Last use of the term Seax?

wardlaw · 7th January 2013, 05:29 PM

Just to throw this out there for consideration. Does anyone have any evidence for the use of the word seax dying out of use in England in the middle ages?

fernando · 7th January 2013, 06:57 PM

Let me play the ignorant, Rob

Searching (PDF) the work "Romeo and Juliet" by W. Shakespeare (1591) the term seax doesn't appear; only dagger, knife, sword ...
Surprisingly the (circa 5000 pages) "Oxford Universal Dictionary" (1933-1969) doesn't contain this term.
One can see in Wikepedia that the term seax is Old English, a language form that spans between V-XII centuries.
Most probably you will soon find evidence that the term was dropped during the period you well suspect

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M ELEY · 11th January 2013, 03:06 AM

I no zero on this area, but according to Blackmore's 'Hunting Weapons from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century', a civilian dagger of the late Middle Ages known as a 'hauswehr' was the evolution (and demise) of the scramasax, developing a broader blade and of narrower cross-section, with edge curved to meet the back at the point. The older scramasax pointed tang was replaced with a strip tang to which two plates of wood, bone, ivory, etc, were riveted. An example of this evolution is shown from a 1476 manuscript. It stands to reason that with the demise of the form, the term also lost popularity. So, Fernando and you are both right-

7th January 2013, 05:29 PM	#1
wardlaw Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Somerset, UK Posts: 8	Last use of the term Seax? Just to throw this out there for consideration. Does anyone have any evidence for the use of the word seax dying out of use in England in the middle ages?

7th January 2013, 06:57 PM	#2
fernando Lead Moderator European Armoury Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,642	Let me play the ignorant, Rob Searching (PDF) the work "Romeo and Juliet" by W. Shakespeare (1591) the term seax doesn't appear; only dagger, knife, sword ... Surprisingly the (circa 5000 pages) "Oxford Universal Dictionary" (1933-1969) doesn't contain this term. One can see in Wikepedia that the term seax is Old English, a language form that spans between V-XII centuries. Most probably you will soon find evidence that the term was dropped during the period you well suspect .

11th January 2013, 03:06 AM	#3
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,072	I no zero on this area, but according to Blackmore's 'Hunting Weapons from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century', a civilian dagger of the late Middle Ages known as a 'hauswehr' was the evolution (and demise) of the scramasax, developing a broader blade and of narrower cross-section, with edge curved to meet the back at the point. The older scramasax pointed tang was replaced with a strip tang to which two plates of wood, bone, ivory, etc, were riveted. An example of this evolution is shown from a 1476 manuscript. It stands to reason that with the demise of the form, the term also lost popularity. So, Fernando and you are both right-