Swords from the Migration Period (spatha)

The sword from the Migration Period was a popular weapon during the Migration Period and the Merovingian Period of European history (circa 4th to 7th century AD), especially among the Germanic peoples. This type of sword formed the precursor to the Carolingian or Viking sword , which was in use from the 8th to the 11th century. Most of these swords are referred to as spatha, the weapon from which they further developed. In this blog, we specifically focus on the swords from the 4th to 7th century. In other blogs, we delve deeper into both the earlier late Roman spatha and the later Viking swords, which are officially called Carolingian swords.

Swords from this period had a blade with a broad, shallow fuller. This groove reduced the weight of the weapon, as less material was needed to manufacture it, without compromising the quality of the sword. The weapon was primarily intended for delivering powerful slashing blows. In the 4th to 7th centuries AD, most warriors did not wear body armor. Where protection was available, it consisted of thick, padded woolen clothing, spangen helmets, mail shirts or scale armour. However, such equipment was reserved for the absolute elite, leaving the majority of fighters on the battlefield vulnerable to this type of sword. The tip of the blade was generally rounded, which made the weapon unsuitable as a thrusting sword.

The blade often consisted of multiple layers of steel, twisted together. This was possibly a relatively inexpensive way to achieve high steel quality. Swords from the migration period were often of significantly lower quality than swords from later periods. The blade was usually 71–81 cm long and 4.3–6.1 cm wide. The tang (the extension of the blade into the grip) was 10–13 cm long. 

Remaining examples of these Merovingian swords are mainly found in the context of the Scandinavian Germanic Iron Age (Vendel period).

There is no single word that specifically refers to the late Roman spatha in Common Germanic. However, there are various terms and nicknames in Germanic poetry that refer to the sword:

swerdan: “cutting weapon” (from which the English word sword is derived). In Beowulf, the compound word wægsweord appears, referring to a pattern-welded blade (wæg- means "wave", descriptive of the wave pattern). A mære maðþumsweord, “famous treasure-sword”, was given to Beowulf as a reward for his heroism. The same sword is later called guðsweord, “battle-sword”.

heoru (heoro, eor), possibly related to the name of Ares (Teiwaz).

maki (meki, mækir, mece; also hildemece “battle-sword”), found in Gothic, Old English, and Old Norse, possibly related to the Greek μάχαιρα; the Gothic meki in Ephesians 6:17 translates this Greek word. The compound hæftmece in Beowulf, literally “grip-sword”, likely describes a sword with an exceptionally long grip. The Slavic mьčь is usually seen as a loanword from Germanic.

There are also terms for “blade”, “point” or “cutting edge” that could be used pars pro toto (part for whole) to refer to the sword as a whole:

biljo: “splitter, hacker” (only West Germanic); a bill could be any cutting tool, especially agricultural tools like sickles. The compound guðbill, wigbill, hildebill, “battle blade”, refers to the sword.
þramja: “cutting edge, blade”, possibly Tacitus’ framea “spear, spear”, but in Old Norse þremjar means “cutting edges, blades”.
agjo: “cutting edge”.
ord: “point”.
gaizo- means “cutter”, normally for “spear”, but in the early period also used for swords.

The Germanic religion was animistic. This meant that it was believed that not only hills, marshes, and landscapes, but also words and objects could have their own spiritual animation. This belief extended to weapons, such as spears and swords.

In Germanic mythology and the Icelandic sagass, swords often received their own name and personality. Examples include Dáinnleif, the sword of Högni named after the dwarf Dáinn, as well as Skofnung and Hviting from the Kormáks saga, Nægling and Hrunting from Beowulf, and Mimung, which according to legend was forged by Wayland the Smith. Assigning a soul or identity not only gave the weapon a protective role for the bearer but sometimes also endowed it with magical powers — as with the sword of Högni.

The spatha was a Roman development, inspired by the longer Celtic swords, which were more suitable for use by the cavalry than the shorter gladius. Like the gladius, the earliest spathae were primarily intended as thrusting weapons. However, from the 2nd to 3rd century, infantrymen also began to use these swords, after which the spatha evolved into a mainly percussion weapon. In the same period, the large Roman shield, the scutum, was gradually replaced by oval and round shields, like the clipeus.

An early find of Roman spathae in a Germanic context is that of 67 swords in the Vimose bog (3rd century). It is presumed that the Germanic peoples adopted the spatha from the Romans, with whom they traded and for whom they served in large numbers as foederati and auxiliary troops within the Roman armies.

