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The Flanged or Winged Celt was a simple development of the latter, resulting from the necessity of affording a better hold to the weapon when fastened to a cleft handle. The flanges were produced either by hammering the edges or by original casting. It will be noted, in figures 3 and 4, that a stop-ridge runs across the handle portion of the weapon, to prevent the celt being pressed into the haft when used with force. The position and shape of the ridge vary in the gradual development of the implement, until, merged in the flanges, we have a socket. The flanges vary much in size, and the term ‘winged’ is sometimes confined to celts with wide or more projecting flanges.
Figs. 3 and 4. Flat and Flanged Celts with Stop-ridge.
Fig. 5 has lozenge-shaped flanges or wings 1¾ inches wide; ‘the stops are but slightly developed, and must have been bedded into the sides of the handle, which appears to have passed below them’; this will be seen by the groove projecting into the cutting half of the implement. The external knob was probably intended for holding the tying in its place. Fig. 6 is a broad-winged and stop-ridged celt with sides and faces ornamented. To the flanged type of celt the name ‘Palstave,’ a word of Scandinavian origin, is generally applied.
Figs. 5 and 6. Winged or Flanged Celts.
The implements were mounted by inserting the handle between the flanges, and secured by a ligature of some kind tightly coiled round the butt. To secure the head from flying off the handle a loop was, in time, added to the inside edge of the celt by which it was firmly braced to the haft. The loop is almost invariably single; double-looped celts (see [fig. 7]) are very rare, and but a few specimens have been found in Ireland. The discovery of a mounted celt is also very rare, as the wooden handles, to which they seem generally to have been attached, decayed in the lapse of time. A very interesting example is shown in fig. 8. This celt was found in the bed of the River Boyne near Edenderry. The handle is about 14 inches long, and the head possessed a loop which was worn through—probably, as Wilde thinks, by a metal brace which secured it.
Fig. 7. Double-looped Flanged Celt with Stop-ridge.