I just completed a seax. It is sort of an eclectic seax drawing it's inspiration from my trip with Peter Johnsson in October. While we were in Stockholm, we looked at a plethora of Vendel and late-Roman era seax's. Then we went to London and I had an opportunity to see many of the Anglo Saxon style seax's as well as Frankish and other Germanic styles. Add some of the Nydam and other bog finds to the mix and you get a clear picture of why I say this is an eclectic seax.
Steel: W1
Fittings: Bronze
Blade Length: 15.25" (38.74 cm)
Overall Length: 21.375" (54.29 cm)
Grip: Birch with leather cover
Click to enlarge:
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[ Linked Image ]
[ Linked Image ]
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[ Linked Image ]
This seax comes with a basic leather sheath. If you are interested in this seax and sheath, contact me at ericmycue@verizon.net or through PM for price and shipping information.
Also, I have a number of projects in the works that are based on research and data from my trip. Items include a number of rondel daggers, large seax's, Germanic fighting knives and misc. medieval swords and daggers. Many of these items will be pattern-welded. If you are interested in receiving an update via e-mail when these items come available, please send me an e-mail or PM requesting to be placed on my e-mail list. I intend to send information to those on the e-mail list before posting these items publically.
Last edited by Eric McHugh on Tue 03 Jan, 2006 5:31 am; edited 1 time in total
Very nice Eric, I really the flow of the lines............
Very nice looking.
I look forward to see what else you come up with.
I look forward to see what else you come up with.
That are a really nice seax you made there Eric!
I am like catched in here by it :)
Well! i have just waiting for them after i heard this 21 min long interview in a Swedish forum from that trip. :cool:
Thanks for showing! :)
I am like catched in here by it :)
Well! i have just waiting for them after i heard this 21 min long interview in a Swedish forum from that trip. :cool:
Thanks for showing! :)
That looks great, Eric! I really dig what you did with the grip....
| Patrik Erik Lars Lindblom wrote: |
| That are a really nice seax you made there Eric!
I am like catched in here by it :) Well! i have just waiting for them after i heard this 21 min long interview in a Swedish forum from that trip. :cool: Thanks for showing! :) |
Thanks, I wish I knew what Peter was saying. My Swedish is limited to Hej, Tack and Hejdo (sp?). It was a very nice trip. The Historical Museum gave us amazing access to the collection. I got an education on seax's all in one day. It was had to leave. The Historical Museum is a real treasure!!! No pun intended. We spent a few hours in the gold room. Those are some amazing items.
The seaxs and swords were the highlight. The have sooo many of them. I lost track of how many we documented. In fact, I had a hard time keeping them all straight.
I think that the nicest looking of these "broken back" seaxes have a subtle curve to the tip rather than a hard angle. I tried to incorporate this feature in this seax, and I am please with the outcome. I got the idea for the leather cover and risers from a piece that Peter did. It is quite stunning! While there is no historical evidence (of risers, that is), in my opinion it is not implausible especially in view of the fact that some seaxs had a leather cover...I believe some Vendel seaxes had this feature. Peter can elaborate on this point more.
Thanks for the kind words from you and everyone. This was a satisfying project.
| Brian M wrote: |
| Perhaps a langseax will make its way into the NG line some time in the future?
Brian M |
Perhaps... :)
Looking nice Eric.
Might not put it off as too eclectic though. My first though was a bit of frustration that you must have found the same (PDF) article that I had floating around the net. Deep inside was one seax with fittings and a pretty good run down of measurements, and it is very close at first glance to yours. Wasn't as bad at second glance when I realized yours is about twice the size of the one I found and planned to do though. I'll get you the find site and date of it when I get back into town though. I want to say Frankish and 8th century, but I don't know if that is right or not without looking.
Shane
Might not put it off as too eclectic though. My first though was a bit of frustration that you must have found the same (PDF) article that I had floating around the net. Deep inside was one seax with fittings and a pretty good run down of measurements, and it is very close at first glance to yours. Wasn't as bad at second glance when I realized yours is about twice the size of the one I found and planned to do though. I'll get you the find site and date of it when I get back into town though. I want to say Frankish and 8th century, but I don't know if that is right or not without looking.
Shane
Eric, now that you've had the chance to document some real seaxs, what is the distal taper like on a big seax like this? Is it similar to a sword, or not? Is there much at all?
Brian M
Brian M
| Brian M wrote: |
| Eric, now that you've had the chance to document some real seaxs, what is the distal taper like on a big seax like this? Is it similar to a sword, or not? Is there much at all?
Brian M |
Hey Brian, that is a good question. Based on the examples that we looked at I'd say that the simple answer is that they varied. Some of them were as thin as 5.7 mm and some were as thick as 8.15 mm. Some were thinner at the hilt then they thickened in the middle then started to taper to the tip again. They then tapered to anywhere between 2.5 - 5.0 mm at the tip. Most of these were from the Vendel find (or Vendel period)...pre-Viking in other words.
The impression I got was that these were sturdy weapons. They did not have drastic distal taper; in fact, some had inverse distal taper at some points in the blade. It seemed to me that the makers were more interested in making a knife that would withstand the rigors of battle. It would not be unreasonable to have a seax that is 9.0 mm at the hilt then taper down to 5.0 mm with a somewhat long handle. This would be a knife that is suited for removing an opponents limb. The tips on these seaxes are stout. Many are awl-like so that they can thrust well.
Based on what I saw in the museums, many modern seaxes are too thin. They should be thicker, more substantial weapons. With that said, they do have a nice feel about them. They are not clunky or clumsy at all. You definitely feel like you could do some damage with one of these knives.
I am quite happy with the blade on this seax. It turned out to be a little over 6 mm at the base and tapers to about 3.5 mm near the tip. The tip is very awl-like which is exactly what I was shooting for when I designed it. It is thick enough to do well against a moderately armoured opponent, but light enough to be quite agile. It feels very lively in the hand.
Seaxes are simple weapons, but I'm really excited about them. This trip revealed many things about them that I did not know. After seeing them, I now understand the kind of role they played in the lives of these warriors: simple but very efficient weapons that can be made quickly and in large numbers.
Damn you, Eric. I simpy can't afford to broaden my interest into these things.
But really, thanks for sharing the information and knowledge along with the showing of your work. It's all very interesting.
Cheers.
But really, thanks for sharing the information and knowledge along with the showing of your work. It's all very interesting.
Cheers.
| Eric McHugh wrote: |
| The impression I got was... |
Thanks for the good observations, Eric! It helps me understand them a bit better, as well as provides validation for some of what I was thinking about the pieces.
| Eric McHugh wrote: |
| I am quite happy with the blade on this seax. It turned out to be a little over 6 mm at the base and tapers to about 3.5 mm near the tip. The tip is very awl-like which is exactly what I was shooting for when I designed it. It is thick enough to do well against a moderately armoured opponent, but light enough to be quite agile. It feels very lively in the hand. |
Sounds sweet. Maybe I'll get a chance to check it out before it finds a new home. I'm tempted myself, but my toy funds have run dry.
I wonder, would they have been purely used as weapons? Or, given the heavy-duty construction, would it be both weapon and "camp tool" for stuff like chopping light branches, butchering game, etc.
Brian M
Brian M
| Brian M wrote: |
| I wonder, would they have been purely used as weapons? Or, given the heavy-duty construction, would it be both weapon and "camp tool" for stuff like chopping light branches, butchering game, etc.
Brian M |
I think, opinion again, that the big ones were weapons. I think this can be supported by the fact that earlier larger seaxes were used as weapons. The smaller ones, could have had dual use. Peter would probably have more info on this point.
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