original. Instead of patchwork.
#1 -- the primer and the name.
When I was four years old, my parents started reading bedtime stories to my younger brother instead of me. His stories bored me, so I taught myself to read. The most important thing in that process (which I vividly recall, 58 years later) is having the alphabet at hand for reference; I used the spines of an encyclopedia in my room. My first thought is that Beagnoth was trying to learn to read and write. Having the Futhark and what his name looked like where he always had them close would be valuable in that. This one, I'd bet money on being right. He was learning to read.
#2 -- The randomness reminds me of divination. Nothing really points to it specifically, but when things look irrational, you can normally chalk it up to sloppiness or religion, and there's not much sloppy about the way that was done. I smell some sort of "magic" associated with that.
It's right out of "13th Warrior" ...literacy was quite uncommon ...as were books, scrolls, et. al. ...even the swordsmith muffed the runes' order.
"I had a dream far into the future. In that dream, scholars examined a sword with their eyes like right here." - brings hands inches from face - "Smith! Is their any way we can troll these people?"
"I got you back majesty, leave it to me."
What a chuff.
You never disappoint Tod. I believe, like many others here, that it must have been a showpiece. A beautifully illustrated example of all the techniques that smith was capable of.
hey todd could you make a video discussing different types of seax and why and how they were used
A few ideas:
-It could be that this could be a test or example for production
-It could be that the golden triangles are used for measurements for how to cut something or to fast measure some bowstring where to cut it or something else they needed during their fights.
-It could be that along with the sheath of the scramsax that the triangles could (de)code a message, depending on the side of scramsax.
-It could be that due the Sax in the word that the triangles could be measurements for when hitting the dull side against some metal or specific parts of the sheath that these where used to create specific notes and thus a clanging fighting melody could be possible too. Since Sax ''Charles Joseph (Senior/Father)' was an instrument maker.
-Beagnoth should be either the owner of the scramsax or the maker of this sword.
Was just looking to buy one of your Cutler brand Seax. What a good coincidence with this video.
I just recently received a dirk from you, Fantastic item couldn't be happier. I recommend anyone who reads this go out there and get yourself a Tod Cutler dagger or knife, you won't regret it.
I have one of his bauernwehr, it's really nice, especially for the price
The bang for the buck is astonishing. Really.
@@flamezombie1 That's on my list too, along with his twisted rondel dagger. Also find his cast bronze maces quite attractive. Byzantine and Rus weapons are criminally underrepresented.
My TC1 rondel dagger finally got delivered the other day along with a matching archery bracer. Couldn't be happier with them. Only problem now is I want to tie the dagger on my belt when I go shoot.
I have several Tod Cutler pieces, and I have to say. they are all superb. The Seax is amazing! It is hefty, well built, and solidly made. The balance is great and it almost comes alive in your hand. Consider the red scabbard--it really looks great with the brass trim. Worth every penny.
Maybe it was a blade some one trained to make inlays on?
I like that, maybe it was a Blacksmith's equivalent of a Needlework Sampler?
I literally just wanted to suggest this, and many others have suggested it too.
Wouldn't they more likely practice on scrap metal? is that a thing? like would you craft a blade and then say, "ah might as well practice my inlay on this!" or would you maintain the blade, sell it, and practice on something that didnt take that much work to create?
Maybe the medieval equivalent of an apprentice piece? Where the apprentice displays all he has learned in one article but without using precious metals. Apprentice cabinet makers for example would make ludicrously ornate (and often miniature) jewellery boxes, that often served no real purpose other than to display their skills.
@@philhughes3882 They usually are small, both for economy and to display superior skills; and there is no reason not to ave each letter in one coherent style/materiel combo and the next one in a different one.
Hmm. Like the comment section is agreeing to and saying it's an educational piece. My two cent is that its a piece used to educate apprentices in how inlays will look once set in a finish product. The confusing on why different material is used for each or some the letters can be clear up with the reasoning. Its used to visual show how each material will effect the appeal of a finish piece. Now as to why the piece is mark with a name ? Once again you sum it up to education, if you include the sheaf of the blade. Then the action of slowly draw it out; each of the letters will show up one at a time. For an uneducated person this can be use as an introduction to basic alphabetical vocalization and association. Incredible ! This piece must of been extremely important to who had it or created it.
