Miecz z zamku w Szczytnie
The Sword from Szczytno Castle

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the sword stored in the Mazuria Museum in Szczytno (inv. no. MMA-30/920/72). It comes from the pre-war collection of the Prussia Museum and has not been published before. The item is preserved in fairly good condition – only the stock part of the head is missing. The sword head is quite narrow and preserved at a length of 615 mm, with a total length of the weapon 855 mm. The cross-guard is very distinctive, with an S-shaped top projection, and it was made of an iron bar with a variable polygonal cross-section. The pommel has the form of an inverted pear and is slightly damaged at the base.On the basis of its constructional features, the sword from Szczytno should be classified as a late medieval specimen with a type XVIIIa blade according to R.E. Oakeshott, 12a cross-guard and T5 pommel. Analogous surviving specimens from contemporary Poland and Central Europe, as well as iconographic representations prove that this type of sword, with slender, rhomboidal blade, S-shaped cross-guard and pear-shaped pommel, was most popular in the second half of the 15th century and the first quarter of the 16th century. As the information about the circumstances of obtaining this piece is too laconic – it was supposed to have been found at the castle – we can only generally date it as the above quoted examples.

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