Szabó Miklós, Petres F. Éva: Decorated weapons on the La Tene Iron Age in the Carpathian Basin. (Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 5; Budapest, 1992)
II. DRAGON-PAIR SWORDS
The scabbard from Koáice/Kassa (Cat.no. 95; PL 94) has as a mark of the ultimate degradation of the lower palmette element — which can still be demonstrated in the original schema — a line joining the two forelegs of the two animals, as well as the circle motif. 177 The latter, however, now assumes a purely ornamental function independent of the precedents as shown by an unprovenanced scabbard in Budapest (Cat.no. 74; PL 77). This motif also appears on Type II dragon-pair swords. 178 De Navarro's Type I dragon-pairs are illustrated by the scabbards from Kosd (Cat.no. 29; PL 28; Cat.no. 30; Pis 29, 30) and Szob (Cat.no. 64; PL 67; Cat.no. 65; PL 68). The find associations can be assigned to the La Tène B2 phase. It is conspicuous that the extended forelegs of the beasts often curl into their gaping mouth. 179 The line connecting the forelegs of the beasts, a reminder of the distant prototypes, has been preserved on a specimen from Szob (Cat.no. 65; PL 68). The link with the palmette motif is illustrated by a miniature palmette fitted into the uppermost arc of the mouth on the sheath from Kosd, grave 15 (Cat.no. 30; PL 29; 111. VI,3). 180 The scabbard from grave 60 of Kosd (Cat.no. 34; PL 36) has a Type I dragon-pair combined with various ancillary filler motifs (triskeles and spirals); a similar arrangement can be seen on the sword from PottenbrunnRatzersdorf, grave 400 (Cat.no. 80; PL 81,2). The latter specimens lead us to scabbards decorated with a combination of Type I dragonpair and Hungarian Sword Style design. Most important among these is the Halimba scabbard (Cat.no. 15; Suppl. 1) on which the lower half of the beast echoes the design on the Münsingen scabbard. 181 The Jutas 3 scabbard (Cat.no. 23; Suppl. 2) too bears a Type I dragonpair and compared to the former scabbard it illustrates a further step in experimentation of linking the fantastic animal-pair with Sword Style ornamentation. 182 Also to be mentioned in this context is the sword from grave 4 of Rezi-Rezicser (Cat.no. 55; PL 57) whose design can only be reconstructed in part. Its decoration and the sheath-type has a good parallel in the scabbard recovered from Monte Bibele, grave 70. 183 The genesis of Type III dragon-pairs has been briefly discussed in the above. However, Type III cannot always be clearly distinguished from Type I, partly because of the poor state of preservation of the relevant iron scabbards and partly because of the vagueness of the currently used terminology. It must therefore be emphasized that Type III dragon-pairs are characterised by the closed circle formed through the joining of the lower jaw and the foreleg of the beasts. We can speak of a Type I/III hybrid variant if the foreleg barely touches the lower jaw and the inner circle remains broken. A case in point is the scabbard from Kosd, grave 15 (Cat.no. 30; PL 29; 111. VI,3). It is, however, an entirely different matter whether this piece should be excluded from the category of Type I swords on this basis. If the form of the Kosd animal head is also considered, a negative answer seems wholly convincing. 184 The Type III dragon-pair swords from the Carpathian Basin can be derived from various sources. There are relatively few examples reflecting the canonic Swiss type (Iikovce/Iskelva: Cat.no. 93; PL 93,1; Szob: Cat.no. 66; PL 69) and some scholars believe these to have been imported from the west. 185 The Bonyhádvarasd scabbard (Cat.no. 4; PL 6) whose design suggest the apocryphal possibility of the metamorphosis of Type II lyres into bird-pairs can definitely be linked to a Swiss workshop. 186 A sword from Mokronog (Cat.no. 129) whose reading, however, is far from certain, illustrates similarly a case of individual experimentation, and De Navarro's remark that the design can be regarded "as an ornament allied to our motif is wholly justified. 187 The fusion of the basic design and other ancillary motifs can best be observed on Type III dragon-pair swords from the Srem, Croatia and Slovenia. Excellent examples of a similar phenomenon regarding Type II zoomorphic lyres have been reported from the same Yugoslavian zone, 188 whilst attempts at combining Type I dragon-pairs and Hungarian Sword Style designs can be seen on sheaths from the middle zone of Transdanubia. 189 The animal motif of the scabbard from Dobova, grave 6 (Cat.no. 112; PL 113) represents a Type I/III transition, with a marked emphasis on filler motifs (triskeles, drops, etc.). A rich series of finds illustrates another phase of the motif fusion when the animal body is transformed into a circle standing on a stem, and is surmounted by the modified head of a dragon (or a bird) concealed by an intricate ornamentation. The scabbards which can be assigned here have without exception La Tène C associations (Dobova, grave 10: Cat.no. 114; PL 109,2; Karaburma, grave 29: Cat. no. 122; PL 116; Brestovik, grave 1: Cat.no. 103; PL 100; Ritopek: Cat.no. 135; PL 123,2). Splendid examples of this ornamentation can be quoted from Magyarszerdahely (Cat.no. 42; PL 48) and Sremske Karlovci (Cat.no. 139; PL