That is gorgeous and fantastic craftsmanship! Do you inlay the wire before or after heat treat? If before is there any risk of it popping out during heat treatment due to the rapid volume change of the steel?
Here's a wild idea: these are meant for protection from magic and curses. Put a flaw (or quite a few) on your work or gear, so no curse can get hold of it. Put the whole alphabet on it as well, so that it becomes stronger. Put your name on it so that it is bound to you and your hand.
Sorry, Ok, all the sensible stuff has been said (exibition piece/ customer eye-catcher, old smith with impaired vision, several smiths working on a piece in turns during a period of time, random taste of a peculiar customer, old timey aesthetics, shortage of materials).
in my opinion best explanation, otherwise the sword maker made a mistake which does happen
I think it's easy to overestimate the superstition of ancient people.
@@Sorenzo yes it is, but I have seen this kind of superstition somewhat consistently up to the present day. I come from a small village in Greece and have traveled to other balkan countries, and motifs like the one above keep coming around, especially in the more remote/backwater places. The evil eye, jealousy, curses etc. That's why this theory came easier to my mind.
@Jon Goat unforunately for my hypothesis, what you say seems quite right- and relatable to my experiences, now that I come to think of it.
So I'd come to say that it was made like this solely because the maker or the client had this kind of look in mind.
I mean, this makes sense. In Mongolia, there was a tradition to name sickly born infants 'wrong' names, i.e. name a girl a boy's name, name someone literally the name "Nothing," etc. in order to protect against evil spirits. It's the same idea to put flaws on a blade to prevent evil spirits from getting interest in a more 'perfect' construction.
There's no accounting for taste. Beagnoth probably just had unorthodox aesthetic tastes. You see similar stuff today in custom built rifles, people do some really dumb things with them that I would never do, but hey, it's their money, and they'll use it as they see fit.
I've come to the conclusion myself after a bit of research that this may be a test which explains the Great length, and the randomized lettering and choice of materials. Not only is it a test but a showcase piece that provides a potential buyer an idea of materials how they look and different letters since not everyone was literate back then it'd be something interesting to be able to display.
What if it was a gift from a father to a son or scholar of some kind and as a practical joke was like “engrave it with alphabet so he may not forget it” or “may my son at least know how to write his name”.
What a beautiful sword. I love the ancient English language and culture. The Norman conquest was a tragedy.
All I'm saying is that I'd probably have learned my ABCs faster if I learned it from a badass colourful sword.
So, you're saying that you'd be singing the familiar tune of your ABCs...swinging your seax...limbs flying in all directions.
@@keithdrummond1003 Ha. Yeah this sounds like a fun way to learn
Yes, much like how you'd buy your child an interesting or exciting book to encourage them to read. It really makes a lot of sense if high status parents commissioned it as a gift for their son.
I would guess the change in patterns somehow relate to the alphabet and indicate letters which spell out a word or phrase.
A full example alphabet & several different combinations of designs/materials.... sounds like a _master or reference copy!_ Long used to help standardise production... basically you'd take that Seax to another blacksmith or hand it to your apprentices as their reference copy to ensure they are producing the same typography, design & aesthetic. Could also be a _test reference piece_ of their process & materials, to try out how a particular mix of metals is going to look... much cheaper to test half-a-dozen different designs on a single blade for reference, rather than individual trial & error using such an expensive product.
What's really interesting is that it makes the decoration a customisable but standardised element, so you could produce multiple copies of a single design with some consistency or one-of-a-kind Seax with a customer's name. Neat! 👌
I'd have to agree with prior posters this makes the most sense to me as a practice piece(this would explain trying to etch all the letters and apply multiple types of wire to see if they all function the same) or example/display piece to show off the skill of the craftsman.
Tragic version: The master died and the apprentice completed it?
Melodrama version: The skilled apprentice did most of it but the jealous drunken old master completed it miserably.
The sales pitch version: See here goos Sire, You can have any letter You desire on Your blade.
What runes would like on your blade sire?
YES
Beautiful work... my only guess is it is a salesman's sample blade... done to show off ALL the different patterns, combinations, and letters that could be ordered.