The spatha remained in use in the Eastern Roman Empire, later known as the Byzantine Empire. In the Byzantine court, spatharios (“carrier of the spatha”) was a mid-level court position. Other variants included protospatharios, spatharokandidatos, and spatharokoubikoularios (for eunuchs). A well-known spatharokandidatos was Harald Hardrada.

An early type of recognizable Germanic sword is the so-called “Krefeld-type”, named after a find in late Roman military graves at the Gelduba castle, Krefeld (grave 43 in Gellep), Germany. The military graves at Gelduba date from the late 1st century and continue through to the early Franks in the 5th century. Krefeld-type spathae appear in graves from around 430–460 AD. The level of these swords was considerably simpler than later types. 

The Krefeld-type spathae appear in graves from the period around 430 to 460. In these graves, the high prestige of the sword was not yet fully developed, and some specimens are remarkably simple in execution. They seem mainly to continue the tradition of Roman military graves, in which warriors were buried with their personal weapon. The presence of a sword in this context may indicate service in the late Roman army. From the Krefeld-type, six specimens are known from Gaul (Francia), four from Alamannia, and two from England.

From the 5th century, an indigenous production of "Germanic swords" emerged, coinciding with the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Germanic spatha did not replace the local sax (a single-edged sword or knife), but by the 6th century, it had grown into a prestigious weapon. While almost every Germanic warrior's grave from the pagan period contained a weapons, graves from the 6th–7th century usually only contain a sax and/or spear; only the richest graves contained swords.

Swords could become important heirlooms. Æthelstan Ætheling, son of King Æthelred, gave his brother Edmund the sword of King Offa (died 796) around 1015. The sword was then more than 200 years old.

This rare and prestigious sword type from the late 5th century is mainly known from finds in Alemannia (Pleidelsheim, Villingendorf) and Moravia (Blučina). Quast (1993) distinguishes an “Alemannic type” and a “Frankish type,” based on basic of differences in scabbard attachment and grip design. Only ten examples of both types are known. A famous Frankish example is the sword of Childeric I († 481), found in his grave in Tournai. Possibly, this was a ceremonial weapon, specially crafted for his burial.

A ring spatha, or ring sword, is a variant of the Germanic swords from the Migration Period. These swords are characterized by a small ring on the grip. Ring swords became popular in the last phase of the Migration Period (6th–7th century) and are found in Vendel-period Scandinavia, Finland, Anglo-Saxon England, and on the European continent (Saxons, Franks, Alemannia, and Langobards). They were prestigious weapons, likely reserved for kings and high nobility.

The ring is generally interpreted as a symbolic “oath ring.” In Germanic cultures, rings and arm bands played a prominent role: they were sacred objects upon which oaths were sworn, comparable to the older torque. By incorporating a stylized ring in the pommel of the sword, the weapon symbolized the oath-bound reciprocity between chieftain and people. Often this ring consists of two stylized examples, further emphasizing this ritual character. The origin of this tradition can already be seen in the 6th century AD with the Snartemo-sword.

The design possibly originated in the late 5th century with the early Merovingians and quickly spread to England and Scandinavia. The Beowulf poem uses the term hring-mæl, literally “ring-sword.” Ring swords disappear from archaeological finds with the Christianization, by the end of the 7th century. Approximately 80 examples have been found in Europe, 14 of which in Finland.

Examples:

• Continent: Beckum ring-sword (circa 475–525 AD, Germany), Wünnenberg-Fürstenberg (grave 61, 6th century), Schretzheim sword (grave 78, 580–620 AD, with Elder Futhark inscription).

• England: Kent (or Dover) ring sword, Sutton Hoo ring sword, Chessel Down II (Isle of Wight, early 6th century), Staffordshire Hoard k543 (silver ring of sword).
  Scandinavia: Snartemo sword (Norway, ca. 500 AD), Vendel ring sword (Sweden, 6th century), Vallstenarum sword (Gotland, ring added around 600 AD).

In the 8th century, Frankish swordsmiths gained increasing access to high-quality steel from Central Asia, where a steel industry emerged. The earliest types of "Viking swords" according to Petersen (1919) date from the second half of the 8th century, while the "Viking sword" itself (notably the Ulfberht types) appears around the 9th century.