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Source Description
The scramasax, a single-edged knife, was a general purpose implement. It could serve equally well as a tool or as a weapon and generally did not exceed 12 inches in length. As with most objects of the Migration period, iron weapons survive as excavated grave goods and tend to be heavily corroded. The grips, now missing, were probably fashioned from wood or bone and silver inlay decorated the pommels (the knob on the hilt, or handle). The ornamental gold foil bands, perhaps from the original scabbards (the cases in which the blades of swords or daggers are kept) have survived relatively intact.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
99441
label
Single-Edged Knife (Scramasax)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
99441
contentType
object
title
Single-Edged Knife (Scramasax)
description
The scramasax, a single-edged knife, was a general purpose implement. It could serve equally well as a tool or as a weapon and generally did not exceed 12 inches in length. As with most objects of the Migration period, iron weapons survive as excavated grave goods and tend to be heavily corroded. The grips, now missing, were probably fashioned from wood or bone and silver inlay decorated the pommels (the knob on the hilt, or handle). The ornamental gold foil bands, perhaps from the original scabbards (the cases in which the blades of swords or daggers are kept) have survived relatively intact.
date
600s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60762889
genreSpecific
Arms and Armor
imageCount
1
source
import
cul
Frankish, Champagne(?), Migration period, 7th century
accession
1919.1014
Source extras
tec
iron, copper, and gold foil
tombstone
Single-Edged Knife (Scramasax), 600s. Frankish, Champagne(?), Migration period, 7th century. Iron, copper, and gold foil. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, 1919.1014
collection
MED - Migration Period
inscriptions
inscription
guard decorated with two bands of gold filigree between which is a thin band of plain gold with an embossed inscription.
findSpot
Said to have been found at Croanne (Champagne)
formerAccessionNumbers
1915.331
475.1919
didYouKnow
Known as a s<em>cramasax, s</em>eax means knife in Old English.
citations
citation
Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998.
page_number
p. 37
citation
Effros, Bonnie "Art of the 'Dark Ages:' Showing Merovingian artifacts in North American public and private collections." <em>Journal of the History of Collections</em> 17 no. I (2005).
page_number
pp. 85-113, fig. 17
citation
Fliegel, Stephen N. <em>Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.
page_number
p. 47
creditline
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:22:16.488000
sourceId
99441
dept
Medieval Art
coll
MED - Migration Period
med
iron, copper, and gold foil
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
d12f76b34fcc2cd0