As far of end of June, 2021, the schools of thinking are three: 1) a practice piece made with leftover wire scraps, hence the mixed colors 2) sample for showing what could be done on the blades, hence the lettering 3) a piece that was made along with a cipher, hence the "errors"
It's the antique equivalent of a salesman's sample. It shows what the smith is capable of and let's the buyer see different combinations of inlay etc. You can find similar pieces from woodworkers and other trades through the ages.
As a completely color blind smith / cutler, I suspect you're absolutely correct in assuming the smith was color blind or had some other visual handicap.
A friend of mine is also completely colorblind but works as a software dev and is actually quite good with selecting colors that look good.
Now I have absolutely no idea how that would translate to metal work which is why i would like to know how you personally keep the metals apart?
It would also be really helpful if Tod could bring samples of the different metals to someone colorblind to see if they can keep them apart.
Cool
what blades do you make
@@_aullik It doesn't really translate much. I have a pretty solid "conceptual" grasp of color and can arrange colors rather well, for instance in my wardrobe etc. However, when it comes to objects that are "close" in color in a hands on sort of way, thats very different. For instance, if you put a dark blue tile, a dark red tile, a dark brown tile and a black tile in a row and asked me to find the red and black tiles, chances are I would have a very difficult time. Polished copper, brass and aluminum all look very similar to me, generally speaking. As to how I keep various metals separate, labeling and careful organization. I also don't do inlay.
@@DTinkerer small reproduction pieces, modern kitchen knives, hunter / skinners, some swords.
Beagnoth was perhaps a literate nobleman and proud of the fact, in the same way that King Alfred was widely praised for his literacy. Or it was some sort of enchantment or incantation. God was represented by the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of the Greek alphabet, so perhaps something similar.
Just throwing ideas out.
In regards to the primer on it, perhaps it was meant for a really high status person. Not just a show piece but also to help teach a foreigner their alphabet. This would show of craftsmanship and the ability to learn.
the runic alphabet appearing on this blade could be to do with worship of Odin, the one who "discovered" the runes. To claim all the runes would be claiming all the powers the runes could give your blade, making it "all-powerful". So it could be an incantation to ask for a blade to not fail on the battlefield, maybe?
Could it be as simple as this being an advertisement of someone's skill? A floor model as it were.
About the runes being in the wrong order, I remember some documentary about ulfberth swords saying the "proper" inlay should be "+VLFBERH+T", while many fakes were marked "+VLFBERHT+" because that "looked more right". No idea if that's true, but could explain the unusual order; a sort of signature.
Realy like the the idea of this being a demo-piece, either to prove skill or to show potential customers what the available options were.
Rich kid had a cool tutor that also did metalwork. Tutor wrote down how well the kid did on each lesson, and used that to decide what kind of wire to put in each letter. Then when the student was old enough presents him with this piece. Both reminding him to be humble but the student was also proud of being literate.
No idea really, but when you said there was an alphabet primer on the weapon the only thing that came to mind is someone like Ashurbanipal of Assyria.
There may be a more arcane meaning to this. Having a full set of futhark on an item was one the mystical means to imbue power into an item. If this was Norse, with the elder futhark, I would say 24 runes. This is an important reference, as the elder had 24 runes. Anglo Saxon futhark was more fluid, for a historical perspective (26 to 33 I think) as far as the number of runes.
With norse, and anglo saxon runes, each rune had a number associated with it. You find it with other alphabets like hebrew, for example. fehu (F) was 1, uruz (U) 2, etc. continuing on in the order of the futhark.and combination of runes that added up to 24 (the total number of runes in the set), or some subset that the product would make 24 was considered very powerful. i.e, a rune set that added up to 4 (times 6 equals 24), or 8 (times 3 equals 24), or 48 (divided by 2, or twice the "magic number"). division also works, but this may be a more modern take on old rune magick. Most often in rune scripts, a specific rune would be chosen. Such as Tiwas T ( i believe 17) and the numerical value of the runes would add up to that, in some form, sometimes not even having that target rune marked. Runes (and others) had there own numerology to it
to make this more complicated, the "name" *Beagnoth*, might not even be a name. It might be a rune script to create a specific result of the runes, that happens to look like it might be a name. It might be the weapons name, with specific meaning to runes used to create it.
All of this is assuming that (and is likely) that the Anglos Saxon futhark came from the Norse to begin with, AND the Saxons inherited/learned/incorporated the norse rune magick into their system.
