The AngloSaxon Weapon Names Treated Archaeologically and Etymologically, Vol 1 Antiquarian Investigation Inaugural Dissertation Presented to the of Doctor of Philosophy Classic Reprint

Excerpt from The Anglo-Saxon Weapon Names Treated Archaeologically and Etymologically, Vol. 1: Antiquarian Investigation; Inaugural Dissertation Presented to the University of Heidelberg for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Saxon period the gavelock from the Celts and the cross bow from the French. Immediately following the Conquest the long bow came into general use, which was employed with such telling effect by the English in the Hundred Years' War, and the nasale or nose protector (may possibly have been known previously), which developed in the 12th and 13th centuries into the visor.

The anglo-saxons following the tradition of the old military tactics of the Germans of the continent fought in a wedge shaped formation with their king or leader on foot at their head, while the heavy infantry formed the point and wings, the light armed being placed at the centre.1 They were divided according to districts, as were the Germans of the time of Tacitus according to tribes, and until the time of the Norman Conquest the infantry, not the cavalry, formed the main body of the army.2 Following the Norman Conquest came a complete revolution in war tactics, the introduction by the Normans of the Feudal System together with Chivalry raised the cavalry, composed of Norman knights, to the first rank, which, united to the sturdy anglo-saxon infantry armed with the famous long bow, formed an almost invincible army. This process of amalgamation and reconstruction lies, however, beyond the anglo-saxon period, belonging rather to the history of Chivalry and the Middle Ages where its development may be traced in such works as San Martes Wafienhunde in der Ritterzeit, Kohler, J ahhs and others mentioned in the Bibliography.

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