. The Victoria history of the county of Devon;. Natural history. i = Sword from Thames at the Temple (J) A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE from the inscription, which is lightly engraved along the top of the guard. Though now somewhat obliterated by use, it was evidently intended for leofric me fecit (Leofric made me) ; and though the form of the legend is usual, the use of Latin for such a purpose is somewhat unexpected. It is possible to regard Leofric as the sword-smith or as the owner who had ordered the sword to be made ; but the balance of probability is in favour of the former view. Thus on a swo
. The Victoria history of the county of Devon;. Natural history. i = Sword from Thames at the Temple (J) A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE from the inscription, which is lightly engraved along the top of the guard. Though now somewhat obliterated by use, it was evidently intended for leofric me fecit (Leofric made me) ; and though the form of the legend is usual, the use of Latin for such a purpose is somewhat unexpected. It is possible to regard Leofric as the sword-smith or as the owner who had ordered the sword to be made ; but the balance of probability is in favour of the former view. Thus on a sword-knife ^ found at Sittingbourne occurs the owner's name on one side, with the maker's on the other, the two appearing as of equal importance ; whereas on the famous Alfred jewel' the name of the craftsman is suppressed. These and several other relics of the later Anglo-Saxon period have the inscription in Old English, and the difference of language suggests that the Exeter sword belonged to a religious founda- tion. Before the appointment of Leofric to the new see of Exeter in 1050, there was a monastery in the city, and one of its abbots (about 970) bore that name,' which was indeed common enough; but, supposing the sword to have belonged to the abbot or to one of his followers, we should have expected a cross to precede the inscription,* for such was the rule even on objects of secular use, and in the attestations of charters. The original form of Leofric's sword may be deduced from an extant example of which the metal portion is complete, the bone or wooden grip alone having perished. It was found in the Thames off the Temple, and is now in the British Museum : the blade tapers and is 27J in. long, with a wide groove down the centre of both sides. Its guard (4 in.) is slightly longer than the Exeter specimen (3*3 in.), the opening (o"8 in.) for the tang also being a little longer. The blade being 2j in. broad at the base, a heavy pommel was necessary as a counter
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