When it comes to runes, or other alphabets that have a mystical side, we can NEVER assume that the letters are the (only) important part.
Edit to add:
Even the metals used in the inlay may have had mysical importance. The exact meaning might change is this was made pre, or post Christianity. The mystical meaning with metals may have changed due to christian influence, or more specifly, due to the jewish influence of the christian forebearers.
On the idea of hidden or lost language, it is entirely possible that certain materials had totemic or shamanistic meaning. The runes themselves, if perceived as magic, probably had secondary totemic meaning, just as in reading tarot using a straight deck of playing cards. Most things in nature were given totemic meaning, either conveying certain powers or giving insight. For instance, if you stumble across a certain animal or plant, it may be considered meaningful in a certain way of interpreting ones present situation. People also identified with certain animals, plants, trees, etc because of similarity in personal traits and the traits attributed to said animals, etc. They were said to have the same spirit or be tuned into a certain spirit. Meaning was power, spirit was power, and of course, wielding these things was like wielding a tool to shape the world around us, or to better integrate with both the visible world and the mystical worlds.
Of course, carrying such symbolism on one's person, or one's weapons could also convey not only meaning, but certain mystical powers. In those days, the inanimate world was just as alive as anything else and the hidden intuitive or shamanistic connections were complex and many.
A beautiful piece. Thanks for sharing. I think once it is looked upon as packed full of meaning, then the perceived discontinuity falls away, in the same way that we don't look for geometry when looking at the page of a novel.
Which one of the set of magical characters do you want on your sword? If they all have some power, why not all of them?
Beautiful and provoking...'the perceived discontinuity falls away'........like the shadow of leaves on the ground, or the space between them?
The thing about this kind of historical mystery is that it's totally possible the sword was ordered by a rich guy to give his friend as a joke because his friend couldn't get his alphabet right and he ordered it the work through a cheaper blacksmith to keep the cost of the joke down.
It's a knife, not a sword. www.google.com/search?q=seax+knife&oq=seax&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5j69i61l2.3653j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
salvarsaani Dude anything over 20 inches is a sword if it’s as long as a persons arm it’s a sword so it goes like this knife dagger short sword arming sword longsword great sword
@@charlottewalnut3118 Seriously "dude", seax (scramasax by other name) is a knife by definition. Just don't even bother to argue and click the google link I posted.
Here is how Oxford English dictionary defines Scramasax,
"scramasax /ˈskraməsaks /
▸ noun a large knife with a single-edged blade found among the grave goods in many Anglo-Saxon burials. Such knives were used in hunting and fighting.
- ORIGIN mid 19th century : of Germanic origin."
@@charlottewalnut3118 And this is what the curator of British Museum writes in the Seax of Beagnoth's web page,
"Curator's commentsWebster et al 1984
'Seax' is the generic Old English word for knife."
@@sanakassara What a pointless arguement xD it's a sword though. Sure it might mean knife by language definition, but by modern definition, it's a sword.
According to archeological grave findings, this seax profile and length was very popular among Blatic tribes (Old Prussian, Lithuanian and Latvian regions) between 7th to 9th centuries AD, where afterwards it start to fall out of popularity when "viking" type swords become more commonplace. The later period, the longer they got (up to 65 cm), except Baltic type seaxes usually have double or tripple fullers where the inlays are on this one. Also for some of them the blade is not equal width, as it seems to be on this one, but in fact progressively seems to narrow as it goes towards the tip. I put more technical info on Baltic seaxes on Matt's video "Where is the SEAX ... ".
Here's a stab at it.
Beognoth valued literacy. He knew that language had power. He wanted the full rune set on his sword, along with his name. Why the runes? So his enemies, the Danes, would recognize them.
Beognoth commissioned the sword. A master smith made the blade, and handed it off to an inlayer. The inlayer was a master who had spent years learning his craft. He finished the inletting, and inlaid one side...and died.
His best apprentice finished the other side, but he wasn't very good, at least not as good as his master, and he didn't really understand the art beyond the physical act of doing the inlay.
I quite like your theory, except the Elder Futhorc was also the Anglo-Saxon alphabet- the Norse version was a bit different (called a Fuþark rather than a Fuþorc, in both cases named after the first six letters).
