Szabó Miklós, Petres F. Éva: Decorated weapons on the La Tene Iron Age in the Carpathian Basin. (Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 5; Budapest, 1992)
III. THE HUNGARIAN SWORD STYLE - The classification of the material
probably used some sort of " pattern book" (or a prepared lay-out). 266 De Navarro emphasized the "Gaulish aspect" of the Cernon-sur-Coole scabbard. 257 His arguments are convincing for in spite of various Swiss parallels, the "Cernon Style" (such as scabbard no. 59 from La Tène) cannot be assigned to the Swiss Sword Style. 25s Fig. 25 St.Sulpice (Kt. Vaud), iron spear-head from grave 57 with incised decoration (after Osterhaus [1968] fig. 2.6a-b The diagnostic leaf motif of the CernonDrfia pair has excellent parallels in the Carpathian Basin. The Kosd scabbard (Cat.no. 37; Pis 40-41) mentioned in the above can be regarded as one of the earliest representatives of this group with a date around the La Tène B2 phase. The lower part of the reserve of the scabbard has survived intact together with the chape; that its ornamentation is directly comparable to the decoration under the suspension loop of the Cernon-sur-Coole scabbard speaks for itself. There are also, however, certain differences, such as the Liter 1 type chape of the Kosd scabbard and, even more conspicuous, the palmette derivative above the lost reinforce on the upper part of the front plate and the large S-spiral which is complemented with drop and spiral motifs underneath. 259 The differences between the ornamentation of the reverse and the front plate are so striking as to suggest two different engravers. The pattern covering the upper part of the front plate is not in the Sword Style tradition, but rather reflects the earliest phase of the Plastic Style, obviously without the third dimension. 260 Closely allied to the ornamentation on the reverse of the Kosd scabbard is the pattern of a scabbard from Szob (Cat.no. 68; PL 71; 111. VII); the triangular field of the scabbard entry is filled with a tendril composition springing from hatched leaves. The ornamentation is extremely hybrid: the two discs of the reinforce bear a lotus flower motif which also appears on the suspension loop of the Voivodina scabbard (Cat.no. 127; PL 119,1). The Szob scabbard can be assigned to the La Tène B2 phase. 261 Slightly later than the weapons described in the above (Cat .nos 37 and 68) is a sword scabbard in the Veszprém museum, possibly from Halimba (Cat.no. 15, Suppl. 1; 111. IV) which is closely linked, both chronologically and morphologically, to the Marnian specimen. 262 This connection has already been noted by Megaw, 263 and his observations can be underlined with further details, mostly from the technical repertoire (three types of engraving, chape-end with "relief-line" design and medallions made using a matrix on the latter; polished surface), which compare well with the Cernon-surCoole scabbard even if it falls short of the latter in terms of craftsmanship. Especially noteworthy is the fact that the zoomorphic motif (De Navarro's Type I dragon-pair 264 ) is virtually independent of the Sword Style ornament for it adorns the upper part of the scabbard. The upper jaw of the "dragon" curls into a spiral, a feature which again supports the assumption that the zoomorphic ("bird") motif of the Cernon-sur-Coole scabbard shows an exceptionally successful fusion of the dragon/griffin and the Sword Style design. The decoration of the Halimba scabbard is arranged into three zones which were originally linked with tendrils (as suggested by the middle and lower pattern) organised around three "inverse" S-shaped tendrils. 265 However, the overall structure of the composition is submerged in the swirling tendril mass and the "trumpet-flowers" outlined by them. The filler motifs in the spaces left void by the tendril shoots include simple spirals, S-spirals, triskeles and lotus flower dérivâtes 266 whose leaflike continuations are, similarly to the zone between them and the tendril frame, covered with parallel hatching: the ultimate connection
