Backplate to a Knife
The object featured here dates to the 11th century and was discovered in Wiltshire, Britain by means of a metal detector. It would not have been the knife itself, as it is made from a copper alloy, a much weaker alternative to the common iron tools of the period. Instead it appears to be a decorative backing, bearing inscriptions in Latin. The writing was produced through the punching of small circles into the malleable surface. One side reads “HOKI ME FECIT,” translated to “Hoki made me” in Latin. Alternatively, the Latin could be read as "Hoki had me made," in which case the inscription signals ownership instead of craftsmanship with Hoki as the commissioner of the piece. In either case, the inscription is intriguing because it suggests a degree of Latin literacy in a lower-class individual, like a smith, who presumably was not formally educated in the language. Even if his familiarity with the language is highly limited, he is still familiar with characteristics of Latin epigraphy, as many Roman monuments bear similar marks of agency by their creators.
The account of Ibn Fadlan, a Muslim diplomat to Norsemen stationed on the Volga, mentions the prevalence of knives within Norse society. He mentions that every Scandinavian carried a dagger, even the women. 1Thus, knives for the “Vikings” were clearly important aspects of their lives and had general utility to both men and women as domestic tools. Although distant from England, his account suggests that throughout the Norse diaspora such attitudes towards knives might have been carried.
