Sax (weapon)

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Sax (weapon)
Seax with replica.jpg
The remains of a sax and an attempt at reconstruction
Information
Weapon type: Sword, knife
Designations: Saxe, Scramasax (Skramasax), Langsax, Breitsax, Franconian short sword
Use: Hunting and military weapon
Creation time: 4th century BC Chr.
Working time: until about 10th century AD
Region of origin /
author: 		Germania , tribal warriors
Distribution: Central Europe , Northwest Europe
Overall length: about 50-100 cm, varying
Blade length: about 40-76 cm, varying
Blade width: about 3.5-6.5 cm, varying
Blade thickness: about 6-8 mm, varying
Handle: Wood, horn
Particularities: Depending on the design (see designations) different blade shapes and dimensions
Lists on the subject
Various Merovingian Saxons

The sax (also scramasax ) was a single-edged cutting weapon that was widespread in various variants from the pre-Roman Iron Age to the High Middle Ages in Central and Northwestern Europe.

The earliest distribution found Saxe since the 4th century BC. Chr. In Scandinavia . Since the early Roman Empire , they spread continentally from the Baltic States and the Lower Elbe . With the abandonment of the additive custom in the 9th century , the sax gradually went out of fashion in the continental area and was replaced by other weapons. In contrast, saxes remained in use in the British Isles and Scandinavia for some time.

Linguistic

Duden and Brockhaus state: the Sachs , plural Sachse ; other spelling Sax . In Adelung states in 1811 still the Sachs .

Old High German saw it means something like sword or knife . In the Scandinavian languages, the term ( Swedish sax , Norwegian and Danish saks , Finnish sakset ) also describes scissors .

According to Genrich and Rech, the name of the Saxons possibly goes back to the Chauken warriors , who were named after their main weapon, the Sax.

construction and development

Basically, Saxe are divided into two assemblies based on their handle construction:

  1. Pre-Merovingian Saxe with back tang and riveted handle scales. With these saxes, the back of the blade runs in one line, without a shoulder, into the tang.
  2. Merowinger Temporal Saxe with medium-sized fishing deferred grip cover , a pushed to the fishing wooden handle. Here the tang is narrower than the blade and has steps to the back of the blade and the cutting edge.

Narrow saxophone

Also known as the "Long Narrow Sax". These are the oldest Merovingian Saxons from the 5th – 6th centuries. Century. They come mainly from the central Danube region and today's southwestern Germany. Occasionally they were also to be found among the Franks and in Gaul . The originally horseman-nomadic swords were probably adopted by the Byzantine Empire and thus came to the Alemanni . The blade was over 30 cm long and the blade width was well below 10% of the blade length. The special finds include a sheath fitting from a sax from the Childerich grave and a golden handle from a sax from the prince's grave in Ailenberg . The narrow long saxe is not seen as the original source of inspiration for the subsequent saxes.

The development of the Merovingian period saxes took place in the following steps:

Short sax

With a width of 28 to 30 mm, the average sheet length was 200 to 250 mm. The simply designed, knife-like blade had its place (blade tip) between the middle and back line. The short tang was set in the middle and rarely wore non-ferrous or precious metal fittings on the wooden grip (handle). These blades were further developments from late antique knife shapes . Short saxes were most widespread in the Franconian area around the middle of the 5th century , but they were absent in Lower Germany.

Schmalsax I

From the middle of the 6th century the blades had an average length of 300 mm and a width of 30 mm. The place was still between the middle and back lines. The long tang was narrower than the blade at the base and sat on blade shoulders. The grip often carried a grip plate, a guard blade flush with the handle and a knob . The blades were designed more elaborately and the weapon reached total lengths of up to 400 mm. Gradually, Schmalsaxe also appeared in Lower Germany.

Schmalsax II

From the last quarter of the 6th century, the blades were simpler than those of the Schmalsax I. The average blade length was about 290 mm with a width of about 33 mm. The location was on the center line, and the shorter fishing stumps were centered on the blade. The blades were simply designed and without ornamentation.

