Chape has had various meanings in English, but the predominant one is a protective fitting at the bottom of a

scabbard A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, dagger, knife, or similar edged weapons. Rifles and other long guns may also be stored in scabbards by horse riders for transportation. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring ...

or sheath for a

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or stabbing, thrusting weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or ...

(10 in the diagram). Historic blade weapons often had

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

scabbards with metal fittings at either end, sometimes decorated. These are generally either in some sort of U shape, protecting the edges only, or a pocket shape covering the sides of the scabbard as well. The reinforced end of a single-piece metal scabbard can also be called the chape. The scabbard chape is not to be confused with the ''chappe'', a French term -

rain-guard A rain-guard or chappe is a piece of leather fitted to the crossguard of European swords of the later medieval period. The purpose of this leather is not entirely clear, but it seems to have originated as a part of the scabbard, functioning as a ...

in English - on the sword itself, a fitting at the top of the blade in late medieval weapons, just below the

crossguard A sword's crossguard or cross-guard is a bar between the blade and hilt, essentially perpendicular to them, intended to protect the wielder's hand and fingers from opponents' weapons as well as from his or her own blade. Each of the individual b ...

of the

hilt The hilt (rarely called a haft or shaft) is the handle of a knife, dagger, sword, or bayonet, consisting of a guard, grip, and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillons. A tassel or sword knot may be attached to the guard or pomme ...

. The chappe fitted outside the scabbard, presumably helping to hold the sword snugly and preventing rain coming in (4 in the diagram). This would typically have been of leather, though everything about these is uncertain as few original examples have survived, and they are mainly known from art.

Etymology

The word derives from the Latin "cappa", meaning hood or cape, or tip or head.

Archaeology

With the "locket" or "throat" fitting at the top, open, end of the scabbard (9 in the diagram; confusingly, in French this is a ''chappe''), the chape is often the only part of a scabbard to survive in the ground for archaeologists to find. Notable scabbard chapes include the Germanic

Thorsberg chape The Thorsberg chape (a bronze piece belonging to a scabbard) is an archeological find from the Thorsberg moor, Germany, that appears to have been deposited as a votive offering.Tineke Looijenga, ''Texts & Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscript ...

, with an inscription in

runes Runes are the Letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see ''#Futharks, futhark'' vs ''#Runic alphabets, runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were ...

, from about 200 AD. A striking silver chape terminating in the heads of animals or monsters from the St Ninian's Isle Treasure is now in the

Museum of Scotland A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. This might be

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

or Scottish or Pictish, and dates to about 800 AD. Perhaps the most interesting period for chapes is Celtic art, where a variety of shapes and ornament were used.

Buckle chape

A buckle chape is the plate or fitting connecting some

buckle A buckle or clasp is a device used for fastening two loose ends, with one end attached to it and the other held by a catch in a secure but adjustable manner. Often taken for granted, the invention of the buckle was indispensable in securing two ...

s to their belt or strap.

OED The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

"Chape", 4.

Notes

References

* Kavar, Boris and Martina B., in ''Celtic Art in Europe: Making Connections'', Eds, Christopher Gosden, Sally Crawford, Katharina Ulmschneider, pp. 265–271, 2014, Oxbow Books,
Google Books
* Oakeshott, R. Ewart, ''The Archaeology of Weapons: Arms and Armor from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry'', Dover Military History, Weapons, Armor Series, 1960, Courier Corporation, * Youngs, Susan (ed), ''"The Work of Angels", Masterpieces of Celtic Metalwork, 6th–9th centuries AD'', pp. 108–112, 1989, British Museum Press, London, * Webster, Leslie, ''Anglo-Saxon Art'', 2012, British Museum Press,

External links

*{{cite EB1911, wstitle=Chape , volume=5 , short=x Edged and bladed weapons Metalworking Archaeological artefact types