From the British Museum they ask us for help and collaboration , but yes, only to those who have deep knowledge about medieval times, seasoned by ingenuity and skills to solve mysteries.
The enigmatic sword that heads and illustrates this article is now a challenge for the most privileged minds in everything that deals with ancient history, swords and, above all, cryptology.No one knows with sure what its origin is, or what meaning the characters contain in its sheet.
If your heart and mind have something of Sherlock Holmes, as well as Indiana Jones, We invite you to know all the facts about this unique weapon.And if like us, you are a simple curious mystery , do not miss this article either.
The sword of the river Witham and his strange inscription
We will start by putting ourselves in antecedents.Our protagonist was found in a river of Linco lnshire in 1825 .It was buried, not embedded in a rock like Excalibur, but it is no less interesting.
In fact, it is quite a challenge...
The first analysis already gave some clue that the sword was older than it seemed.Now, with current techniques it follows that had to be forged throughout the thirteenth century, just when I write the Magna Carta , at that time when England was ruled by a feudal society where the king's barons divided the land.
- This weapon could have belonged to a man of high position , to a noble gentleman quite rich who also wanted to contribute to his weapon various gold inlays.
Now, there is more data interesting than experts in medieval history like Juli an Harrison contribute us in his own blog:
-It is forged in steel
-It weighs just over a kilo
-Measures 96, 4 cm
- It has a double-edged blade , and a cross-shaped handle very similar to those used to be made in Europe throughout the Middle Ages.
The incongruous and striking point comes when we look at the central inscription of the sword, which is the following:
NDXOXCHWDRGHDXORVI
Is it a type of unknown language so far? Or maybe a type of encrypted message ? These letters have brought specialists to head for almost a century, sleepless nights in which to make tests, assumptions, seek concordance, relations with other alphabets, other languages ...But, for the moment, there is nothing conclusive , except for some small assumptions that do not have, as of today, proven documentation:
- The sword might belong to a nobleman, but it could be a bastard knight that did not follow the usual codes of its position.
- It is possible that the inscription has some religious meaning .
It is interesting to see especially those letters cut down on the sheet itself, and decorated in turn with golden threads.It is therefore a special message, an inscription with power or with magical abilities , who knows, something with a special significance for the former owner of this sword.
In addition, there is another element that we have to take into account, and that gives even more interest to our mysterious weapon:
- It has two grooves that go from the center to the empunadura, something that is very reminiscent of the weapons of the Vikings .
This last and fascinating fact, makes that from Universities like Uppsala, in Sweden, they risk saying that the inscriptions would actually be runes , something very common in the Vikings; inscriptions that confer strength and power to each of their weapons.
The subject is undoubtedly very interesting, and we will be aware of all the information they offer us.However, if you have any ideas that can solve the enigma of the registration, you just have to contact the British Museum and provide your theory.
Likewise, to discover how the investigations are progressing you can also consulate the information provided by the Smithsonian.
We are sorry to tell you, yes, there is no economic renumbering for it...
Image: Daniel
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