Hi, i know this maybe have been discussed already but i wanted to know more about viking axes. how does the head is sticked on the haft historically, what kind of haft would have been effective in this time (curved haft, straight haft how accurate ?) and what would be the measurements of the axe head if the haft is 3 feet long?

looking forward to discuss about it :D .

I think Oakeshott was a bit off-base on this one.
I can think of no contemporary pictorial source (Bayeux tapestry, manuscript illustration) that shows a Dane axe with an S-curved haft. They all seem to be straight.
As far as attachment, just like any other axe, good tight fit with a wedge if needed seems to do the trick.
I doubt the size of the head was standardized in relation to the haft length.

Anyone have any opinion or facts on bearded axes? They're my favorite among all but don't know much about them historicaly...

I believe that the bearded axe was originally a wood working tool. The purpose of the beard was to allow the user to grip the handle behind the blade, giving better control for more precise work.

i thought of something that i think would worth it but its for you to judge.
the thing is, the shields of the viking could have been covered by leather right? then i remembered about a website i came across maybe a year or two ago http://member.melbpc.org.au/~kja/shieldblank.html and there is this thing the guy was using to cover the wood (calico, leather, canvas but used calico) so i was wondering if it would worth the time to cover the haft of an axe with maybe 2 or 3 layers of canvas of something else to solidify the haft for training purpose.

by the way, nice picture Artis looks like i'm up to have a pretty good beard axe one day :lol: .

Well, for training purposes I would say - go right ahead, as long as modifications to the haft do not affect handling of the weapon. As far as history goes - we have evidence that Latgallians used bronze strips to wrap the hafts of smaller axes in the 10th century, supposedly, to increase the longlivity of the hafts in the combat. However, we have no evidence of such practice in later times.

The axes from the late roman iron age bog deposits in Scandinavia have straight hafts. Interstingly some of the Dane axe heads have small sockets indicating quite narrow hafts. I have to agree that the bearded axe is also very 'needfull' and my favourite weapon. My own bearded axe that I use for re-enactment purposes has a haft the length of my arm from axilla to wrist. I tend to use the hammer projection on the axe head to open up the opponants shields, striking to the shield at the right hand lower quarter to and use the blade edge on the reverse swing to the oppanant's toso. Another method is to use the the axe head thrust into the opponants upper half of his shield and then use the 'beard' to open the shield exposing his torso. And of course the beard can also be used to snag an oppanant behind the knee! Simple but quite effective.

best
Dave

Do you have a picture of your axe i'm pretty curious about it! :D And before i forget is there evidence that there was bearded axes that has a 3 feet long or more haft?

Hello Etienne ,

As I stand at just over six five my own bearded axe haft is just under three foot, but I would say that may be exceptional. Most folk appear to be comfortable with the ratio that I gave though.I tend to hold the haft in various positions along the haft depending on the blow to be delivered but allow the axe to slide through my grip holding the haft just above it's base when delivering the return swing, the haft has leather 'thonging' tied to the base of the haft to about five inches in depth allowing a good grip in the hand.

What I do see amongst many mainland european re-enactment groups is small axe heads mounted on very long shafts, more like what I would expect on say a Dane Axe. I am not convinced though that this would have been the correct length.

If you check out www.daspodol.de you will see a good selection of axe heads available for re-enactors that I would consider good ones, but most good smiths should be able to produce one.

There may a picture of my bearded axe on our myspace profile page on one of the two slide shows www.myspace.com/jorvik-vikingr
best
wishes
Dave

Hi Bjorn,

No doubt the bearded axe has multiple uses, there are other axes which may have been more appropiate to the task of shapeing large lengths of timber such as beams, planking etc, after the splitting of the timber with wedges, the often found 'T' shaped axe comes to mind, and of course for finer work, adzes in various blade lengths.

best
Dave

its an awesome website but i didn't understand anything until i translate them by computer very usefull indeed!

is there another museum website that would have other axe head pictures of the viking era?

Keep in mind that the viking age spans 300 years. Bearded axes in their pure form where only popular for about 100 years (from the 750s to 850s), according to Pettersen. The types E and F, wich has remains of a beard, but are not bearded axes as such, is in use for another 100 years.
But over all the trend is toward beardless types.
The other main type in use throughout the viking era are wedge axes; these have solid, wedge formed heads and a short cutting edge.
The bearded axe was replaced by the broad axe; Unlike bearded axes, which where quite massive, the broad axe have a very thin profile, and a large cutting edge, probably for speed and effeciency against the soft targets of the time.
(For example, my blunt figthing daneaxe on a 2m ash shaft weighs 1,6kg (a little over 3 pounds))

All the axe shafts I've seen in period images where straight. The also frequently appear to be quite long.
Personally I belive they would be about a meter or more. The tradition of using axes as walking stricks remained in norway until the 18th(!) century, and viking/medevial axes would probably be used in the same way.