Ritual killing of swords in burials

Jim McDougall · 28th September 2008, 08:06 AM

A recent post showed an apparantly ancient sword, suggested Celtic, that was bent back into a circle, and supposed to be a sword which was ritually killed by being bent, to accompany the dead warrior into the next world.

I am curious about whether this practice was exclusively Celtic, and whether it was consistantly practiced, or only occasionally. Also, there seems to be different views on whether these swords could have been bent backwards easily, especially without breaking them. Some sources suggest they were bent into almost an S shape, some say shaped like a strigil ( simple hook type shape), while others claim the blades were too brittle to be bent.

There are suggestions also that the Celtic sword blades were not as pliable as claimed by Polybius c.225 BC when he wrote that the Celts blades bent after the first blow, and had to be bent back into shape under the foot of the warrior. The suggestion was that the blade would have to be reheated to be bent back, and the Romans, finding doubled blades in Celt graves began the tale of the faulty blades.

I'd appreciate thoughts, examples, opinions. Just curious.

All best regards,
Jim

28th September 2008, 08:06 AM	#1
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,943	Ritual killing of swords in burials A recent post showed an apparantly ancient sword, suggested Celtic, that was bent back into a circle, and supposed to be a sword which was ritually killed by being bent, to accompany the dead warrior into the next world. I am curious about whether this practice was exclusively Celtic, and whether it was consistantly practiced, or only occasionally. Also, there seems to be different views on whether these swords could have been bent backwards easily, especially without breaking them. Some sources suggest they were bent into almost an S shape, some say shaped like a strigil ( simple hook type shape), while others claim the blades were too brittle to be bent. There are suggestions also that the Celtic sword blades were not as pliable as claimed by Polybius c.225 BC when he wrote that the Celts blades bent after the first blow, and had to be bent back into shape under the foot of the warrior. The suggestion was that the blade would have to be reheated to be bent back, and the Romans, finding doubled blades in Celt graves began the tale of the faulty blades. I'd appreciate thoughts, examples, opinions. Just curious. All best regards, Jim