10th-mid 11th century AD. An iron sword with narrow two-edged 10th - mid 11th century AD. An iron sword with narrow two-edged blade, gently tapering profile with shallow tip, no appreciable fuller, parallel-sided lower guard, short tang and 'tea-cosy' pommel, tiny and yet more precisely formed, being of 'tea-cosy' type transitional to a 'brazil nut' style pommel; the acutely tapered line of the blade makes the blade very elegant, although the fuller, probably existing ab origo, is practically no more visible; the pommel is in excellent state of preservation with some small areas of light pitting; the hilt is plain, carrying no form of decoration; the cross-guard is simply a gently tapering bar of iron, crudely pierced to take the long and robust tang; battle signs visible on the sides, however the cutting ends remain well defined, especially towards the proximal end of the blade, all the components, considered as a whole, create an effect of harmony, balance and quality. See Oakeshott, E., The Sword in the Age of the Chivalry, London,1964 (1994); Peirce, I., Swords of the Viking Age, Suffolk, 2002; cf. Oakeshott, E. Records of the Medieval Sword, Woodbridge, 1991, item X9 (Glasgow Museum). 891 grams, 91.5cm (36"). From the family collection of a South East London collector; formerly acquired in the 1960s; accompanied by an academic report by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato.This sword was produced in the workshops of the Holy Roman Empire, with good parallels with various sword published by Peirce (2002, cat. NM2033.1, pp.122-123; NM 11840, pp.132-133). Especially the sword from Vammala (Finland), in the Suomen Kansallismuseo in Helsinki, shows a great similarity with our model. This latter is however inscribed, like the majority of swords of this category, unlike the current example. The type Xa was in use for a much longer period than the Type XI cavalry swords, whilst the thinner fuller may at first glance appear insignificant - in reality, it marked a serious departure point from the Viking era swords, and were used by late period Vikings, Normans, Anglo-Saxons, Crusaders and Templars, before eventually falling out of favour in the 14th century, when this type of swords began to be quite ineffective against the increasing use of plate armour on the battlefield. On the Bayeux tapestry, there is a depiction of William the Conqueror with a sword of type Xa having a 'tea cosy' pommel, sign of the great diffusion of such kind of sword among the Normans. It is evident that this type was not originally Nordic (in sense of a Viking production), even if it was forged here at home. Besides, it was found in such large quantity, and it was plain in its form. It did exist not only over the whole of Norden but over the whole of Central Europe. It was a common Germanic type in Central and Northern Europe created during the couple of centuries preceding the Crusades, and having a great success until the end of these. Most probably our specimen is from a battlefield, a river or from a grave. The piece is in excellent condition notwithstanding the corrosions of the blade, where signs of battlefield are visible. Originally Oakeshott Type Xa swords were classified by him in the category type XI, but later revised as Oakeshott felt that they deserved their own subcategory, as they were too close to type X to fit within the Type XI category, although the narrower and deeper fuller could not be ignored. However, it was not just the fuller that guided his decision, but the placement of such swords in their historical context, as all existing examples dated from the 11th to the 14th century, while type X started and finished two centuries earlier, from the 9th to the 12th centuries. Like the parent group type X, these were a transitional sword - similar in shape and style to the Viking Age swords that it evolved from - and a stepping stone to the Type XI cavalry swords, which shared the same thin fuller, but had longer, more slender blades better suited to mounted combat. The type Xa presents a broad, flat blade of medium length (average 31") with a fuller running the entire length and fading out an inch or so from the point, which is sometimes acute but more often rounded. The fuller is generally very wide and shallow, but in some cases may be narrower (about 1/3 of the blade's width) and more clearly defined; a short grip, of the same average length (3¾") as the Viking swords. The tang is usually very flat and broad, tapering sharply towards the pommel. The sturdy massive tang provided tremendous strength to the hilt of these long double weapons. The cross - generally of square section, about 7" to 8"long, tapering towards the tips, in rare cases curved - is narrower and longer than the more usual Viking kind—though the Vikings used it, calling it 'Gaddhjalt' (spike-hilt) because of its spike-like shape. The pommel is commonly of one of the Brazil-nut forms, but may be of disc form like in this case. The sword appears in two variants, of which the one here presented is the most later and most common. The older variant has a taller and slimmer pommel, while the cross-guard is thicker in profile and slightly curved. The later and more common of the two variants has a lower and thicker pommel and a less thick but longer cross, which can reach even 18 cm of length. The cross-section of the hilt is here evenly wide, with rounded ends, and not cut sharply across, which is otherwise usual with type M. The first group has upper hilts that can reach a length of 7.8 cm. and a height of 5.1 cm. The second group has pommels with a length between 5.0cm and 6.5cm, the height is from 2.7cm - 3.5cm. The lower guard varies in length between 10.7cm to an entire 17.7cm. The height in the first group is up to 2.0cm and in the second group from 0.7cm to 1.4cm. I know 49 specimens of this type. Of those, the later variant is decidedly the most usual. At the time of the Petersen's book in 1919, of the first group there were namely only nine specimens, and 40 specimens of the second group. Of 47 blades identified by Oakeshott, 45 were double-edged and only two single-edged, both from the pronounced 'single-edged' Vestland.