[MR] History Blog: Viking Sword and German Wax Tablet

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today I want to call your attention to two stories from the History Blog.

The first concerns a curious six-year-old Norwegian boy on a school field
trip who pulled a piece of rusted metal from the ground. It wasn't just any
old piece of scrap iron. Rather it was an intact sword.

The sword was identified as a Viking single-edge weapon, Type F in the 1919
Petersen typology. Such swords were produced in the early 9th century.

Sadly the youngster doesn't get to keep the sword. His teacher turned it
over to the local archaeological authorities. It has been sent to a museum
for further analysis and preservation. The boy gets to keep the memories of
one of the coolest days in his young life, and someday he can proudly visit
"his" sword in a museum.

The story is at https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/76055 .

Our second story concerns a wax tablet notebook and associated leather case
recovered from a medieval toilet pit in Paderborn, Germany. The potty was
being excavated before construction of a new municipal building. The tablet
and its case were perfectly preserved in . . . uh . . . poo.

The tablet is rare in that it has multiple wax-covered pages, and even
better, the writing is still visible. It is hoped that enough clues can be
gleaned from the tablet to allow it to be matched to an owner or family
through historical records.

The story also mentions squares of silk found in several other toilets on
the site. These were apparently cut from worn-out garments and used as
rather luxurious toilet tissue.

This story is at https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/76059 .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.