The History of the Axe

6/1/2014

This is the first in Freya's new series on weaponry, and this episode focuses on the axe, looking at its development from the first appearance of stone axes circa 2.6 million years ago to the medieval battle axe.

Replica Danish axe head, Petersen Type L or Type M, based on original from Tower of London. Forged by Bronze Lion.

In this section of the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry, a Saxon housecarl (left) is using a two-handed battle axe. Unfortunately, this means he cannot use his shield, which is slung across his back. Note that he is also using the axe left-handed, which means the blows would come on the undefended side of his opponent.

Photo credit: Neve*sottile / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

3 Comments

Richard

6/1/2014 01:24:54 pm

The Swiss halberd was an interesting axe. Like all Swiss things one item has more than one use. The halberd was specifically designed for tearing apart cavalry charges. The idea was they were first positioned like traditional pikes, then after the first wave of cavalry,the soldiers pull cavalrymen off their horses using the hooks on the halberd and then proceeded to bash and hack them to death with the axe. Was a very effective tactic, it had a mental affect on enemy troops too once word got around

Ann Robertson link

6/1/2014 08:26:47 pm

This is extremely interesting, clearly stated and knowledgable. I'm looking forward to hearing more about early weapons.

Well Done

Freya link

6/2/2014 05:14:47 am

Thanks Richard, I hadn't heard much about the Swiss halberd. It fascinates me that these weapons were used for more than one purpose, often in the same battle!

And thanks, Ann, glad you're enjoying them, and thank you for commenting!

The History of the Axe

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