Oakeshott Type X
Oakeshott Type X from the Ex Collection. Ej. Pocock, E. Oakeshott, D. Oliver. Now Glasgow Museum, dates from approx. 1050-1125
This is what Ewart Oakeshott writes about this sword in his book “Archeology of weapons. From the Bronze Age to the Renaissance ”:
“On one hand, the state of the find is not bad, but the edges are very corroded. Each side of the sword is covered in letters and patterns in gold. Garda and the apple (which is quite flat, like a baking) are in good condition with slight signs of corrosion. This sword was put up for sale in Carlisle (England) in 1946. It was found by a sailor and hung in his kitchen in Northumberland.
It is not known how long the sword sagged so, but this suggests that the find was local. What truth does not prove the English or British origin of the sword. (most likely neither one nor the other). Although swords with such decor were found throughout Europe, now it is believed that they were produced in central Europe, possibly in the area of ancient Noricum, where most of the Roman weapons were produced. Thanks to the patterns, the sword can be dated 1050-1125 years. Only a few masters adorned weapons in this way and their style can be identified.
The assumption that the weapon was shortened as a result of breakage and alteration contradicts the fact that the sword is perfectly balanced. It is safe to say that this is an example of short swords — popular from the Great Migration to the Industrial Revolution. Although, for the period of the Middle Ages, such swords are described in literature and displayed in art, there are very few finds dating back to the 15th century.
The sword is described in detail in an article in the “Catalog of The Third Park Lane Arms Fair“, where I made an assumption about the possible meaning of the inscription on the sword. The letters B O ’A C are repeated 4 times on each side of the sword. A comma-like icon between O and A, the Latin abbreviation for слова que ’- and. Therefore, I suggested that the meaning of the inscription — ‘BEATI OMNIPOTENSQUE ANGELI CHRISTI’ — Blessed and omnipotent Angels of Christ. ”
Oakeshott Type X
When reproducing this sword, we did not set ourselves the task of making a copy, but of making the same sword but slightly resizing it in accordance with the requirements of the customer. The blade and the set on the handle are made without inscriptions and decorations, unlike the original. The apple is slightly different from the canonical type I, but Oakeshott mentions this in the description. The source we relied on was the book of Records of the Medieval Sword by Ewart Oakeshott.
* translation from English Varazhbit