Light broad sax

From the end of the 6th century, the blade lengths grew to an average of 305 mm with widths of 43 mm. The place was on the center line and the central hinges often reached the length of the leaf. The blades were occasionally decorated with grooves and had rectangular fillets in cross section , which followed the back line of the blade. Forging technology peculiarities were not observed. However, inscriptions in the form of runes or letters were found on some broad axes . The wooden grips occasionally had metal grip clamps for reinforcement and sometimes riveted knobs. The scabbards of the Saxe experienced very elaborate decorations with rivets, buttons, scabbard mouth plates , chords and leather decorations . Broad axes were often worn as a second weapon in addition to the spathe . From this phase on, the knobs of the Saxe often have very distinctive, three-dimensional decorations. Often in animal form, bearded faces appear, rarely also phallic representations - the latter seem to go back to late Roman models, as they were mainly handed down in Gaul.

Heavy broad ax

Heavy broad axes also appeared from the end of the 6th century, but their blade lengths averaged 355 mm and widths around 49 mm. Otherwise, the heavy broad ax had the same characteristics as the light broad ax.

Langsax

From the last quarter of the 7th century, the blades of the broad ax became slimmer with an average length of 490 mm and widths of 42 mm. In the final phase, the lengths reached an average of 520 mm. The gun's center of gravity moved near the shoulder of the blade. Refined forging techniques and damascene made it possible to make the blades lighter. The place was initially in the middle and moved in the second half of the 8th century in the direction of the cutting line. The blades were decorated with decorative grooves and fullers. The hinges were shortened to stumps again and the hooks were up to a third longer than the hook. The scabbards were again very simple compared to the broad axles and were limited to small iron eyelets on the back. Langsaxe appeared as the main weapon alone and not in combination with spathe, especially in the Saxon territories such as Westphalia and Lower Saxony . In the Franconian and Frisian regions, especially in southern Germany, the long axes, on the other hand, were more simply constructed in terms of production technology and still appeared as an accessory to the spathe. While the Kurzsax was handled as a dagger-like knife, the Schmalsax and Breitsax, like machetes, were more suitable for slashing use. The Langsax was led like a sword. A particularly splendid example of this type is the Anglo-Saxon Sax from Beagnoth , a find from the Thames in London .

Scandinavian types

In contrast to the continental saxes, the Scandinavian saxes have shorter handles. In almost all cases the cutting edge moves in the 2nd third in a flat path against the cutting back. Occasionally there are decorations on the blades in the form of grooves or circles. Gotland finds from the 5th century often show richly decorated wooden scabbards (Bjärs). These artistically demanding works show animal motifs engraved in metal and elaborate woodwork in the Vendel style .

Archaeometallurgical background

In 1999, as part of a project by Stefan Mäder , a sax and a sax fragment were polished by the Japanese specialist Sasaki Takushi and assessed by the high-ranking swordsmith Amada Akitsugu according to the Kantei evaluation system. A total of three objects were polished and examined, and the specialists addressed attested them a high level of craftsmanship. The following findings from one of the two Saxklingen (location: Bad Krozingen, dating: between 550 and 650) can be used as an example. It is a composite blade consisting of core steel and sheath steel with different carbon contents, whereby a separately welded cutting edge could not be excluded. For the core steel, an approximately 10-fold fermentation process could be determined based on the surface texture . The casing steel had a very homogeneous steel texture, assuming a consistently constant carbon content of about 0.5%. At the same time, no indications of separate carburization of the cutting edge were found. The blade has been selectively hardened (presumably with the help of a thermally resistant insulating layer), which can be recognized by martensite crystals in the cutting area. There is evidence that the blade was subsequently tempered .

The results of this investigation prove the high level of craftsmanship of the early medieval blacksmiths and refute the long-standing prejudice that early medieval cutting knives were mainly rough tools made from poorly folded, poor steel. By means of more recent investigations and improved processes, fermentation steel and corresponding welded composite steels have been proven since the Hallstatt period, which makes the old doctrine that welded composite steel only came to Europe in the 16th century seem inaccurate. In the end, there are clear parallels to traditional forging methods of Japanese swords, which are reflected in historical sources.

swell

The Sax u. a. at:

