The Semispatha and the Saex

[Learningcurve]

Nathan Ross wrote:
Isn't it more likely to be the other way around? It was called a 'sax' because Saxons used it? Simply because Saxon occurs much earlier in our sources than saex... But if there's a better idea of the etymology of either term I'd be interested to know!

The term seax stems from the Indo-European root *sÁk- ("to cut").

Agreed -- seax has a very solid Proto Indo European pedigree, with *sek- being the same PIE root that gives us various modern English words ("section," "segment" and "saw" for instance). It is also the same root that yielded contemporary or earlier Latin words like sicarius. I think as a demonym, Saxon is an indigenous term, rather than an externally applied one (by the Romans or other Germanic tribes), but it's based on a pretty commonplace word that probably was an unremarkable term. Romans were probably exposed to the term seax as a generic term among German tribes before they had any dealings of note with Saxons.