Seax

Seax (ˈsæɑks; also sax, sæx, sex; invariant in plural, latinized sachsum) is an Old English word for "knife". In modern archaeology, the term seax is used specifically for a type of small sword, knife or dagger typical of the Germanic peoples of the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages, especially the Saxons, whose name derives from the weapon. These vary considerably in size. In heraldry, the seax is a charge consisting of a curved sword with a notched blade, appearing, for example, in the coats of arms of Essex and the former Middlesex. Old English seax and Old Frisian sax are identical with Old Saxon and Old High German sahs, all from a Common Germanic *sahsą from a root *sah, *sag- "to cut" (also in saw, from a PIE root *sek-). In Scandinavia, the words sax, saks or sakset all refer to scissors, which are used for cutting various materials. The term scramaseax or scramsax (lit. "wounding-knife") is sometimes used for disambiguation, even though it is not attested in Old English, but taken from an occurrence of scramasaxi in Gregory of Tours' History of the Franks. The name of the roofer's tool, the zax, is a development from this word. Amongst the shape and construction of seaxes there is a great deal of variation. The most frequent characteristics are: A tang in the centerline of the blade, inserted into an organic hilt (wood, horn) A large single-edged blade The blade is worn horizontally inside a scabbard attached to the belt, with the edge of the blade upwards In the continental Germanic area, the following types are defined for seaxes between roughly 450 and 800 AD, in chronological order: Narrow long seax Short seax Narrow seax – Often have braided bands or snakes engraved in the blade, and frequently include metal bolsters and pommels. Both the edge and the back are curved towards the tip, which is generally located above the centerline of the blade. Light broad seax – Similar to narrow seax, but frequently lack metal hilt parts, and have simpler decorations on the blade, such as parallel lines.