Seax

A seax is a type of knife common in the Arathi Highlands. It is used as a farm tool, as a weapon, and as a general purpose cutting instrument. A common, and reasonably accurate, comparison is the machete. They are believed by Highlands traditionalists to be the legacy of the Vrykul, in light of their discovery in the homes and tombs of those ancient forebears.

The seax - also known as a sax, scramasax, scramaseax, and sachsum - is essentially a large, heavy knife. Typically made of iron or steel, with a single edged blade from between twelve and thirty inches in length, they're quite distinct from all but the earliest and smallest swords as well as from later daggers - though they do have a similarity to certain types of falchion.

Depending on your social status, the seax may be a relatively crude piece of iron with a wood handle, or pattern-forged steel with inlaid gold and horn or ivory grips. Socially, the seax has great significance in Arathor - a man receives his first seax when he turns twelve, the same age at which he is considered a man. It is, in a very real sense, linked to that masculine identity. Reinforcing this significance, each Highlander is legally required to provide at least his own seax when he arrives for his fyrd muster, with steep penalties if he cannot.

The notion that an armed society is a polite society isn't necessarily true, but when each man is carrying a sharp machete, they're likely to be more careful about causing offence. The seax itself can be used to cause very, very severe offence, in the simplest form by touching without permission (or worse, seizing or using), and in the worst, by actually harming the blade or using it as a metaphor for masculinity in an insulting poem. Such actions are so serious that, under the ancient laws and customs, a serious assault or even a killing is a justified response. The place of the seax at the Highlander's side cannot be overestimated.