anꝺ þa hilꞇ ꞅomoꝺ
ꞅince páᵹe.
(“And with it the hilt
variegated with treasure.”)
A remarkable hilt, bearing an inscription in Runic characters, was found at Ash, in Kent. It is of silver. On one side is the Runic inscription engraved in the metal, on the other a zigzag and other ornaments. A hilt of this kind must undoubtedly have been the one so graphically described in Beowulf, where a sword, inscribed with the name of its first owner and with other matters of extreme interest, is “looked upon” and pondered over. The passage is thus:—
“He looked upon the hilt,
the old legacy,
on which was written the origin
of the ancient contest;
after the flood slew,
the pouring ocean,
the race of giants;
daringly they behaved;
that was a strange race
to the eternal Lord,
therefore to them their last reward
through floods of water
the ruler gave.
So was on the surface
of the bright gold
with Runic letters
rightly marked,
set and said,
for whom that sword,
the costliest of irons,
was first made,
with twisted hilt and variegated like a snake.”
The runes on the hilt first spoken of and engraved would doubtless, if properly translated, tell as pleasant and as interesting a story as the one narrated by Beowulf.
Figs. 392 to 396.
The knife or dagger (the seax), which is of iron, is of different forms. The most usual shapes are given on figs. [392] to [396]. The larger were used for war purposes, the smaller for domestic purposes—the Saxon carrying his own knife with him for his food, attached to his belt, both at home and to the banquets of his friends. The seax, as a weapon, is frequently alluded to in Beowulf: thus, when Beowulf and the Mother of Grendal, the fiend, were struggling together:—
“She beset then the hall-guest,
and drew her seax,
broad, brown-edged.”
And in another part, when Beowulf was fighting with the dragon, after having broken his sword in the contest, he