MRL had a couple of sales on spearheads recently, of which I partook.

The first was their "European Spear Head."
http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=...Spear+Head

The second was their "Hewing Spearhead."
http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=...Spear+Head (KOA calls it "Large Leaf Blade Spearhead", but it seems to be the same thing.)



The following was of interest to me before, but now with several of each soon to be in my collection, I thought I'd bring it up here and see what others think.

To start, I had some reservations about the "Hewing Spearhead." If you look at the first picture on KOA's website you'll see that the spearhead consists of a thin flattened blade attached to the much thicker shaft, as opposed to the "European Spear Head," which has a slow tapering over the entire piece and a thick central ridge. At a glance I would say that the "European" one is the better spearhead, thicker and stronger, whereas the "Hewing Spearhead" looks like there're be a weak spot where blade and socket meet.

However, to switch gears from MRL to actual history, it appears we have plenty of examples of both historically. If my Google searching is any indication of how it went historically, it would seem that early and later on in Western history you would see more of these flattened spearheads, whereas the ones with the central ridge predominate throughout the middle parts of European history. (I am aware that Google and my gut feelings are hardly conclusive of anything, but lacking any other source of info...)

While there is a not unsurprising lack of information on early spearheads, if you take a look at late 15th century through to early 17th century spears you can see both kinds of spearheads. Generally speaking it seems that the ones with the prominent central ridge are labeled as for war, while many of the flattened ones are said to be hunting weapons.

It further seems to me, based still on my Googling, that the central ridge spears are far more common in history than the flattened ones, but that this is reversed in today's reproduction market. The cheaper spearheads are more likely to be of the flattened form than the ridged, perhaps because it is easier to make or simply because nobody did any research before churning out things to sell.



I shall now get to the point. Pun not intended, but left there once typed anyway. ;)

Generally speaking:
1. Is it true that the flattened designs were favored for hunting and the ridged for war?

2. If so, why? Hunting spears need not be as strong as those for war? Does the sloping shoulder of the flattened ones help to prevent an animal from sliding up the spear shaft?

3. Heck, am I overstating the apparent weakness of the flattened spearhead's joinings? Perhaps it is just a style thing?

4. How about the percentages of the different types? Were the ridged spears more common in history or just more common online/in museums?









Disclaimer: Firstly, this is all just my conjecture/guessing/musing. I'm mostly just trying to see how far off base my overall impressions are.

Secondly, I ignored non-European spearheads for this, which are even more varied and all over the place as far as design goes.

Lastly, I used KOA as reference for anyone who wanted an example of what I was talking about, simply because I've had enough of Googling for historical examples and I knew I could find what I wanted there.

Great questions!

Both of these spear heads look very different from the Arms & Armor spears such as the Arms & Armor Friedrich IV Spear. The A&A spears appear to be much more inclined to doughty work- if I was choosing. But since they are cast and not forged I imagine they might be stouter that typical.

If anyone has pictures of Spears from 1200-1550 I would be very interested in seeing them, and hearing thoughts as to how they compare to the reproductions on the market.

Most of what I know is Roman and other ancient cultures, but the vast majority of Roman spearheads, excavated from military sites, have no ridge. Mostly they were cranked out from a flat triangular piece of iron plate, with the bottom of the triangle wrapped around a mandrel to form the socket. Then the blade would have edges hammered into it, giving a roughly lenticular section. Stick it on a pole and go to war. I have seen a number of illustrations of medieval spearheads that aren't a lot more complex than that, and never any suggestion that those were for hunting rather than war.

Come to think of it, how common were ridged spearheads in the earlier middle ages? I honestly don't know!

I agree that non-ridged ones are more likely to be available nowadays, and it should also be pointed out that MOST modern repros are much larger than the average medieval spearhead! Roman ones ran 6 to 8 inches on average, including the socket, whereas it's really hard to find an affordable repro under a foot long...

Of course, in the eras I tend to study, spears were still the most common weapon on any battlefield. Once you get into the 16th century and beyond, the spears are usually pikes, often with their own distinctive characteristics, so it makes sense that actual spears were more likely for hunting. You see officers with boar spears as a badge of rank, for instance.

Good questions!

Matthew

I feel this topic could use more discussion. Can we elaborate a bit more about spears/lances? Spears were a common weapon for thousands of years, and charts I've seen show many styles and specialized heads, just like most weapons. But for all the discussion I've read about every little sword characteristic, spear discussions are uncommon at best.

How about hearing from smiths or members who own multiple styles? Do you think one style would be more durable for certain situations? Use less metal? Easier to make? More effective against mail versus armor? Is a triangular head with straight edges better or worse for cutting versus piercing?

For example: I see vendors labeling just about every style of spear head as "Viking". Did the Vikings really have such a wide variety of spears (triangle head, appleseed and rounded, with and without wings or lugs), or is this just a marketing tactic? How did those styles evolve? Is there really evidence for winged spears being used to pull on shields and ankles, or did spear heads themselves do the trick? Were languets only used on later-period spears? How often were spears made entirely with steel instead of welded edges on soft iron?

I also see very few spear heads with a scale or perspective of their proportions. Where swords usually have handles to orient the viewer, spear head pictures are often very basic. Perhaps this is why I had no interest in them until I saw a few custom spears presented on this website.

After reading my post, perhaps I'm looking for a book reference or Spotlight Topic. Any spear nuts out there? Feel free to address any of the questions I've posed.

