The SWORDS of the ante-Norman period may be divided into three classes: the earlier broadsword without cross-piece, straight, double-edged, and acutely pointed; the later sword, similar in fashion to the above, but having a guard, or cross-piece; and the curved weapon with a concave edge, called in Anglo-Saxon the _seax_; the _sica_ of classical times. The first has become familiar to us from the numerous examples procured from the graves of France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and England. This type agrees exactly with the description left us by Sidonius Apollinaris; who, recording a victory obtained by the Franks over the Goths, has this passage: "Alii hebetatorum cæde gladiorum latera dentata pernumerant. Alii _cæsim atque punctim_ foraminatos circulos loricarum metiuntur[62]." We have engraved, figure 1 of our plate of swords, a fine specimen of this kind of weapon, which was found among the "Fairford Graves." It is nearly three feet in length (the usual size of these swords), and when dug up, had fragments of the wood and leather which once formed its scabbard, still adhering to the iron. Other examples discovered in England are engraved in Mr. Neville's "Saxon Obsequies," Mr. Akerman's "Pagan Saxondom," and in the account of the Ozingell Cemetery[63]. German specimens appear in the "Selzen Cemetery," Swiss in the _Tombeaux de Bel-Air_, Danish in the "Copenhagen Museum," p. 66, and Frankish in _La Normandie Souterraine_. The Irish swords are shorter than others of this date,--not exceeding thirty inches,--as we learn from the researches of Mr. Wakeman[64]. That this sword of the earlier Iron Period resembled the anterior bronze sword in being without cross-piece, seems clear from two facts. Firstly, no such provision (except in one or two isolated cases) is found to accompany the weapons disclosed by the graves; secondly, it has been remarked, that in many instances, where the wood of the handle and that of the sheath remain, they approach so closely together, that there is no space left for any intervening appendage.
The sword with cross-piece appears to belong to the later Iron Period. When real examples are found in this country, and in others early Christianised, they are generally dredged from the beds of rivers, or turned up among old foundations; though in states where paganism held a longer sway, they are obtained from the graves. Two very early English specimens are figured in the "Pagan Saxondom:" one found at Gilton, in Kent, and now in Mr. Rolfe's Museum; the other found at Coombe, in Kent, and preserved in the collection of Mr. Boreham. The cross-piece in these examples has projected but little beyond the edges of the blade. From specimens given in our plates, and from the numerous representations of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, we see that the guard eventually became a much more prominent feature of the Northern brand.