The spatha from the 4th to 7th century was primarily designed for powerful chopping blows. Because most warriors of this period didn't wear heavy armor, a rounded point (unsuitable for thrusting) was no disadvantage.
The Blade: Usually 71–81 cm long with a broad, shallow fuller. This groove was crucial to reduce weight without sacrificing rigidity.
Forging technique: The blades often consisted of different layers of twisted steel (pattern welding). This created the characteristic wavy patterns in the metal, poetically described in Beowulf as wægsweord (wave-sword).
Names and Terminology: The Sword in the Germanic Language
In early Germanic poetry and dialects, there was a rich vocabulary for the sword. Although we now often say "spatha," our ancestors used terms such as:
Swerdan: The origin of our word 'sword', literally "cutting weapon".
Maki: A term we find in Gothic, Old English and Old Norse, presumably related to the Greek máchaira.
Biljo: The "splitter" or "chopper", a term that later evolved into the 'bill' (as in the battle axe or the agricultural tool).
Swords and Animism: Ensouled Weapons
For the Germanic peoples, religion was animistic; everything could have a soul. Weapons were not seen as tools, but as partners in battle.
Identity: Swords received names and personalities, like Hrunting from the epic Beowulf or Mimung, forged by the legendary Wayland the Smith.
Magic: An old sword was considered more valuable because it carried the 'experience' and strength of previous owners within it.
History
The spatha was a Roman development, inspired by the longer Celtic swords, which were more suitable for cavalry use than the shorter gladius. Like the gladius, the earliest spathae were primarily intended as thrusting weapons. However, from the 2nd to 3rd century onward, infantry also began using these swords, after which the spatha evolved into primarily a cutting weapon. In the same period, the large Roman shield, the scutum, was gradually replaced by oval and round shields, such as the clipeus.
An early find of Roman spathae in a Germanic context is that of 67 swords in the Vimose bog (3rd century). Presumably the Germanic peoples adopted the spatha from the Romans, with whom they traded and for whom they served in large numbers as foederati and auxilia troops within Roman armies.
The Byzantine spatha
The spatha remained in use in the Eastern Roman Empire, which later became known as the Byzantine Empire. At the Byzantine court, spatharios ("bearer of the spatha") was a mid-level court position. Other variants were protospatharios, spatharokandidatos, and spatharokoubikoularios (for eunuchs). A well-known spatharokandidatos was Harald Hardrada.
Krefeld-type spatha
An early recognizable Germanic sword type is the so-called "Krefeld-type," named after a find in late Roman military graves at the castle Gelduba, Krefeld (grave 43 at Gellep), Germany. The military graves at Gelduba date from the late 1st century and continue until the early Franks in the 5th century. Krefeld-type spathae appear in graves from around 430–460 AD. The quality of these swords was considerably simpler than in 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 had not yet fully developed, and some examples are strikingly simple in execution. They seem to continue mainly the tradition of Roman military graves, in which warriors were buried with their personal weapon. The presence of a sword in this context may point to service in the late Roman army. Six examples of the Krefeld-type are known from Gaul (Francia), four from Alemannia, and two from England.
Merovingian spatha
From the 5th century onward, indigenous production of "Germanic swords" emerged, concurrent 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 grew into a prestigious weapon.
While virtually every Germanic warrior grave from the pagan period contained weapons, graves from the 6th–7th centuries mostly contained only 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 Eadmund the sword of King Offa (died 796) around 1015. The sword was then more than 200 years old.
Golden grip-spatha
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 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 at Tournai. This may have been a ceremonial weapon, specially made for his burial.
Ring spatha
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 final 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, Alemannians, and Lombards). They were prestigious weapons, probably reserved for kings and high nobility.
The ring is generally interpreted as a symbolic "oath ring". Within Germanic cultures, rings and bracelets played a prominent role: they were sacred objects on 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 tribal leader and people.
Often this ring consists of two stylized examples, which further emphasizes 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 disappeared from archaeological finds with Christianization, toward the end of the 7th century. Approximately 80 examples have been found in Europe, 14 of them 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).
Transition to Viking Swords (Carolingian Swords)
In the 8th century, Frankish sword smiths gained increasing access to high-quality steel from Central Asia, where a steel industry had developed. 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.
