Type VI sword scabbard viscus (so-called Gotland group)

A scabbard chape discovered in Podzamcze in Szczecin during excavations in quarter V in a layer dated to the end of the 12th century. The chape is a part of leather or leather and wood scabbard, an element strengthening its lower part, protecting it from tearing under the weight of a sword. The Szczecin specimen was cast in a copper alloy, probably bronze, as evidenced by the casting seams visible on both sides. Its upper, widest part is heavily profiled. There is a stylised animal head in the centre and decorative semi-circular protuberances on the sides. The bottom of the chape, i.e., the narrowest part, is also decoratively crowned. Both sides of the surface are filled with an intricate ornament, now somewhat blurred, representing arbor vitae - the tree of life, a symbolic motif used in mythologies and beliefs of many peoples in various parts of the world. In Christianity, it symbolises the crucified Messiah, the death that gave life. In addition to the tree of life, a pair of stylised birds with long tails and snakes or dragons writhing at the base of the trunk are visible. Four more similar ones are known today, forming the so-called Gotland group of this type of scabbard chapes. Three of them were found on the Swedish islands of Gotland and Ösel and one in Piltenės Pasilciemis in Latvia. They are believed to be Gotlandic products made in the 11th century. The Szczecin sword is an imported item, used for a very long time, until the end of the 12th century.

Sławomir Słowiński