Sheaths and scabbards in England AD400-1100

Anglo-Saxon swords have always attracted scholarly attention. However, the almost intangible nature of Anglo-Saxon sheath and scabbard remains has meant that the most basic questions relating to their construction, places of manufacture, origins, status and stylistic development have gone largely unanswered. It is an aim of this work to redress the balance by examining sheaths and scabbards as composite objects, separate from blades, and to describe and classify them. In this book the archaeological context of sheaths/scabbards is described and new evidence of Anglo-Saxon leather-working recorded.