Dark Age Pommels

Dan Zeidler · (#1)

While browsing through the British Museum's site I came across the pictures posted below. I thought the folks here would enjoy seeing them:

Anglo-Saxon pommel, Seventh century

Anglo-Saxon pommel, Eigth century

Also Anglo-Saxon and Eigth century

Jay Barron · (#2)

Very interesting. The "Historical Excalibur" sword offered by Museum Replicas several years ago had a pommel very similar to the bottom one in your post.

Shane Smith · (#3)

Very interesting?Yes.........Very beautiful?ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!

Dan Zeidler · (#4)

I like the open lattice-work design of the one in the middle. I wonder what the gaurd for that one looked like?

Dave Akers · (#5)

I wonder how it was connected to the tang?

Dan Zeidler · (#6)

According to the description the British Museum gives for it, the pommel is composed of two pieces. I would guess the tang was peened over the bottom piece and then the central piece was welded over it.

Raymond Sauvage · (#7)

It looks like theese are done the same way as Scandinavian types of the same period (Merovingian/Viking-period).
The tang is peened to the upper guard, then the pommel is fastned to the upper hilt with two rivets. Welding the pommel to the upper guard is not a good idea, this would make it impossible to change the blade if it got damaged.

I have atached a drawing which explains. The drawing is of the beautifull Gjemundbu-sword from Norway.

Dan Zeidler · (#8)

Interesting!

This is how the British Museum describes the pommel:

This elaborate sword pommel was discovered on farmland in 1993. Because it was green with corrosion, it was thought that the piece was made of bronze, as is usual for sword pommels from this period. However, careful cleaning in The British Museum revealed this unusual, high status object made from gilded silver.

The pommel was cast in two separate pieces: the upper pommel and the pommel bar below. These were riveted and soldered together, and finally polished. The pommel had been mounted on the hilt of an iron sword; a small piece of the iron core is still attached.

Both sides are decorated with unique openwork ornament. This fine decoration consists of interlace, foliage and knot patterns accompanied by animals such as the two birds at the ends of the pommel bar. Although this decoration is seen in Anglo-Saxon art at this time, it is here highly exaggerated. The complex design has no close parallels.

How and why this beautiful sword fragment came to be lost is unknown. The blade may have been broken off before or afterwards, it may have been lost in a fight or while the owner was hunting.

Ah! I think I see now how the two pieces would be riveted (thanks for that drawing Raymond) and the solder would naturally have a lower melting point than the silver.

Dave Akers · (#9)

So,how are T rivets attatched to the pommel?

Charles G. · (#10)

Originally posted by Dave Akers
So,how are T rivets attatched to the pommel?

I second this question, and would add one more: can you post plans for the dimensions as viewed from the side? I should very much like to know thicknesses...

Peter Johnsson · (#11)

Raymond, good of you to post the drawing.
I wonder: was it based on a manyal/occular documentation and /or an x-ray shot to show the construction and hollow of the pommel cap?
I would be very interested to know which.
The drawing shows a variation to the theme I´ve not seen before. The rivets usually form the end of a U-shaped bar or are long and straight being riveted (countersunk and quite invisible) on the top side of the pommel cap. The hollowing of the pommel is also different from what I´ve seen on the swords I´ve documented and what is shown in the x-ray analyses made by Lena Thålin-Bergman. The drawing seems to suggest that the outer lobes are massive, while the central one is hollow. Interesting.
Can you shed some light on this?
Thanks
Peter

Raymond wrote:
"The tang is peened to the upper guard, then the pommel is fastned to the upper hilt with two rivets. Welding the pommel to the upper guard is not a good idea, this would make it impossible to change the blade if it got damaged."

Raymond Sauvage · (#12)

Tjena Peter. The Plans was made after exact documentation of the Gjermundbu-sword. I got the plans from K. Andresen. The dokumentation was done by mr Andresen and Professor Arne Emil Christensen. By both X-ray, and mesuring manualy with a slide caliper (Skyvelære). Acording to K. Andresen, it was possible to remove the pommel and examine the inside of it.
Check this link: http://www.heftet-ringerike.org/frameset.html (Choose "Søk i denne siden" and search for Gjermundbu. One of the search results should be Gjermundbu-sverdet.)

The pommel is forged in a very special way. The middle part of it is forged hollow. This alows for two slots to be made wich fits the two T-Rivets.

It is har to describe how this is done. I have tried to make a drawing of the prosess, they are very simplified, and i'm not sure if anyone wil understand them.......

As for plans for the dimensions as viewed from the side, I wil post them tomorow, I left the plans at home....

Annyway, I hope someone understands my sketches, they were all done in five minutes during a cofee break.

