A Double-edged Sword
Swords, Bodies, and Personhood in Early Medieval Archaeology and Literature
Datos Bibliográficos
| ID | 7175806 |
|---|---|
| Autores | Duncan Sayer (0000-0002-2769-1281, University of Lancashire, autor de correspondencia), Erin Sebo (0000-0001-8845-1882, Flinders University), Kyle Hughes (0000-0002-9873-7742, Trinity College Dublin) |
| Año | 2019 |
| Volumen | 22 |
| Número | 4 |
| Páginas | 542-566 |
| Fecha de publicación | 2019-07-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Sí |
| Open Access | Sí |
| Tipo | ARTICLE |
| Revista | European Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Identificadores de la revista | ISSN: 1461-9571 • E-ISSN: 1741-2722 |
| Editorial | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/eaa.2019.18 |
| OpenAlex | W2925260586 |
| Idioma | EN |
| Citas recibidas | 11 |
| Referencias citadas | 35 |
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. Swords were not just objects; they were worn close to the body, intermingling with the physical person. This is reflected in the mortuary context where they were displayed within an emotive aesthetic. Typically, swords were embraced, placed next to the head and shoulders, more like a companion than an object. 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, suggesting unconventional or nuanced identities. By drawing on literary evidence, we aim to use the words of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings to illuminate the significance of swords in mortuary contexts and their wider cultural associations
Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology · HERO · Identity (music · Literature · Personhood · SWORD · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy
The (De)Parted
On the Way to the Afterlife. Some Observations on the Presence of Weaponry in Early Medieval Cemeteries in the Context of Their Social and Cultural Circulation
An early medieval sword with a Carolingian K-type pommel from Varín in Northwestern Slovakia
Material culture and consciousness
Shipwrecks in the Western Caribbean
Flowing through time
Understanding Disability and Physical Impairment in Early Medieval England
Heirlooms Under-‘Cover’
The Dead and their Possessions
Performing the Vikings
A Woman with a Sword? – Weapon Grave at Suontaka Vesitorninmäki, Finland
The Chiming of Crack’d Bells
The cultural biography of things
Maritime Societies of the Viking and Medieval World
Brennu-Njals saga
II.—The Dover Ring-sword and Other Sword-rings and Beads
On the Remains Found in an Anglosaxon Tumulus at Taplow, Bucks
Pattern and diversity in the Early Neolithic mortuary practices of Britain and Ireland
Durendal, translated
The Body Social
Weapons’ in Beowulf
Medieval Britain in 1968
Passing into Poetry
The Battle of Maldon
Swords and Runes in South-East England
A female Viking warrior confirmed by genomics
Connectedness with things. Animated objects of Viking Age Scandinavia and early medieval Europe
Imbued with the Essence of the Owner
A River of Knives and Swords
Nonhuman voices in Anglo-Saxon literature and material culture
Is a Gift Forever
Repton and the Vikings
Assembling places and persons
Worn Shoes
The Body Social
Keeping the dead at arm's length
There's not just trainers or non-trainers, there's like degrees of trainers
| Obras citantes distintas | 11 |
|---|---|
| Citas por año | 1,83 |
| Intervalo de citas | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Velocidad de citación | current |
| Altamente citado | No |
| Tipos de cita | Neutras: 11 |