The Saxons are fascinating, especially in the seventh and eight centuries as the kingdoms of the Heptarchy emerge. Here are a few of my figures for that period.
On the left we can see a Saxon thegn and his faithful hound (the thegn was a Gripping Beast limited edition giveaway model, the dog was from a set by Vendel Miniatures). The thegn’s Coppergate-style helmet places him sometime in the eighth century of thereabouts.
This chap invariably gets used as Penda of Mercia. Given his ability to terrorise the neighbouring kingdoms in the 600s and his reputation as a fearsome pagan, I felt fully justified in giving him a horse’s head on a stick and a raven shield and banner! This fab sculpt is by Bill Thornhill from Footsore Miniatures (the horse’s head is from the Foundry Early Germans range). I’ve given him a braided tunic edge to show his high status, as well as gilded rings around the edges of his mail.
Although I think this set from Gripping Beast showing a horse sacrifice was intended for Vikings, it works perfectly well for Penda and the Mercians, I think!
Finally, we have a few mounted Saxons. Did they fight mounted? Probably only rarely and in specific circumstances, e.g. raiding or in pursuit. There is an interpretation of the Battle of Dunnichen (Nechtansmere) in 685 CE that has Ecgfrith and his thegns fighting mounted against the Picts, so when we replayed that campaign, we tried going with an all-mounted Northumbrian force. (Spoiler: it didn’t go too well for the Saxons.) These are all Gripping Beast models.
Saxon Leaders
Here are a handful of the Saxon leaders I used for the Battle of Hatfield game. On the left is the ill-fated Edwin of Northumbria complete with Christian priest.
These are both character models from the superb Westwind Miniatures range. All backgrounds in this section are by Jon Hodgson Backdrops.
This chap is Edwin’s standard bearer. Following Bede’s description of an orb on a pole, I interpreted this somewhat loosely and made the pole massive with some substantial ostrich feathers on top! (Clearly Northumbria has good trade links with the Mediterranean).
Once again, another Westwind chap. One of the great features of this range is the separate head system – this bearded head seemed to fit with the grizzled veteran I imagined would be entrusted with the royal standard.
Another pair of Saxon leaders. This thegn and his hornblower are rather lovely, but out of production, figures sculpted by Roy Eastland for his Tanatus Miniatures range.
I always feel that this chap should be Ecgfrith of Northumbria (I think it’s the Coppergate helmet that does it, similar to that shown on the famous Pictish Aberlemno stone). Black Tree Designs have many figures in their range that are ideal for ‘Middle Saxons’ of this period, but unfortunately their mail order reputation is very hit and miss. I bought all mine in person at shows when they were regular attendees. The hornblower is another Roy Eastland sculpt from a handful of figures that he did for a Middle Saxon range for Harlequin.
Our final character is an oldie but a goodie! This super sculpt is a very old Gripping Beast miniature by the highly talented Duncan Patten. I’ve used him as a Mercian standard bearer due to the white dragon on the banner pole, but he could serve anywhere. The flag is hand-painted with a dragon that I found in a model railway shop many years ago – apparently it was supposed to go on top of a locomotive, but has instead ended up going back a millenium and been carried into battle…
