[Illustration: Figs. 381 to 390.] A good figure of a swordsman, with sword and shield, is also given on the next figure (fig. 391). [Illustration: Fig. 391.] Swords with ornamental pommels and hilts are of rare occurrence, but examples occur in the Faussett and other collections. Probably those with ornamented hilts would also have their chapes correspondingly ornamented. In _Beowulf_ occur these lines:-- “When he did off from himself his iron coat of mail, the helmet from his head, gave his ornamented sword, the costliest of irons, to his servant.” And again:-- anꝺ þa hilꞇ ꞅomoꝺ ꞅince páᵹe. (“And with it the hilt variegated with treasure.”) A remarkable hilt, bearing an inscription in Runic characters, was found at Ash, in Kent. It is of silver. On one side is the Runic inscription engraved in the metal, on the other a zigzag and other ornaments. A hilt of this kind must undoubtedly have been the one so graphically described in _Beowulf_, where a sword, inscribed with the name of its first owner and with other matters of extreme interest, is “looked upon” and pondered over. The passage is thus:-- “He looked upon the hilt, the old legacy, on which was written the origin of the ancient contest; after the flood slew, the pouring ocean, the race of giants; daringly they behaved; that was a strange race to the eternal Lord, therefore to them their last reward through floods of water the ruler gave. So was on the surface of the bright gold with Runic letters rightly marked, set and said, for whom that sword, the costliest of irons, was first made, with twisted hilt and variegated like a snake.” The runes on the hilt first spoken of and engraved would doubtless, if properly translated, tell as pleasant and as interesting a story as the one narrated by Beowulf. [Illustration: Figs. 392 to 396.] The knife or dagger (the _seax_), which is of iron, is of different forms. The most usual shapes are given on figs. 392 to 396. The larger were used for war purposes, the smaller for domestic purposes--the Saxon carrying his own knife with him for his food, attached to his belt, both at home and to the banquets of his friends. The _seax_, as a weapon, is frequently alluded to in _Beowulf_: thus, when _Beowulf_ and the Mother of Grendal, the fiend, were struggling together:-- “She beset then the hall-guest, and drew her _seax_, broad, brown-edged.” And in another part, when Beowulf was fighting with the dragon, after having broken his sword in the contest, he “Drew his deadly _seax_, bitter and battle-sharp, that he on his birnie[52] bore.”