The Anglo-Saxon Period: Weapons and Warriors

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Recommended: Characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon period

Many people may have heard of the story of Beowulf, but not know who the Anglo-Saxons were. According to an article on BBC History, the term Anglo-Saxon refers to settlers from the German regions of Angeln and Saxony. The Anglo-Saxons made their way over to Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire around AD 410 and the period lasted for 600 years. During this period there where many rises and falls of bishops and kings, as well as many important battles. The Anglo-Saxon warriors had a variety of weapons and armor to defend them. This includes spears, scramaseaxes, swords, shields, helmets, and body armor. The Anglo-Saxon armies were usually rather small. The number of warriors in an army could be anywhere from fifty men to about two hundred and fifty men, but during those times that was all that was needed to defeat entire kingdoms. A type of warrior was known as a Thane. The term thane refers to a lord who holds land granted from the king in return for military service. Thanes could earn their titles and lands or inherit them. The thane ranked below all other Anglo-Saxon nobility; however, there were two subclasses for thanes. There were "king's thanes," who held certain privileges and answered only to the king, and inferior thanes that served other thanes or bishops (Snell). The Anglo-Saxon warriors had what some would consider a code, called a wergild. A wergild is price that is paid to the family of a person who was murdered by the murderer’s family to free the murderer from further punishment and to prevent a feud (Wergild). A common and primary weapon used by warriors of the Anglo-Saxon time period was the spear. Spearheads came in many styles, but were usually leaf or kite shaped and had a socket for attachment to th... ... middle of paper ... ...he forge. The other half had the ends of each link flattened and then had holes punched in them. As the mail shirt was assembled a punched ring was linked to four of the welded rings, a rivet was put through the hole to close the link. Finally the whole mail shirt was likely to have been 'oil tempered' to make it stronger and give a small degree of rust-proofing. Works Cited Levick, Ben. "Anglo Saxon Weapons & Armour - Angelcynn Re-Enactment Society." Anglo Saxon Weapons & Armour - Angelcynn Re-Enactment Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. . Snell, Melissa. "Thegn." About.com Medieval History. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. . "Wergild." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. .

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