Knives of the Early Middle Ages are very popular objects among academics, reenactors, craftsmen, collectors and other people interested in history. They combine functionality, aesthetics and an attractive story. Knives with a total length of over 18 cm are less common and are usually attributed a certain special function war, cutting, cult, etc. It is easy to imagine that the subtle organic handles could not withstand the strain of daily use, and the tangs broke off under the pressure.
The manufacturers had experience with this feature and provided the handles of some exposed knives with additional protection, which usually also had a decorative dimension.
The production philosophy of knives of the Early Middle Ages is summarized in the following table:. In the following article, we will focus on knives with a partially or completely riveted handle to the tang.
This is a group of very well preserved and visually interesting knives. Our main intention is to cover their anatomy, methods of decoration, geographical distribution in Europe and dating. We must emphasize that only non-pivoting knives have been selected for our catalog. However, a number of folding and pivoting knives Goodall : ; Graham-Campbell ; Herrmann : Abb.
The collection of material is complicated by inconsistent terminology. In English, in addition to the word scale , slab is also used. The catalog presented below contains finds from all over Europe. We are aware of the fact that this is only a selection and that there are undoubtedly hundreds of other specimens in the literature and beyond. We will be grateful for a notice of finds that we have missed.
