Washington: PonteSud – News Desk
Looking as intact as the day it was forged, a 1,000-year-old sword has gone on display in the Netherlands.
Capturing a transition in medieval military technology with its expert degree of preservation as well as a dramatic culture of weapon embellishment with its series of religious symbols inlaid in copper, the sword is no doubt a national treasure.
It was found in a river on the grounds of the Linschoten Estate in the central region of the country during a routine dredging. Dating to between 1050 and 1150 CE, the sword has been donated to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden.
The weapon remains remarkably well-preserved after a thousand years. Only the organic components, such as the wooden grip and any leather wrappings, have succumbed to time.
It measures just over 3 feet in length and sports a cross guard and semi-circular pommel, as archetypal an image of a medieval sword as one could hope to see; the spitting image of what a sword would look like if you asked a 9-year-old boy to draw one.
Traces of the wooden hilt are still visible, however, on the preserved sword. The iron is barely corroded due to the oxygen-poor environment of the wet soil it was buried in, but it was probably forged with very high-quality iron regardless, judging by the completeness of the weapon’s silhouette. The iron was later confirmed to be Dutch in origin as well.
“Medieval swords were deeply personal possessions: they were either buried with their owner or, alternatively, ritually deposited into water,” said the museum in a statement. “In the latter case, they are often exceptionally well preserved.”
This era also saw a shift in military tactics and weaponry, vertical slashing from horseback gave way to horizontal thrusting between pieces of gradually growing pieces of armor.
This sword, which could be wielded with one hand, embodies that transitional phase, suited to both techniques.
A cross was inlaid on one side of the blade near the cross guard, and another one composed of diamonds, an icon known as the eternal knot-on the other, as well as a series of vertical lines like counting lines on both sides.
