SCABBARDS. 



07 



&c. ; when made of wood they were sometimes adorned 

 with silver-headed nails The handles of some of those swords 

 belonging to the period of the earlier iron age are nearly 

 identical in form with those of the bronze age. 



The scabbards were of wood, covered with skins, often richly 



Fig. 788. Hilt of a double-edged sword, 

 J real size, inlaid with silver, placed 

 over an urn containing burnt bones. 

 Bohuslan. 



Fig. 789. Hilt of a double-edged iron 

 sword, 2 real size, inlaid with silver, 

 found with a spear-point of iron. 

 Sb'dermanland, Sweden. 



ornamented with gold and silver. The men carried them in a 

 belt across the shoulder, which by means of a double button 

 could be lengthened or shortened. The luxury of the orna- 

 mentation on their weapons corresponds with that of the 

 countries whence the forefathers of the race claimed to come. 1 



1 In the Hermitage Museum in St. 

 Petersburg there is a short, double-edged 



sword, dug up in Southern Russia, the 

 scabbard of which is entirely of gold. 



F '2 



