This
Early Medieval sword pommel recently discovered was an unexpected, yet
welcome find whilst out on a cold winter day-all the more so as finds from this period of Glamorgan's history are extremely scare. The pommel, which
is made of bronze and is hollow and curved at the base, has five lobes and appears to be of the
Peterson L Type VI variety (Peterson 1919). The pommel is of probable
Viking/Anglo-Scandinavian origin, a hybrid of both Saxon and Viking styles, and
dates from the ninth to eleventh century. It appears that the pommel also had a
tinned or silvered surface as there is some evidence of this on the curved
base.
(The pommel)
The discovery of the pommel raises the question of how and why it ended up in a field in the middle of Glamorgan but also raises further questions relating to the wider context of such an item, especially given the ambiguous origins of the pommel. Did the sword to which it was attached belong to a native of Morgannwg or to a Viking? Either scenario is possible.
It is of course tempting to ascribe the loss of this artifact as the result of a skirmish between a Viking raiding party and the local inhabitants of Glamorgan although the circumstances of its loss were, probably, far less dramatic.
A small handful of religious sites such as those found at Llantwit Major, Llancarfan and Ewenny represented important early Christian centres of learning and worship. There are Early Medieval cemeteries at Llandough and the Bendricks near Barry which denote settlement and occupation, as well as the possible re-occupation of the Roman building at the Knap in Barry. There is also the possibility that Llysworney was the site of a Villa belonging to the kings of Morgannwg. Taken as a whole however, certainly when compared with England, the population of Glamorgan during the early medieval period must have been tiny.
(Early Medieval memorial stone from Llantwit Major)
Finds
from the Early Medieval period in Glamorgan are equally as scarce. Most of these finds
consist of personal appendages such as finger rings, brooches, several strap
ends, a number of Viking coins and coins from the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of
England, a near complete Viking sword and of course our sword pommel, with the
spatial distribution of the finds covering a wide area. One common
denominator is that the early medieval/Viking finds hitherto recorded are not domestic
items one would associate with a permanent dwelling or settlement, although
these types of personal appendages aren't unknown from such contexts, but
rather items that appear to be casual single losses, most likely lost while
their erstwhile owners were travelling.
A further search of the area where the sword pommel was found has sadly yielded no other finds from the early medieval period. It seems likely that this sword pommel represents a casual single loss rather than being associated with any type of occupation within the area. It is interesting however to note that the village is Llancarfan, which suffered a Viking raid during the middle of the tenth century, is not too far away. This event perhaps provides some sort of plausible context to explain the presence of such a find.
©Jonathan
and Mark Lambert 2012
The right of Jonathan and
Mark Lambert to be identified as Authors of this work has been asserted in
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