myArmoury.com - Viking age axe

Posts: 242 Location: Poland

Mon 16 Feb, 2015 6:04 am

Viking age axe - inspiration

This time something different - I mean - not a sword :)
an Axe - inspired by axes from eastern Europe, vikings, some finds from Poland and Russia...
this work was made as old, used and ragged weapon, aged and probably could be used as a movie replica by its look :)
but still - it is functional item - forged and heat treated, with strong oakwood handle...
it is about 60cm long handle, the blade is 16x16x3,5cm...

I`m working now also with big two handed dune axe and small one handed one - both as replicas scandinavian finds...

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Niels Just Rasmussen

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Posts: 828 Location: Nykøbing Falster, Denmark

Tue 17 Feb, 2015 2:48 am

Re: Viking age axe - inspiration

Maciej K. wrote:

This time something different - I mean - not a sword :)
an Axe - inspired by axes from eastern Europe, vikings, some finds from Poland and Russia...
this work was made as old, used and ragged weapon, aged and probably could be used as a movie replica by its look :)
but still - it is functional item - forged and heat treated, with strong oakwood handle...
it is about 60cm long handle, the blade is 16x16x3,5cm...

I`m working now also with big two handed dune axe and small one handed one - both as replicas scandinavian finds...

You really made the axe look “used“. Love the oak!

Just have a question about the type.
I saw you said “inspired by“.
You have any picture examples of an eastern axe looking like this - or have you deliberately extended the “beard“ and made it end into a “spike“?
With an hungarian axe “the spike“ usually goes up and not down....

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Maciej K.

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Posts: 242 Location: Poland

Tue 17 Feb, 2015 4:38 am

Thanks for the question Niels :)
and yes - you are right, I know what you mean - most of this type axes has a little different blade...
my inspiration you can see for examples here, from Poland:
[ Linked Image ]

but - as I said - it is inspired look, something what I wanted to make at the moment - not recreation of any particular axe :)
anyway - it is the true what you write.
I was considering to cut this "spike" end to make it more historical type...

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Niels Just Rasmussen

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Posts: 828 Location: Nykøbing Falster, Denmark

Tue 17 Feb, 2015 8:14 am

Maciej K. wrote:

Thanks for the question Niels :)
and yes - you are right, I know what you mean - most of this type axes has a little different blade...
my inspiration you can see for examples here, from Poland:
but - as I said - it is inspired look, something what I wanted to make at the moment - not recreation of any particular axe :)
anyway - it is the true what you write.
I was considering to cut this "spike" end to make it more historical type...

You are very welcome. :D Great picture of polish axes. I had seen the same type in one of my books from a find near Königsberg (Kaliningrad) - so from a time when the Prussian Baltic speaking people still existed (their language went extinct around 1700).
What is interesting is that the beard is so much bigger on the eastern axes, that the ones of Scandinavia.
So presumingly used be Eastern Vikings and also Baltic and Slavic people. So why this change, must be a variation of type of weapons you needed to hook, or lot more focus on the hooking making the axes more specialized.

Probable use of the bearded axe as a spear- & sword catcher + “disarmer“. Experimental reenactment by “Thrand and Eldgrim".
1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFs4wP_hByA [see especially from 2.25 min].
2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7avA0w1MeM
3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9FZjzfq5Fk

I actually found a picture of a German axe with the spike down very close to your axe. Apparently from ~1000 AD (below a viking one).
From http://military.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_axe -> just a copy of the wikipedia page, but it shows this image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons...e_axes.jpg
Sadly no info where it is from.

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Maciej K.

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Posts: 242 Location: Poland

Tue 17 Feb, 2015 8:39 am

thanks Niels for the good example and informations.
interesting movies - I saw those guys before ;)
I think it is possible that this kind of blade shape could be used in some combat tactics.
but ubfortunately there is very few examples for that shape... mostly its flat end - not spiky :)

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Niels Just Rasmussen

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Posts: 828 Location: Nykøbing Falster, Denmark

Tue 17 Feb, 2015 8:48 am

Maciej K. wrote:

thanks Niels for the good example and informations.
interesting movies - I saw those guys before ;)
I think it is possible that this kind of blade shape could be used in some combat tactics.
but ubfortunately there is very few examples for that shape... mostly its flat end - not spiky :)

Yeah since people doing actual fighting must have chosen their weapon according to their preferred combat tactics.
So at least we can say that your spiked-bearded-axe is still historical (so no need to removed the spike!), just a lot more rare than the bearded axes with flat ends.
I have no real idea what the spike would be for, though -> hooking must still be the preferred action with an axe of this type, so maybe the spike can do something nasty to the opponent on the following specific disarming move after your have succeeded with hooking the opponents weapon. [maybe bite into the hand of the opponent?].

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