Logan Thompson - Ancient Weapons in Britain

I am grateful to all who assisted in compiling this volume. Firstly, Angela C Evans, Curator of the Sutton Hoo collections and the Department of Prehistory and Europe at the British Museum, for her stimulating introduction to the Sutton Hoo Collection. To Barry Ager, also a curator of the Department of Prehistory and Europe, for giving me the opportunity to research Germanic Migration period swords; the rare privilege of detailed study of highly significant and complex Frankish throwing axes and, subsequently, a large seax collection. During these researches Barry periodically provided useful and thought-provoking suggestions on weapon problems and feasible technical advice. I am grateful to Virginia Smithson, departmental information officer, for providing an organized working base in the study room. I am also thankful to Ms Sovati Louden-Smith for her efficient, punctilious assistance in ordering numerous photographs.

For revealing comments on weapons in the prehistoric period, and for his very useful advice on arms, particularly on swords of the late Bronze and early Iron Ages, I am most grateful to Jonathan Cotton, Curator, Prehistory Department of Early London History and Collections at the Museum of London

I should like to thank Paul Hill, a most helpful and knowledgeable friend and colleague, with whom I undertook several joint weapon studies. These included Germanic Migration period swords from the pagan cemetery at Mitcham and a later, larger analysis of weapons and protective accoutrements recovered by Wessex Archaeology from the Saxon cemetery at Park Lane in Croydon. I am most grateful to Paul for his periodic assistance with this book, and especially for contributing the excellent , on Anglo-Saxon and Viking period spears.

I extend sincere thanks to John Eagle, the well-known military lecturer on the Roman army, for providing numerous accurate and, above all, realistic and exciting, illustrations featuring live action figures.

I am indebted to Elizabeth Hartley, Curator of Archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum, for allowing me to quote from the paper A Late Anglo-Saxon Sword from Gilling West, N. Yorkshire, which describes this significant weapon and its discovery. I am also most grateful to Professor John Hines, editor of Medieval Archaeology vol. XXX, 1986, published by the Society of Medieval Archaeology, for his kind permission to reproduce the fascinating technical drawings and to publish the informative blade paper written by Dr Brian J Gilmour.

Finally, I am particularly grateful to Professor Vera I Evison for permitting me to publish verbatim two sections from her enlightening paper A Sword from the Thames at Wallingford Bridge. I am also indebted to her for granting permission to reproduce her drawing of the late Saxon sword from the Thames found in 1840. The professors article contributes markedly to a better and quicker understanding of the development and typology of English swords from the second half of the 9th century to the early 11th century. I strongly recommend her paper to those researching swords of this period.