The Swordword in EarlyMedievaEarlyMedieval Northern EuroEurope: Experience, Ident Identity, Repre Representation

by Sue B Brunning Boydell P Press Jun 2019

£60 pp232 hb isbn 97817 9781783274062

Sue Brunning’s new book combines evidence from archaeology, art and written sources to breathe life into the “living” sword of early Anglo-Saxon England and northern Europe – the status emblem of the warrior elite and one of the most symbolically charged of all objects. Her trawl of surviving fittings from weapons hilts (pommels, grip-collars and guard-plates) reveals real wear from use, caused, she suggests, by the habit of a sword worn at the waist and from resting a hand on the pommel. Hence, the sword functioned day to day as part of elite costume, and contrastingly was only rarely, albeit most vividly, an instrument of bloodshed. How many weapons really were personified, like the fabled Hrunting and Nægling of Beowulf is debatable, but that antique swords existed, perhaps valued heirlooms, is demonstrable from both archaeology and wills. Revealing how swords were actually used and viewed in their day, Brunning’s study is an exemplar for considering the multi-layered significance of material culture generally. Chris Fern