A Double Edged Sword: Swords, bodies and personhood in early medieval archaeology and literature

Abstract

In Anglo-Saxon and Viking literature swords form part of a hero’s identity. In addition to being weapons, they represent a material agent for the individual’s actions, a physical expression of identity. In this article we bring together the evidence from literature and archaeology concerning Anglo-Saxon and Viking-age swords and argue that these strands of evidence converge on the construction of mortuary identities and particular personhoods. The placement of the sword in funerary contexts is important because it is worn close to the body, intermingling with the physical person. Swords were not just objects; they were part of people, inseparable, intermeshed, and displayed within an emotive mortuary aesthetic. Swords were embraced, placed next to the head and shoulders, and conveyed their own identities. Literature relates extraordinary events by describing familiar customs and carries part of the mortuary aesthetic. However, there are exceptions: graves like Birka 581 and Prittlewell show sword locations that contrast with the normal placement, locations which would have jarred with an observer’s experience. These exceptions would have emphasized unconventional or nuanced identities.