1. Archaeologists have recognised numerous forms of evidence for Anglo-Saxon smiths and metalworking, with the most substantial data source being the vast quantities of metalwork from furnished graves, of which knives are the most commonly recovered artefact (Leahy 2003: 124-125). In spite of their role in the production of such quotidian objects, there is significant archaeological evidence to indicate that smiths possessed a
2. special status in Early Anglo-Saxon society. Corroborating the heroic story of Wēland detailed above, the material record implies a close association between elites and smiths in Anglo-Saxon England. This can be attributed to the function of gift-giving of precious objects as a key instrument of alliance, and in creating notions of kingship. It was not only such ornate metal products which were valued by elite society, but the tools of production themselves, which also came to constitute the trappings of royal power. Whetstones, for instance, appear to have had an importance beyond that of mere utility, as indicated by the sceptre/whetstone object recovered from Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo
3. (Bruce-Mitford 1947). Further, the sharpening of weapons seems to have possessed special symbolic significance, as surrendering arms to be honed would have constituted
4. an act of submission, a ritual possibly inherited from Celtic kingship (e.g. Enright 2006;
5. Shapland 2008). Such a legacy may partly explain the veneration of smiths across northern Europe in Iron Age societies (Barndon 2006).