I was looking through Egil's Saga recently and I came across an interesting passage:

Quote:

Thorolf was equipped with a broad, thick shield and a tough helmet on his head, and was girded with a sword which he called Long, a fine and trusty weapon. He carried a thrusting spear in his hand. It's blade was two ells long and rectangular, tapering to a point at one end but thick at the other. The shaft measured only a hand's length below the long and thick socket which joined it to the blade, but it was exceptionally stout. There was an iron spike through the socket, and the shaft was completely clad with iron. Such spears were known as 'scrapers of mail'.

I was wondering if anyone has seen a good reproduction of one of these things. I'm not exactly sure how long an ell is, but the shaft on the Viking Halberd from MRL is way too long to be a hand's length, and it really doesn't look how I would picture it. Has anyone found any other examples of these interesting weapons?

There are various references to "halberds" in the Sagas...quite a lot of discussion has gone on regarding them. I recomend you read the threads:

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...ng+halberd

And this one, also started by Hank on The Armour Archive:

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewto...ng+halberd


Both threads generated very interesting and informative replies.

In summary though, we dont know for certain what the Sagas are really describing....a halberd like weapon, or just an abnormally long and wide bladed hewing spear.

In most, if not all the Saga references however, the halberd is used to thrust through the body...not cut or slash it. My theory is that the word "halberd" was simply inserted by the 12th and 13th century authors who recorded the sagas in order to describe any long bladed weapon other than an axe.

There are no known archeological or artistic representations of a viking age "halberd".

Dave

"Scrapers of Mail". I believe this is the English translation of "bryntroll" or "byrnie-troll", not the famed "atgeir" that has been deemed to be a halberd. Probably some sort of weapon geared towards piercing mail, although as Dave said it is bit uncertain what it is...

Johan Schubert Moen

I'd guess that the hand's length of shaft below the socket refers not to the length of the shaft, but to the small portion of the shaft not clad in iron. I'm not sure why the entire shaft literally would be so clad, as opposed to something like langets, but it's certainly likely that there's some exaggeration here--the more iron used on the weapon, presumably the greater the wealth and status of its owner. By the way, some 16th century halberd shafts featured langets almost down to their base, so this practice is not unknown, historically.

As outlandish as the "iron spike" through the socket may sound, I'm picturing a simple rivet, which can do wonders in securing the head. I'd guess that the author is simply listing desireable attributes of a contemporary polearm--a securely riveted socket and a robust haft defended by iron extensions of the socket. Both require iron that could otherwise be used to make several other weapons. It's the best weapon available and damn the expense.