Björn Hellqvist · (#13)

Found'em here: Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm

Kirstin Wright · (#14)

Dan - that middle one in your lot looks like a Sombrero~!
(Attempts to imagine the concept of a Mexican Viking...)

I never seem to tire of viewing these sorts of pommels!

Dave Akers · (#15)

Originally posted by Raymond Sauvage
Tjena Peter. The Plans was made after exact documentation of the Gjermundbu-sword. I got the plans from K. Andresen. The dokumentation was done by mr Andresen and Professor Arne Emil Christensen. By both X-ray, and mesuring manualy with a slide caliper (Skyvelære). Acording to K. Andresen, it was possible to remove the pommel and examine the inside of it.
Check this link: http://www.heftet-ringerike.org/frameset.html (Choose "Søk i denne siden" and search for Gjermundbu. One of the search results should be Gjermundbu-sverdet.)

The pommel is forged in a very special way. The middle part of it is forged hollow. This alows for two slots to be made wich fits the two T-Rivets.

It is har to describe how this is done. I have tried to make a drawing of the prosess, they are very simplified, and i'm not sure if anyone wil understand them.......

As for plans for the dimensions as viewed from the side, I wil post them tomorow, I left the plans at home....

Annyway, I hope someone understands my sketches, they were all done in five minutes during a cofee break.

Your drawing is crystal clear to me. Thanks for it I had often wondered about how this was done. Bjorn, has the second hilt in your post been dated to a particular century?

Raymond Sauvage · (#16)

To me, the second hilt from Bjørns post looks like 10th century, maby the second half of it. It's hard to tell, I can't see the animal-style decoration, it looks like Jelling-style, which would date it to the second half of the 10th century.

Dan Zeidler · (#17)

Originally posted by K. Wright
Dan - that middle one in your lot looks like a Sombrero~!
(Attempts to imagine the concept of a Mexican Viking...)

I never seem to tire of viewing these sorts of pommels!

Kirstin -
I found this fragment of ancient Mexican-Norse

saga
that may help imagining this concept:

from The Saga of the Mexican Viking

Out of the night,
when the full moon is bright,
comes the Viking known as Zorro

On each Viking raid,
He carves a rune with his blade
A rune that stands for Zorro

Zorro, the Mexican Viking is he
Zorro, Valhalla waits for thee

Of course, if you don't know the theme song from Disney's Zorro
that won't be nearly as funny as I hoped...

Björn Hellqvist · (#18)

Originally posted by Raymond Sauvage
To me, the second hilt from Bjørns post looks like 10th century, maby the second half of it. It's hard to tell, I can't see the animal-style decoration, it looks like Jelling-style, which would date it to the second half of the 10th century.

Not bad! The Dybäck sword was found in the south of Sweden, which was a part of Denmark during the Viking Age. The hilt has been dated to c. 950-1000 AD. BTW, this is one of the most misinterpreted swords there is: the guard and scabbard mouth have fused together, but are usually reproduced (by Marto and others) as a single piece!

Here's another view:

Dave Akers · (#19)

I'm curious about the hilt above the Dyback hilt.It looks like a migration period hilt only the upper and lower guards appear to be made each from one peice of bronze instead of the usual sandwich type construction. Is this a simplification of that type from a latter date?

Raymond Sauvage · (#20)

If you ad the upper pommel which is missing and remove the scabbard mouth, it looks more like a viking type hilt, but not of the usual type. Annyway this is a realy good preserved and nice piece of art. It was propbly a prestigue item, propably owned by some chieftain or smal "king"

Dan Zeidler · (#21)

Here are some more pictures from the British Museum. These are
of the hilt from the sword found at the Sutton Hoo ship burial and
the buckle from the sword belt. I find the similarity between these
pieces and those that Björn posted interesting.

Garnet seems to have been popular.

Josh Engdahl · (#22)

These are decorative. It seems to me that this sort of pommel would get in the way of your hand.

I've often wondered about pommels. Is it necessary for balance's sake to have them so big? I've seen real swords with smaller, even nonexistent pommels (ones that are no thicker than the rest of the hilt). Are these somehow inferior? I tend to like them better, for both looks and feel, than the large, round pommels.

Raymond Sauvage · (#23)

Well, for ordinary medieaval style swordfight, theese pommels will get in the way. The hilts are made so that the hand fitts it exactly. This says somthing about the fighting techniques in Northern Europe Migration/Vendel/and Viking period.
Propably the swords was manly for cutting and slashing, the sword was not used to block cuts from the oponent, thats what the shield is for.

I have tried this in practise with "real" viking period swords, and the it is only possible to do a few types of cuts. One starting from the Right down to left, one from left down to right, and one starting at top and straight down.