Bamburgh Sword

Coordinates: 55°36′32″N 1°42′37″W / 55.60899°N 1.710155°W / 55.60899; -1.710155

The Bamburgh Sword is an Anglo-Saxon artefact from the seventh century. It was uncovered during an archaeological excavation at Bamburgh Castle in 1960 by Brian Hope-Taylor. The sword was missing until his death in 2001, when it was found in a suitcase in his garage. It is unique amongst swords of its period, having been formed by six strands of iron and pattern welded into a blade, resulting in speculation that it may have been the sword of a king.

Description

The Bamburgh Sword measures a similar size to a Roman spatha, and would have originally measured about 76 centimetres (30 in) in length. It is an Anglo-Saxon weapon which has been dated to the seventh century, and was likely to have been buried in either the tenth or eleventh centuries.^[1] It has a pattern welded blade which historians have identified by x-rays as being unique to the time period,^[2] in that it uses six strands of iron to form the sword, when no other blades of that era was made of more than four strands.^[1] It would have taken a blacksmith around two months to create the blade; archaeologist Paul Gething said that to "produce a weapon of this calibre required state-of-the-art technology of the time, those who witnessed the creation of this weapon would have thought it the equivalent of magic."^[3]

The relative cost of the Bamburgh Sword during the era of its creation has led archaeologists to speculate that the original owner would have been either a king or a close associate,^[1] such as one of the king's favoured warriors,^[2] and may have possibly been the sword of King Oswald of Northumbria.^[1] The weapon would have been passed down a family line until its burial some three to four hundred years later.^[1]

Rediscovery

The sword was unearthed by Brian Hope-Taylor during a dig inside the walls of Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, in 1960. However, the sword wasn't recognised and he took possession of the artefact. Following Hope-Taylor's death in 2001, a former PhD student of his was checking a consignment of items from Hope-Taylor's house that were due to be disposed of in a skip and found the sword.^[1] A number of students had visited their former professor's house only because they had heard that his books were being sold off.^[4] The sword had been stored inside a suitcase that was found in the garage.^[1]

After being researched by Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland,^[3] the sword was returned to the castle in 2005, and remains there on display.^[1]

References