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Early Medieval Ornamented Axes from the Territory of Poland
death 133 . Furthermore, the appearance of these signs can be connected with the cult of
Saint Olaf 134 , which spread in the territory of whole Northern Europe, from England
to Novgorod in Rus’ and also to Byzantium. A principal attribute of Saint Olaf was
the axe which – according to researchers – was originally the hammer, i.e., the
weapon of his precursor – the pagan god Thor 135 . Undoubtedly, these parade axes
were used by the believers of Saint Olaf. They could demonstrate their devotion by
putting the crosses on the specimen associated with the attribute of the holy patron.
Particularly, this ornamentation often appears on the axes of Type M, interchangeably
connected with the Viking world, or on the specimens discovered in graves, which
may be associated with Scandinavian influences, as in the case of Blichowo. It is
worth mentioning that the cult of Saint Olaf could be known in early medieval
Poland, as its manifestation is visible in Gdańsk (Pomerania), where there was a
church dedicated to this saint 136 . This kind of weapon, apart from the religious
manifestation, could be considered as a magical apotropaic symbol. The 11 th and the
12 th cent. in Poland is a period when the relics of pagan beliefs were still alive and
both religions may have coexisted. We can not completely exclude a possibility that
these signs might have played only a decorative role to make weapons more attractive
visually.
All in all, the main subject of this paper appeared to be multithreaded and
complicated. In addition, the early medieval ornamented axes meant much more than
just weapons. They fulfilled the function of insignia of authority, social rank or
demonstrated devotion of their users to the confessed religion. Further discoveries
may help to precise this issue not only with regard to the territory of Poland but also
to whole Europe.
133 Мусин 1999, p. 147.
134 Kotowicz 2011.
135 Paulsen 1956, p. 234-255, fig. 126-127; Pranke 2009; Kucypera, Pranke, Wadyl 2010, p. 119-120.
136 Pranke 2009, p. 67, 69-70.
119