“Drew his deadly seax,
bitter and battle-sharp,
that he on his birnie[52] bore.”
Spear and javelin heads are of frequent occurrence; they are of iron, and, although varying considerably, both in size and shape, they all bear a strong and marked resemblance to each other, and have sockets. Their “peculiarity is a longitudinal slit in the socket which received the wooden handle or staff, and which, after being fixed, was closed with iron rings, string-braided, and rivets.”[53] Examples are given in figs. [333] to [403], and again on [fig. 404]. In interments the spear usually lies by the right side of the skeleton, where the position of the shaft may be traced by a line of decayed wood; at the bottom a metal ferule or ring is sometimes found. The axe is usually of the form here shown, and is of iron. It will be seen how closely some of these resemble the forms found depicted by Anglo-Saxon artists in the MSS. of the period, a selection from which is here given.
Figs. 397 to 403.
Fig. 404.
The shield appears to have been made of wood, and to have been circular in form. It was frequently covered with leather, and sometimes with thin sheets of bronze. The boss or umbone was of various forms and sizes, as will be shortly shown. The wood of which the shield was composed appears from Beowulf to have been that of the linden tree:—
“He seized his shield,
the yellow linden-wood.”
The shield was often called a “war-board;” and we learn that Beowulf, when he was preparing to encounter the fire-dragon, knowing that a wooden shield would be no proof against fire, ordered one “all of iron” to be made for him:—
“Then commanded he to be made for him
the refuge of warriors,
all of iron,
the lord of eorls,
a wondrous war-board;
he knew right well
that him forest wood
might not help,
linden-wood against fire.”