The sword in Beowulf and other Anglo-Saxon poemsIs the sword mentioned only in Beowulf or is it an element common to all Anglo-Saxon poetry? Is the sword described the same way as in Beowulf? In “Beowulf and Archaeology,” Catherine M. Hills states, “The most important weapon mentioned in Beowulf is the sword” (305). In verses 1557 et seq. tell the poet's description of the sword Beowulf found in the wild: Then he saw among the armor a shining blade of victory, made by the giants, an unbreakable edge, an honor to its bearer, the best of weapons , but longer and heavier than any other. man could never have carried in the game of war blows, decorated, burnished, the work of giants. Attention now shifts to the hilt of the sword: “he grasped the belted hilt” (1563). In the next line is mentioned hringmael or "ornate ring"/"patterned with rings" as referring to the sword found by Beowulf. This could refer to the "ring swords" found in 6th-century Kentish tombs and 7th-century Scandinavian tombs (Cramp 125-6). Line 1616 uses broden-mael, "wavy-ornate"/"wavy-pattern" in reference to the sword that melted from the monster's blood. Whether the translator takes these adjectives to refer to the hilt or the blade is irrelevant, from an archaeological point of view, because circular and intertwined patterns are found on the blades and hilts throughout. the Anglo-Saxon period. These wavy or ring patterns result from twisting or weaving strips of hard and soft iron. Lines 1687 et seq. describes the hilt of the sword Grendel: Hrothgar spoke, examined the hilt, great treasure of old. Engraved there are the origins of past conflicts, when the flood drowned, the surging ocean killed the race of giants. They suffered terribly, they were a people alien to the eternal God; their final payment, the sovereign sent them through the stormy waters. On its shiny gold faces there were also runes arranged in order, engraved, inlaid, which indicated for whom the sword had been worked first, its edges sharpened, scrolls of gold twisted into the hilt, the woven serpent blade. Concerning the runes on the sword hilt, G. Stephens in his Handbook of Runic Monuments argues that the only Anglo-Saxon runic inscription on a sword hilt is found on the Gilton sword, and that it is unintelligible ( Cramp 128).