SAXON SEAX OF BEAGNOTH AH4171 DEEPEEKA The Seax of Beagnoth (also known as the Thames scramasax) is a 9th century Anglo-Saxon seax (single-edged knife). It was found in the River Thames in 1857, and is now at the British Museum in London. On one side of the blade is the only known complete inscription of the twenty-eight letter Anglo-Saxon runic alphabet, as well as the name "Beagnoth" in runic letters. It is thought that the runic alphabet had a magical function, and that the name Beagnoth is that of either the owner of the weapon or the smith who forged it. Deepeeka's faithful replica is based on the dimensions of the original. It has a hand made tempered carbon steel blade with wood grip and is full tang battle ready. The blade comes factory dull to allow for personal sharpening preferences depending on intended usage. Included is a traditional stitched brown leather scabbard which is double looped to hold the knife horizontal in authentic style.
• Overall length: 28.5" • Blade length: 22" • Grip Length: 7" • Weight: 1 lb 7.3 oz • Edge: Blunt • Point of Balance: 5-1/4" • Blade Steel: EN45 High Carbon Steel • Blade Width: 37.4 mm • Blade Thickness: 3.6 mm • Hilt: Wood with Brass fittings
Specs may vary slightly from piece to piece.
A scramseax (also seax ) was a type of Germanic single-edged knife. Scramseax seem to have been used for warfare and as a tool. They occur in a size range from 2.9" to 29.5". The larger ones (langseax) were probably weapons, the smaller ones (hadseax) tools, intermediate sized ones serving a dual purpose. Wearing a scramseax may have been indicative of freemanship. The scramseax was worn in a horizontal sheath at the front of the belt. Scram refers to food and seax to a blade (so, "food knife"). There is some debate about the authenticity of the longer word scramseax. The Saxons may have derived their name from seax (the implement for which they were known) in much the same way that the Franks were named for their francisca. This claim is largely supported by the appearance of scramaseaxes in early Saxon heraldry.