250 Criticism on the Life of Rollo as told by Dudo de St. Quentin. tale, as applied to Rollo, is highly improbable. The notion that old age brought on his resignation is bound up with the absurd chronology by which the first landing of Rollo in Neustria is antedated at least thirty and probably forty years. Ragnald, earl of Möre, was the bosom friend and companion of Harold Haarfager; the latter was about 83 in 939. It is hardly probable that one of the younger sons of Ragnald, who, we are told expressly, were still infants when their halfbrothers, the Mamzers, Turf Eimar, and the rest, were grown up, should have been a feeble old man in 932. Like the rest of the story, this concluding paragraph is untrustworthy. I have now examined Dudo's account of Rollo from beginning to end, and have shown reason for believing it to be a mere farrago of distorted and altered fragments from the old annalists; that we have nothing in it of any value or reliability; and that the whole history of his reign must be re-written from other materials. Considering how important a figure Rollo is in the history both of France and England, I hope this criticism of his chief biographer may be accepted by the Society of Antiquaries, and that the presumption of its author may be excused. 5 4 3 Scale, 1 IRON SWORDS AND BRONZE SHEATHS, FOUND IN ENGLAND. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1879. Vol XLV. Pl XVI p 251 2 CF Kell Lath. London IX.-Notes on a Sword found in Catterdale, Yorkshire, exhibited by Lord Wharncliffe, and on other Examples of the same kind. By AUGUstus W. FRANKS, Esq., Vice-President. Read November 24, 1870. THE Sword which Lord Wharncliffe has been good enough to exhibit to the Society was found on the moors of Catterdale, at the head of Wensleydale, Yorkshire, on the borders of Westmoreland, but I am not aware whether any circumstances connected with its discovery have been recorded beyond that it lay about one foot under ground. It is a remarkable specimen on account of its having retained considerable portions of the handle, a part generally wanting, and which enables us, to a certain extent, to judge of its form. These remains of the handle are of thin bronze, probably once attached to horn or hard wood, now perished; in general outline it somewhat resembles a Roman sword-handle of ivory now preserved in the British Museum, and engraved in the Proceedings, 2nd S. iii. p. 322, and here reproduced." The form of the handle now exhibited is, however, more florid, and it would almost appear to be a copy of Roman work rather than to have been made by the Romans. The lower portion of the handle is somewhat similar to the same part of the sword found in the British entrenchment at Hod Hill, Dorsetshire, now in the collection of Mr. Durden of Blandford, and engraved in Roach Smith's Collectanea Antiqua, vi. pl. i. The iron blade (Plate XVI. fig. 1) is somewhat injured, especially towards the lower end; the sheath (fig. 2), which is well preserved, is of bronze: the front is comparatively plain, but the back is strengthened by a band of bronze, of which the upper part spreads out into a pierced triangular plate; at about two-fifths of its length it widens into a very prominent loop, through This communication has since been amplified and brought down to our present state of knowledge. ROMAN SWORD-HANDLE OF b A sword-handle of the same material and shape, found at Weisenau, near Mayence, is engraved in which no doubt a belt or rather cord or chain was passed; the end is protected by a solid bifurcate ornament. The length of the sheath is 23 inches. The whole of this sheath closely resembles one found on the Morton Hall Estate, at the foot of the Pentland Hills, in the immediate vicinity of Edinburgh. It is preserved in the museum of the Scottish Antiquaries, and is figured in Wilson's Prehistoric Annals, ii. p. 129, and in Kemble's Horæ Ferales, pl. xviii. fig. 5. Its length is nearly two feet, and it differs from the specimen from Catterdale only in the ornamental plate at the top being square instead of triangular, and in the lower termination being more richly ornamented. Swords of the peculiar workmanship exhibited in the Catterdale specimen have been found from time to time in England, though by no means common; as a rule, like other objects of the same age, they show great variety in their details, though having the same general character. In this respect they differ from the well-known bronze swords, in which variation is less frequent and less marked. I have given some account of these swords in Kemble's Hora Ferales, p. 174, enumerating the specimens then known to me, but as some additional examples have been discovered, and Kemble's work has become scarce owing to the limited impression, it may be desirable to return to the subject more fully than would otherwise be necessary. The most remarkable sword of the class found in England was discovered at Embleton, near Cockermouth, in Cumberland. It is engraved in Roach Smith's Collectanea Antiqua, iv. pl. xxxiii. xxxiv., and in Kemble's Hora Ferales, pl. xviii. fig. 3. It was formerly in the museum at Keswick, but was acquired at the sale of that collection by the British Museum in 1870. A considerable portion of the bronze handle remains, and is decorated with enamel, as are also some portions of the front of the sheath of the same metal. The iron blade is well preserved and terminates in a sharp point; the sheath is divided by cross bands into four portions, two ornamented with chequer work engraved, the other two once filled with open-work, of which some details were enamelled. It has a loop half way down the back, and a bifurcate termination. The original length of the sword seems to have been about 2 ft. 3 in. a The only specimen hitherto found in England with a perfect handle was Lindenschmit, Alterthümer unserer heidnischen Vorzeit, Band ii. Heft iv. Taf. 3. Portions of similar handles, made of bone, and found in London, are preserved in the British Museum, chiefly from the Roach Smith Collection; there are also in the museum two fragments of the same kind from Cologne. a Only one other sword of this date with a perfect handle is known to me, a Hungarian specimen, noticed further on. |