180 REPORT ON THE STAPENHILL EXPLORATIONS. 
him or parry the thrust of a spear. The only part of the shield 
found in Saxon graves, as one might naturally suppose, is this 
iron boss, having usually attached to it the rivets or nails which 
served to fasten it to the wood. The shield was generally laid 
flat over the middle of the deceased, but sometimes on the knees, 
as at Fairford, and sometimes on the chest, as at Stapenhill. 
The long, straight sword, peculiar to and characteristic of the 
Anglo-Saxons, is but rarely found in their graves, and it appears 
very probable that in those graves where a sword has been dis- 
covered, the owner of it was a man above the ordinary rank. 
Akerman says: ‘The sword was highly valued amongst the 
Teutonic races and was generally bequeathed to the next of kin, 
whilst the spear was regarded as the symbol of sex and the badge 
of authority. That this was so is shown in the History of the 
Institutions of the Franks, for when Gonthram made over his 
kingdom to Childebert, he delivered to him a spear, with the 
words, ‘ Hoc est indicium quod tibi omne regnum meum tradidi.’ 
We find also that both spear and shield are mentioned frequently 
in the Capitularies, but the sword very rarely.” The hilt of the 
sword was usually made of wood; so was the sheath, which was 
tipped with metal, and it was sometimes covered with, and often- 
times made entirely of, leather. Accompanying the spear and 
shield is often found a small iron knife or dagger, generally on 
the left side of the body. 
These knives, or similar ones, are also found in the graves of 
females, and were worn suspended from the girdle with the 
chatelaine and other sundry articles. 
There is one other weapon of warfare, the axe, which, though 
very rarely found in Saxon graves in England, occurs very 
frequently in the Merovingian ones. Only about six altogether 
have been discovered in this country, and of these two at least 
occurred in Cambridgeshire. 
In some graves lumps or masses of molten iron have been 
found, and for the presence of which it is difficult to account: 
they are supposed by some archeologists to have been part of 
horse trappings or weapons of some kind, but I think this very 
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