  • Gregory of Tours : Historia Francorum , around 591. Chapter 4.51: "Tunc duo pueri cum cultris validis, quos vulgo scramasaxos vocant, infectis vinino, malificati a Fredegundae regina, cum aliam causam suggerire simularent, utraque ei latera feriunt"
  • Leges Visigothorum , around 654
  • Liber Historiae Francorum , around 727. Chapter 35: "dum rex de equo discenderet, euntibus reliquis personis ad mansiones suas, ibi gladiatores percusserunt regem in ventrem suum duobus scramsaxiis "

literature

  • Herbert Westphal:  Sax. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 26, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2004, ISBN 3-11-017734 X , pp. 538-546.
  • Herbert Westphal: Franconia or Saxony? Investigations on early medieval weapons . Isensee, Oldenburg 2002, ISBN 3-89598-875-8 , p. 174-214, 266 ff .
  • Wilfried Menghin : The sword in the early Middle Ages . Theiss, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-8062-0362-8 (deals primarily with early medieval spaths ).
  • Stefan Mäder: Mado wo akeru - Open a window: Investigations on Alemanni swords in Japan . In: University of Berlin, Humboldt University, Chair of Prehistory and Protohistory (Ed.): Ethnographic-archaeological journal: EAZ . No. 41 , 2000, ISSN  0012-7477 , p. 17–27 (url = online [accessed October 25, 2012]).
  • Stefan Mäder: Steels, stones, snakes: a new look at old swords . In: Karfunkel Combat: the annual special on military history . No. 1 . Karfunkel, 2005, ISSN  0944-2677 .
  • Philipp Sulzer: The Sax - deadly all-rounder of the early Middle Ages in: Babette Ludowici (Ed.): Saxones , Theiss, Darmstadt 2019, pp. 36–37

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heiko Steuer: Historical phases of armament according to the archaeological sources of Central and Northern Europe in the first millennium AD. In: Frühmedalterliche Studien 4 , 1970, pp. 348–383 ( online ).
  2. ^ Johann Christoph Adelung: The Sachs . In: Johann Christoph Adelung, Dietrich Wilhelm Soltau, Franz Xaveristoph Schönberger (Hrsg.): Grammatical-critical dictionary of the high German dialect . tape 4 . Bauer, Vienna 1811 ( lexika.digitale-sammlungen.de ).
  3. ↑ See also Sater Frisian Saaks or Soaks for “knife”.
  4. ↑ Albert Genrich : The name of the Saxons - myth and reality . In: Hans-Jürgen Häßler , Ulla Lund Hansen (ed.): Studies on Saxony research . No. 7 . Lax, Hildesheim 1991, ISBN 3-7848-1619-3 , pp. 137-144 .
  5. ↑ Manfred Rech : Chauken and Saxony in the written tradition . In: Manfred Rech (Hrsg.): Settlers, mercenaries and pirates: publication accompanying the exhibition of the same name in the Focke Museum / Bremen State Museum from 8.3. until May 14, 2000 . State archaeologist, Bremen 2000, p. 119-134 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h Herbert Westphal:  Sax. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 26, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2004, ISBN 3-11-017734 X , pp. 538-546.
  7. ↑ Dieter Quast: In Search of Strange Men - The derivation of the narrow Langsaxe against the background of the Alemannic-Danube country contacts of the second half of the 5th century. In: Th. Fischer, G. Precht, J. Tejral (eds.): Germanic peoples on both sides of the late antique Limes. Spisy Archeologického Ústavu AV ČR Brno 14, Cologne / Brünn 1999. pp. 115–128
  8. ↑ Jo Wernard: Hic scramasaxi loquuntur . Typological-chronological study on the single-edged sword of the Merovingian period in southern Germany. In: Germania . No. 76 , 1998.
  9. ↑ Pär Olsén: The Saxe of Valsgärde . Almqvist & Wiksell, Uppsala 1945 (dissertation).
  10. ^ Anne Nørgård Jørgensen: Arms and graves, typological and chronological studies on Scandinavian arms graves from 520/30 to 900 AD . Kongelige Nordiske oldskriftselskab, Copenhagen 1999, ISBN 978-87-87483-43-8 .
  11. ↑ Stefan Mäder: Steels, stones and snakes: On the cultural and technical history of sword blades in the early Middle Ages . Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 2001 ( PDF, 30 MB [accessed on October 25, 2012] dissertation).
  12. ↑ Stefan Mäder: Steels, stones and snakes: On the cultural and technical history of sword blades in the early Middle Ages . Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin 2001, p. 139, 145 ( PDF, 30 MB [accessed October 25, 2012] dissertation).
  13. ↑ Stefan Mäder: Steels, stones and snakes: On the cultural and technical history of sword blades in the early Middle Ages . Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin 2001, p. 169 ( PDF, 30 MB [accessed October 25, 2012] dissertation).

Web links

Commons : Sax  - Collection of images, videos and audio files