Two-edged sword

An iron sword, dredged in the late 19th century from the Oder riverbed in Szczecin, identified as Szczecin II. One of several swords thus discovered around the medieval city. It is a two-edged sword with blades on both sides of the head, slightly damaged in the hilt part. The head is the widest at the hilt and narrows towards the hilt. It is separated from the handle by a long and flat, curved downwards hilt. It has a wide armour, i.e., an indentation visible in the middle part. The blade was made in the rod technique, which means that the steel blade caps were welded to a uniform core. The shaft, separated from the blade, narrows sharply to the head, i.e., the crowning element of the handle shaped like a crescent with the corners pointing upwards. The Sword Szczecin II belongs to the group marked with the letter Y in the commonly used systematics of early medieval swords by the Scandinavian researcher Jan Petersen. Swords of this type, dating to the 10th - 11th century, are known from Central Europe and Scandinavia. A total of four such specimens have been found in Poland. They are an example of the evolution of the function of swords, which were initially used for cutting, and with time also for inflicting stab wounds.

Sławomir Słowiński