myArmoury.com - Sword blade inscription

Posts: 85

Mon 12 May, 2014 11:07 am

Sword blade inscription

Greetings, everyone. Does anyone knows what could be the entire inscription on this sword blade from Met Nuseum? My guess is this: domini bona tempore sancta maria, or perhaps: domini bora tempore sancta maria. I don't know for shure. If anyone does have some info about it, will be very welcome. Thank you.

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Julien M

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Posts: 1,089 Location: Austin TX

Mon 12 May, 2014 12:00 pm

"This seems to be confirmed by a set of inscriptions that is etched on the groove of the blade, though unfortunately very much worn and only partly legible. By comparing the individual fragments of letters with their counterparts on the opposite side, it can be ascertained that the inscriptions on both sides are identical, and that they consist of five words each (Figure 3). The first word shows clearly only the letters "do" followed by seven strokes increasingly blurred toward the end; this could be donum = "gift," though, of course, domini as well. The second word is practically illegible; the third reads "tempor"(e ?). Of the fourth only the first half, san(c ?), can be deciphered, and the fifth and last one has nearly vanished, though it is tempting to interpret "sancta maria" into these fragments."

Source:

A Knightly Sword with Presentation Inscriptions
HELMUT NICKEL
Curator of Arms and Armor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Full article on this iconic sword available for download below:

https://www.metmuseum.org/pubs/journals/1/pdf/1512593.pdf.bannered.pdf

Cheers,

J

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Ricardo S.

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Posts: 85

Mon 12 May, 2014 12:10 pm

Julien M wrote:

"This seems to be confirmed by a set of inscriptions that is etched on the groove of the blade, though unfortunately very much worn and only partly legible. By comparing the individual fragments of letters with their counterparts on the opposite side, it can be ascertained that the inscriptions on both sides are identical, and that they consist of five words each (Figure 3). The first word shows clearly only the letters "do" followed by seven strokes increasingly blurred toward the end; this could be donum = "gift," though, of course, domini as well. The second word is practically illegible; the third reads "tempor"(e ?). Of the fourth only the first half, san(c ?), can be deciphered, and the fifth and last one has nearly vanished, though it is tempting to interpret "sancta maria" into these fragments."

Source:

A Knightly Sword with Presentation Inscriptions
HELMUT NICKEL
Curator of Arms and Armor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Full article on this iconic sword available for download below:

https://www.metmuseum.org/pubs/journals/1/pdf/1512593.pdf.bannered.pdf

Cheers,

J

Thank you very much Julien. But now, looking at an image of the phrase on the journal, the last part of the phrase doesn't look like sancta maria :/
And now, another doubt. The museum's curator says "praemia" on the pommel but oakeshott says "praecune" . But, by comparison, the last letter isn't an "e" but, to my mind, its an "a". So the word being "praecuna". Thats a puzzle...

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