Snartemo sword
The Snartemo sword (also sword of Snartemo ) is a sword whose name goes back to the place where it was found Snartemo . The typological assignment of the sword is controversial because of the few comparable finds. It is certain that the sword was made around 500 AD.
The discovery
It was found by chance in the autumn of 1933 in the grave, later called grave 5, on a farm in the Snartemo district of Hægebostad , Norway , when Richard and Olav Kjellingland wanted to develop new farmland. They found a cavity with a grave under a large stone slab, which was later dated to the early 6th century. The grave was assigned to the time of the Great Migration on the basis of other grave goods . In addition to the sword later known as the Snartemo sword, it contained other weapons, a gold ring and a drinking glass. It was the grave of a warrior of high social status .
The sword was very likely made in Scandinavia around 500 AD . It is not considered a typical ring sword , but is assigned to a previous period, as it has some special features that differ from ring swords. The knob is not pyramidal , but boat-shaped. The ring is on the crossguard and not on the pommel as usual. This position is only known for sure from the Snartemo sword and is considered unique. One possible explanation for the ring on the quillons is that it was used to hold the sword securely in its scabbard . A ring on the crossguard is more suitable for this purpose than on the pommel. The freely moving, flat beveled ring is located in another ring that is riveted into the crossguard . The snartemo sword is about 100 cm long. 77 cm of this is accounted for by the blade. The scabbard is made of wood and is lined with fur . It is one of the few well-preserved specimens of the period, so that such a lining can be proven. To the sword belonged a weir hanger , which consisted of a woven ribbon. The decorative weave patterns include swastikas and HH letters, which stand for the Hagall rune . The handle is a thin sheet of gold-plated silver wrapped provided with abstract animal patterns decorated is. Nor can it be ruled out that the sword was a late reaction to the continental gold hilt spatha .
It is in the antiquities collection of the University of Oslo.
Aftermath in the 20th century
When Norway was occupied by German troops during World War II , the German Ahnenerbe research community tried to get the sword. The refusal of the Norwegian archaeologist Anton Wilhelm Brøgger to comply with this request was one of the reasons for his imprisonment. The Norwegians kept the sword hidden until the end of the second war. The National Socialists took over the swastika and HH symbols (for Heil Hitler ), both of which are on the sword hanger, and regarded the sword as an Aryan heritage. When they couldn't get hold of him, they made reconstructions . The German prehistorian Ernst Sprockhoff published the book during the occupation ... and testify to a proud family that is permeated by the spirit of Pan-Germanism . The book cover is decorated with the Snartemo sword.
In Snartemo, a memorial with a ten times enlarged replica of the sword was erected to commemorate the find.
Some members of the Society for Creative Anachronism have repeatedly been criticized for using the weaving patterns of the weir hangings, which are considered symbols of National Socialism, as decorative ribbons, with the argument of historical authenticity.
literature
- Solveig Möllenberg: Tradition and Transfer in Late Germanic Times , De Gruyter, 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-025580-5 .
- Lotte Hedeager: Iron Age Myth and Materiality: An Archeology of Scandinavia AD 400-1000 , Routledge, 2011, ISBN 978-1-136-81725-0 .
- Perry Rolfsen / Frans-Arne Stylegar (eds.): Snartemofunnene i nytt lys (= Universitetets Kulturhistoriske Museer. Skrifter . No. 2 ). Universitetets Kulturhistoriske Museer, Oslo 2003, ISBN 82-8084-006-0 (Norwegian).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Solveig Möllenberg: Tradition and Transfer in Late Germanic Times , p. 88 [1]
- ↑ Syed Ramsey: Tools of War: History of Weapons in Ancient Times , [2]
- ↑ a b Monument in honor of the Snartemo sword from the year 500, found at Snartemo 1933. visitnorway.de
- ↑ Lotte Hedeager: Iron Age Myth and Materiality: An Archeology of Scandinavia AD 400-1000 , p. 123 [3]
- ↑ a b c Anders Winroth : The Conversion of Scandinavia , Yale University Press , 2012, ISBN 978-0-300-17809-8 , page 67 [4] .
- ↑ Ewart Oakeshott : The Archeology of Weapons , 1960, p. 116 [5]
- ↑ Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson : The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England: Its Archeology and Literature , Verlag Boydell, 1962, p. 75 [6]
- ^ Leslie Alcock , Sylvia J. Stevenson, Chris Musson: Cadbury Castle, Somerset: the early medieval archeology , University of Wales Press , 1995 ISBN 9780708312759 , p. 69 [7]
- ↑ https://www.pam-norwegiandream.com/snartemo/
- ↑ Ewart Oakeshott : The Archeology of Weapons , 1960, p. 114 [8]
- ↑ a b c Ken Mondschein : Not a Good Look: The SCA Swastika Incident in: The Public Medievalist , February 1, 2018
- ↑ Solveig Möllenberg: Tradition and Transfer in Late Germanic Times , p. 90 [9]
- ↑ Robert Bohn: Neutrality and Totalitarian Aggression , p. 8 [10]
- ^ Heiko Steuer : Herbert Jankuhn - SS career and prehistory and early history in: National Socialism in the Cultural Studies: Fächer, Milieus, Karrieren , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , 2004, ISBN 978-3-525-35198-7 , p. 480 [11 ]
- ^ Heiko Steuer : An outstanding national science: German prehistorians between 1900 and 1995 , Verlag Walter de Gruyter , 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-086459-5 , p. 433 [12]
- ↑ Frans-Arne Stylegar , Per Kr. Danielsen: "... and testify to a proud generation" . Ernst Sprockhoff's archaeological work on Lista during the Second World War - An exhibition in Nordberg Fort, Vest-Agder, Norway [13]
- ↑ Kopi av Snartemosverd til Hægebostad
- ↑ Emily Shugerman: King and queen of world's largest mediaeval re-enactment group wear swastikas to coronation , in: The Independent , February 7, 2018