  Axion strings and domain walls exhibit a number of novel effects in the
presence of gauge fields, in particular the electromagnetic field. It is shown
how these effects are reproduced in a model of Nambu-Goto-type strings and open
or closed membranes coupled to gauge fields. The generalization to `axionic
p-branes' is considered and it is shown how worldvolume gauge fields that arise
in certain cases can be interpreted as Goldstone fields.