Both cultures honestly used the roman alphabet by the time he lived. Anglo-Saxons only rarely used futhorc, and younger futhark was still around but not necessarily anything important. Not to mention plenty of Vikings had Ulfbehrt swords - Ulfberht wrote it in the latin alphabet
I, for my part, think yours is, with the absence of any proof, the most likely scenario. The object is way to expensive (in time and material) to be a showpiece. One should see this like a japanese katana in terms of cost and prestige. I too, think that the owner wanted to show his literacy. "Look at me, i am educated." Propably his surroundings did not know better. Like western people that have chinese script tattooed, that says something like "cow" instead of "female" or something like that.
Occam's razor is out the window with this one, but it is the most entertaining theory haha
@@ivyssauro123 it's what I have...
As an archaeology student, I say "Ceremonial".
My job here is done.
"It had religious significance"
But you didn't do anything.
I would make a joke about getting paid, but I don't think there is pay in archeology...
@@norullzz Hey, Archeology can be very lucrative if you lack ethics.
Indeed, look at Indiana Jones.
I guess it was made by a rich master''s own son. He used leftovers from his father''s workshop . I keep some of the blades I made as a child 'till the present day with all their mistakes, because they are precious to me. I love them because learned on them
Coming back to this a year on - have you talked to Tim Noyes of Heron Armoury? Tim made a replica of the Anglo-Saxon Witham Sword for me and had loads of trouble getting the silver wire inlay right. Perhaps he might have a take on this.
My guess would be for someone who needs to interact with other people who don't speak your language. one one side of the sax you have your alfabet, on the other various geometric sizes in various metals. Think about this scenario: you are a trader who seeks to buy brass, copper, tin, lead and steel, or their ore from a certain town; but you don't really understand their language if you arrive by boat. You draw the seax; and put it on the table and sit down to show you don't have hostile intentions. You point to your name (Beagnoth) and to yourself. Then you start a conversation by pointing with your finger letter by letter to "speak"; and the other side would be a standard measuring device like your modern ruler - way before the imperial or metric system. If you regularly trade with the same guys; you can agree on the length of something based on how many squares, which square ... Keep in mind, we modern people think much less pragmatic, and take a lot of stuff for granted without even considering. Imagine the value of that thing to someone who imports metals from a trader overseas. Only you would be able to communicate with the trader, and make agreements about what metal, how long, what in return ...
Bart, I like the way you think
So good!
In the museum of warfair in brussels; I had a discussion about this seax; and similar one found in Germany (but I haven't seen it yet); and I pointed to my comment on this video; and it seems this explanation is the most plausible so far...
the futhorc formula is quite easy to explain: it was a common practice to use the futhorc/futhark apotropaic (for example on the Kylver runestone). This is known not only from runic scripture, but from all kinds of alphabets, that they were also used in this manner. This would mean one part of the inscription is to understand from an alphabet-magical point of view and this leads me to the idea, that the different inlays may have to do with the runenames(every rune did not just mean a letter but had also a "name" i.e. a word that could be written by just that rune). Some runenames are taken from the same semantic field and maybe these are marked in the same colourcombination.
I've been looking for this comment. I feel that the directions, and numbers chosen for each letter and the associated shapes may have a deeper symbolism that we dont get. The older societies get, the more they seem to put weight on these things.
@@GemologyforSchmucks i suppose many people today still believe in astrology, with the signs of the zodiac associated with different moons/planets and with different elements - it seems plausible to me that something similar could be going on here, like early alchemy?
@shane bruland Sounds like an enjoyable movie :) I do love a good dose of escapism.
@shane bruland Dude, what I wrote is an educated guess based on research (like actual university research) and not some conspiracy theorist bs
Well colour me curious, where can I learn more about Futhorc runes in an academic way like this? So much out there is invented 50 years ago by a high guy in California and put on the internet by crazy cat people, instead of properly researched study and it's frustrating to wade through
I agree with the previous posts.
It seems like either a piece that was used to show what someone can do with various letters, patterns and such or it was practice work done on a flawed blade that was worthless other than it’s obvious value in raw steel.
oh god... so good
Anglo Saxon Kings are “givers of rings” to their immediate supporters. The rings in question would go around the hilt of as swords. Some rings would be gold but others silver and others perhaps bronze depending on the military victory. If an old honoured sword with many rings had reached the end of its life, perhaps its rings might be used to decorate a new weapon.