[Jim McDougall]

Cathey, I just wanted to update the research I have been working on concerning the marks on your blade. Actually these marks or more accurately, inscription, are not likely to represent a particular maker of your blade. As I indicated in my earlier post, I think your assessment of latter 17th century and a transitional rapier blade is well placed.

There would seem to be little doubt this is a Solingen product, but interpreting the actual meaning of these letters is more of a conundrum.
The authors Wagner, Worley, Blennow and Beckenholmen in their 2009 article, "Medieval Christian Invocation Inscriptions on Sword Blades" (Waffen und Kostumkunde, 51(1), pp11-52) claim,
"...maybe these inscriptions are early examples of a mixture between vernacular and Latin elements as an imitation or reinterpretation of older blades whose strongly abbreviated inscriptions were incomprehensible to the contemporaries". (p.38)

While obviously this perspective refers to much earlier blades however I think the same axiom applies.

As I also mentioned in my earlier post, a curved blade mounted in a cast brass 18th c. hilt has the inscription:
X EN X MENE XX
(posted by Fernando 12Dec 2007)

This exemplar clearly iilustrates similar type inscriptions were used by apparent Solingen makers in the 18th c. thus most certainly some time earlier. While the term 'mene' is Latin, the 'en' seems to represent Spanish for 'in' while German would be 'ihn',

The term 'mena' could also refer to 'numbered' as with ancient Jewish coins as described in "Belshazzars Feast " (Daniel 5: 30-31) which includes the passages of 'the writing on the wall', " MENE MENE TEKEL PARSIN".

The 'mena' also was termed 'mina' in it seems various instances.

The term 'MINE' could refer to the Papal Bull of 1059, IN NOMINE DOMINI, which dealt with Canonical law .

Wagner and Worley note that the formulae (In Nomine Domine) and cross potent appear consistently in invocation lines of almost all diplomata (legal acts).

While more tenuous, Wagner and Worley (op cit. p.46, #61) note that the letters I S represent abbreviated Latin word 'ius' (= right, law).
Is it possible this LS might be IS or related ?

Further.......L.S. = locum sigillis, or place of the seal. Appended to
signature of legal documents.

It is doubtful that LS would be the initials of a maker as they would not be part of the configuration of such an invocation .

The 'anchor' just as the cross in these kinds of invocations was used to enhance or emphasize the talismanic power or imbuement in such inscriptions and invocations.


While certainly these details are entirely circumstantial and cannot offer, or enlighten the dilemma of any accurate translation of meaning in this case,
it is the best I can come up with. As seen in the resources I have noted, as well as others such as Wallace Collection (Mann, 1962); Oakeshott (1961) et al. ..most of the interpretation of these kinds of inscriptions is largely supposed, with a lesser number accurately recorded.