The earlier Anglo-Saxon sword is, as far as can be ascertained, without cross-guard, but it has a small pommel. A MS. in the British Museum of the tenth century gives an illustration of a sword of this kind, which is only two feet long. We read in “Sagas” that the swords of heroes were often endowed with names or titles, such as the “Hrunting” of Beowulf, the “Excalibur” of Arthur, the “Tizona” of the Cid. The component parts of the sword are of course the blade and the hilt. The tang is a piece of wrought iron welded into the shoulder of the blade, and inserted in the grip or handle, at the bottom of which is the pommel. The pieces or guards which pass across between the hilt and the blade are the quillons. Proving the blade was accomplished in various ways: an early method was by a heavy blow on a block of iron, first the flat, then the edge, and lastly the back; then bending the blade flatwise. The operation concluded by driving the point through a thin iron plate, which was called the “Toledo” test. A machine for testing swords was invented in England towards the end of the last century by Matthew Bolton, in which the blade was forced into a curve, reducing from 36 inches to 29 inches. The Frankish sword of the eighth and ninth centuries is cruciform, with a pommel, which is itself sometimes surmounted with a cross. This may be seen in the Codex Aureus of St. Gall. The weapon of this period is, however, far from being uniform in shape, length, or breadth. The knightly weapon of the Bayeux tapestry is cruciform with a long, straight, two-edged blade, coming somewhat abruptly to a point, and a ridge running up the centre. The hilts are heavy and strong, with pommels. A Norman sword on the tapestry shows the pommel to curve on the grip. There is an actual specimen of this period in the Museum of Artillery, Paris. The blade of the footman’s weapon is much narrower than that of the knight. The sword of William Rufus is shown on a miniature in the Canterbury bible. The point is obtuse, the blade widens towards the quillons, the ends of which curve upwards, while the grip is short, and the pommel round. There is not much change in the twelfth century, when swords vary a good deal in form; as also does the shape of the pommel. A specimen of the reign of the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa is in the museum at Dresden. The cultellus or coustel is a short sword or long dagger. The weapon is mentioned in a statute of William of Scotland, 1165–1214. From this time forward we have in military brasses and effigies figures of the knightly sword brought before us as it actually was.