[Hank Reinhardt]

A bit of nomenclature quibbling. Cresentic axes are those with deep curved blades. These are always battle axes, as if you try to cut wood, the blade can slip very easily and lop off something you want to keep. None of the Viking axes I have even seen qualify for that. While I will grant that you can stab with the front horn, how effective it might be is another matter. I sure won't go very deep unless it is also accompanied by a hacking motion. Another thing. The axe is spoken of as having a wider hooked blade. Now if it were a common axe, why use the term "hooked" That implies that the blade was different in some way that we realy don't know. It also states that it goes deep into his chest. You are not going to get a standard Danish axe to go deep unless you stand on it and hammer it down.
Byrnie Troll is a great name, widh I had thought of it. I wil take one of my big axes, chop some mail and then name it that. I have some large spears from MRL and some others, and can chop with htem. But frankly I don't think they qualify as "hewing spears". I tried to have a large one made, but no such luck.
Talk about strange, as I clicked over to Craig's posting I was looking at the two in BlankWaffen, and had planned on commenting on them. Now I don't have to wait until I learn to send photos. (I am proud of being compuer illiterate...computers eat your souls, don't you know that...)
Check out both. They are Swedish, and date from much later. But change did not occur as fast as it does not. Someone mentioned that the berdiche was imported from Russia, but the early Russians were Swedes.
There seems to be some deep seated aversion to the concept that Vikings had any polearms other than spears. Long cuttign weapons are not generally useful on a ship, although Gunnar gets his in a shipboard battle. Pole arms were used in the Bronze age, why did they suddenly stop? Granted that none from the Viking Age have of yet been found, but there is a lot more in the ground than we have ever pulled out of it. In fact, there are no polearms known prior to about 1100AD. Then they suddenly appear and are pretty well developed. Later all, Hank

[Allen W]

I am not suggesting the "halberd" is a standard broad axe but was only applying it to the passage quoted. I picture these thrusts as short upward motions requiring little precision and used against unarmored foes. Some broad axes are much pointier than others. In this case I was picturing the old Windless Steelcrafts Battle Troll (from the very early days of MRL). It listed at 3-1/2 lb.s with an 11" edge and had very prominent "horns". A friend of mine mounted one on a 5' haft and this would thrust easily into an unarmored body though point control is very limited-hence short, upward jabs as some of easiest close-quarters methods for an ideally longer range weapon.

[K J Seago]

Here is an example of what I have figured the hewing type spearheads to be like. But as Hank has pointed out we need to find grave finds or context specific archeology that puts something like this in the picture.

This is a 15th C example

Craig

Attachment: 5.9 KB, Viewed: 620 times
Col60.jpg

[Will C]

I recently went surfing the net looking for viking weapons for my re-enactment group and found this topic. My uncle has been re-enacting since it wasnt re-enacting and didnt like the look of the weapon from MRL so we sat down with a CAD program and decided to 'fix it'. after 6hrs and 5 revisions we ended up with :

The haft is 1.3m (4ft 3in and a bit) long and 32mmx20mm (1.25"x 0.8")

The blade is 84cm Long (33in and a bit) (an Ell is (apparently) the measurement from your elbow to your fingertip, 17-18in)

33cm (15in) of the blade overlaps the haft

The total length of the weapon is 1.734m (5ft 8in and a bit)

The point of balance is 6cm (2.5in) below the lower socket (perfect for 1 or 2 handed use)

The weight is 1.207kg (2.66lbs) including the 90g (3.17oz) counterweight

The first 3" is diamond section ( fulfills "ending in a four-edged spike")

At its thickest point the blade is 4mm (0.16in) thick

at the narrowest point between the 2 sockets the blade is 32mm (1.35in) wide
At the upper socket the blade is 50mm (2in) wide (from the back of the actual blade not the mounting point)
From the back of the bottom socket to the edge of the blade it is 85mm (3.3in)
From the back of the top Socket to the edge of the blade it is 91mm (3.5in)


Any thoughts?

[David Martin]

Will,

I think your interpretation is nothing short of fantastic. It's a shame Hank Reinhardt isn't alive to comment on this.

If this goes into production (I can't afford custom prices at the moment), please send me a PM, as I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

Best wishes,


David

[Johan Gemvik]

That's what I've always imagined an Atgeir would look like. Some say it's more likely to be a wide bladed heavy spearhead instead, but no one really knows either way today. It certainly looks plausible to me.

[Matt Corbin]

That looks really good. Now you just need to get someone like A&A to make it.