Hello:

I was wondering if anyone can tell me the name of a weapon I've seen in a medieval illustration. Two knights are dueling. I assume they are French. They are in a fenced area. There are bleachers in the background decorated with red tapestries with nobles sitting on them. The left knight wears yellow with red clovers. The right knight wears red and gray with black stars on the gray sections of cloth.

They both use a sword-like weapon I've never seen in any museum photos, nor as a reproduction. The first half of the weapon has a hilt with a handguard (like you see on a poleaxe), and then a second grip section with another handguard. Each hand uses its own section of grip. The last half of the weapon is the blade. However, it appears to be more like a round ahlspiess spike. This weapon appears to be mostly for parrying and thrusting. I'd guess this weapon was at least 5 feet & 7 inches long.

It is, in my opinion, a unique weapon. I know nothing about it, not even its name, and I do not know if any surviving examples exist. It would be nice if someone like A&A made a reproduction of it. This illustration appears on the cover of a book titled "Deeds of Arms." I have also seen a very ridiculous version of this weapon wielded by the actor Liam Neeson in the movie "Excalibur."

Thank you gentlemen. I'm simply curious and thought I should defer to those of you who are medieval weapons experts. Maybe one still survives in a European museum I don't know about.

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but check out this old thread:

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=6251

Here's the cover of the book mentioned:

[ Linked Image ]

I think those weapons figure in Codex Wallerstein too...