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An array of different weapons were created and used in Anglo-Saxon England from the fifth through to the eleventh century CE. Most common were spears, although other missile weapons included bows and arrows, slings, and throwing axes. Weapons designed for hand-to-hand combat included swords, battle axes, and shields. As well as evidently being used by warriors in a military context, weapons also had great symbolic value for the Anglo-Saxons, apparently having strong connotations pertaining to gender and social status. Weapons were commonly included as grave goods in the inhumation burials of Early Anglo-Saxon England, which were produced from the mid-fifth to the seventh centuries; in the vast majority of cases these were included with men, although in some instances weapons were also deposited with the burials of women and children. During the seventh century, which coincided largely with the Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons, grave goods ceased to be commonly included in funerary burials. In other examples, weapons were deposited in the ground or water-places in an apparently non-funerary context. However, the establishment of a literate Christian clergy in Anglo-Saxon England allowed for the production of an array of textual sources from the seventh century onward; weapons and the manner in which they were used in warfare are mentioned in a number of these Late Anglo-Saxon sources, most notably ''Beowulf'' and ''The Battle of Maldon''. From the nineteenth century onward, scholarly interest in Anglo-Saxon England led antiquarians and subsequently archaeologists to analyse the material evidence for weaponry from this period, while historians have examined references to weapons in the textual sources. Further, historical re-enactors have created and used replicas of such items. ==Evidence== Although much archaeological evidence for weaponry exists from the Early Anglo-Saxon period due to the widespread inclusion of weapons as grave goods in inhumation burials, scholarly knowledge of warfare itself relies far more on the literary evidence, which was only being produced in the Christian context of the Late Anglo-Saxon period. These literary sources are almost all authored by Christian clergy, and thus do not deal specifically with weapons or their use in warfare; for instance, Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' mentions various battles that had taken place but does not dwell on them. Thus, scholars have often drawn from the literary sources from neighbouring societies, such as those produced by continental Germanic societies like the Franks and Goths, or later Viking sources. Archaeological evidence for Anglo-Saxon weaponry allows us to both observe the chronological development of weapon styles over time, and to identify regional variations among such styles. Anglo-Saxonist Stephen Pollington asserted that the "Germanic peoples (the Anglo-Saxons ) took great pride in their weapons and lavished much attention on them, in their appearance and in their effectiveness." In Old English (OE), the primary language of Anglo-Saxon England, multiple different words were often used for the same type of weapon; for instance, in the ''Beowulf'' poem, at least six different words are used for spear, thus suggesting that there may have been slight differences of meaning between these terms. In Old English and other Germanic languages which were spoken across much of Northwestern Europe, tribal groups often had names that appear to be based upon those of weapons; for instances, the Angles may have taken their name from the OE ''angul'' ("barbed", "hook"), the Franks from the OE ''franca'' ("axe?", "spear"), and the Saxons from the OE ''seax'' ("knife"). Literary evidence from Later Anglo-Saxon England indicates that only free men were permitted to bear arms. In the law codes of Ine, who was King of Wessex from 688 to 726 CE, there are fines listed for anyone who assists the escape of another's servant by lending them a weapon. The level of fine varied on the weapon, with the fine being greater for a spear rather than a sword. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Anglo-Saxon weaponry」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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