Here are some examples I found via Google Images, using terms like “German”, “Hunting”, “15th century”, and of course “spear”:

I seem to have lost whatever combination of search terms that gave me the spears listed as for the hunt and those listed for war. Most of the below are not described as either, or if they are, they are described as for war.

http://www.antiquescentreyorkeshop.co.uk/acat...N2568.html
Kind of flattened to my eyes, about 9.8” long, found in Germany and dated to 14th-15th century. Not listed as either war or hunt.

http://www.antiquescentreyorkeshop.co.uk/acat...N2748.html
More of a ridged version. About 10.4” long and dated 12th-14th century. Not listed as either war or hunt.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=15th+century+s...&ty=56
This one is listed as a German infantry of 15th-16th century. Still not said to be war or hunt.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=%2215th+centur...mp;bih=540
Another German spear. 15th century again and not listed as hunt or war.

http://www.antiques.com/classified/17147/Medi...Boar-Spear
Oooo… Got one. Not quite as flattened as I’m thinking of, but this one is listed as a boar spear, 15th century. Germany again. Big one, almost 18” long.

http://finds.org.uk/database/search/results/o...d/MEDIEVAL
Here is a page with several different spears on it, most appearing to be of the flattened variety. The first one is rather interesting, seeming to be a flattened blade with socket built in, no midsection at all.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-MEDIEVAL-GERMAN-...0460384659
Some eBay stuff about spears, flat and ridged.

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=German+Spear&a...&ty=60
Another German one, a boar spear.

http://www.antiques-atlas.com/bayhallantiques...=as208a146
17th century boar spear, flattened.

http://www.antiques-atlas.com/bayhallantiques...=as208a147
18th century pike, flattened…



Well shoot, I can’t find the same ones I found before that had me so convinced, but what I see here leads me to believe my pet theory is all wet. Still, not a loss, this gives me some ideas as to what to do with the spearheads I bought. The reproduction market seems to be limited to only a few types and with a hack saw and a lot of filing one could make an example rarely reproduced today.


Matthew, I’d appreciate some more info on why you say most medieval spearheads were so short. Not calling you a liar, but most of the ones I looked at that had a length listed were fairly large.


And Gregg, the “Vikings” did in fact have a variety of different styles and types throughout their heyday. Of course, as you point out, dealers love to label things as Viking that have nothing in common with actual examples. Here’s http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manu..._spear.htm where William Short gives an excellent overview of Norse spears. The rest of the site is much the same on many aspects of Norse weapons and daily life. I’ll also put in a plug for his book “Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques” here. It’s basically his website in book form, but still quite nice.

While we’re on the topic of Norse spears and vendors making them, this one looks to be a pretty good representation of a Norse spear in my price range, AKA dirt cheap: http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=...Spear+Head

It resembles one of the smaller spearheads shown on Short’s website scaled up with the addition of “wings.”



Yessire, I’m starting to get a little spear crazy. It’ll add a little spice to my collection of mostly swords. :D



Editted because I noticed my link to Short's site was no good.

Thanks Colt. I wasn't sure if your question had been answered, but it looks like you've accumulated quite a bit of research on your own. It's a good start, and I appreciate seeing it.

Hopefully, you don't see my inquiries as hijacking your topic, but it seemed like a good place for me to post.

Thank you Romulus, I'm not sure how that changes things, but it's an interesting factoid nonetheless.

As for your inquires Gregg, I wouldn't worry about it. myArmoury.com is supposed to be something of a respository of knowledge and in a topic about spears you asked about spears. I've gone off on worse tangents myself.

Matthew, thank you for the detailed response. I suspected some of what I was looking at might be fake or inaccurate, but clearly you are far better educated than I.

Quote:

That first one is a tobacco spike or spear--tobacco leaves are skewered on pointy poles for drying. You can find these in American flea markets.

Oh, and here I was trying to figure out an easy way to trim down Windlass's Euro spearhead to make one. Guess I won't think about it anymore...

Quote:

All that said, the first spearheads that Museum Replicas came out with many years ago were BIG--the *small* one was over 15 inches, and the large one 19 inches! Again, those are not impossible lengths (though the 1-1/4" sockets are massive), but a 15-inch spearhead is not "small" by any reasonable definition! And I feel that too many reproductions have followed that lead. It leads to all kinds of misconceptions about spears.

Ah, that's something I did some reading on. William Short's book states Norse spears to be about 2-3cm (1-1 1/8") in diameter, and several websites I found stated things like javelins being 3/4" in diameter and spears being 1-1 1/8" in diameter. My thought was that if you trimmed a bit of the end off a modern reproduction's socket you could get it down to a reasonable diameter easily enough. (Especially that winged one I was considering. The Norse examples seem to have short sockets and the wings much lower on the socket, so this'd be more historical all the way around.)


I don't know about anyone else, but this is proving to be educational for me.

Perhaps OT, but I have this theory that the wide blade stubby boar spears have less risk of impaling the dog crowding the boar while still giving a huge wide wound in the piggie. These spears look funny to us, but were probably more practical than a longer thinner head.

Yes a lot of modern spearheads sold today are oversized. I was looking at some of the Swedish viking age finds at the local museum recently and most are medium to smallish in size, even those some designate as cutting or hewing spears. Colt, I'll see if I can get some photos up, but I need to steal them off the exhibit CD I bought. Some have short sockets, some have long slender ones.