How many Weapons did a Soldier Need?

[joeandmich]

into the dark ages it became common for some warriors to carry literally as many weapons as they could.

Based on what evidence?
A couple of spears (one for throwing, one for keeping), a shield and a knife would be it for the majority.

Remember in the movie "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" when Mel Gibson starts emptying his pockets of weapons and it lasts about 5 minutes and leaves about 20 weapons?

I know that it's irrelevant to this thread but the visual made me laugh.

Cheers

[chukissaki]

-maybe a dagger or big knife (for last defence)

what would these look like ? continental seax style or something else ?

[Robert]

Miks in his book shows a good variety of daggers (not being pugio!), some supposedly cut down from a damaged swordblade. Then there are the single edged knives of which a good few were found in Augsburg. These were mainly for utilitarian/domestic use but could really cause mayor grief in a fight. Military context.
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The seax evolved from such a large type of knife, have a look at the pictures in the thread Big Franks, but they have stayed around for a very long time.