[Pedro Paulo Gaião]

[Ryan S.]

I don’t know much about sword spears, but I believe it was noticed in other threads that the guards arresting Christ, almost always have a variety of pole arms. I don’t know why.

Anyway, here is also a picture of a crusader with a sword-spear in a French book. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b55006914c/f543.item.zoom

[Anthony Clipsom]

[Sean Manning]

Can anyone read the writing on the scabbard of the falchion or the kneeling man's belt? Here is the Wikimedia Commons page with information and closeup photos https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:The_Betrayal_of_Christ_by_Fernando_Gallego

The soldier in greaves has an arming point for sabatons on the toe of his shoe. We rarely see those without the sabaton in the way.

I think that someone, perhaps Pietro Monte, says that the partisan has a blade like an "ancient sword" (ie. Oakeshott Group 1, as distinct from the more aggressively tapered Oakeshott group II)

[Anthony Clipsom]

[Pedro Paulo Gaião]

[Anthony Clipsom]

[Paul Hansen]

[Graham Shearlaw]

[quote="Pedro Paulo Gaião"]

[M. Nordlund]

On the staffswords.
My guess is that the Scandinavian ones are also a hunting weapon for bear and or boar. A south Norwegian source from later in the century(Peder Claussøn Friis) Describes bear spears as having iron blades more than 2 feet long, a handspan wide with strong wings and a strong reinforced shaft. They probobly got phased out of military use as the swedish kings Gustav and Erik Vasa wanted to have a more professional an German looking army.

I seem to remember that of the 2 swedish stavsvärd that have been analyzed one had a blade made from a sword and one a purpose built blade I do not have a source other than someone on the internet told me though.

I think they are mentioned historically as different forms of modern Swedish term "knävelspjut" which can be translated as quillon-spear A term I am pretty sure I have seen used to refer directly to bear hunting spears as well but I cant find that source right now. but they do appear in bear hunting context in art as say the inlay on this petronel/pistol from Aachen.
https://samlingar.shm.se/object/87658588-D9A1-4371-860E-44C5FD1D00A1

they are mentioned as one of the standard arms for rich people to arm their soliders twice with in 1526:

"Aff iiijc marc rentha huadt thet ær kronaness renthe
eller frælse skall holles vj gode karla iij med godha dragha Harnesk och iij med staallbogha ok knæffuelspiuth
ok hæst saa god som xxx marcer"
-Konug Gusatf den Förstes registratur del 3 page. 255

basically if you hold 400 marks worth of rent you must equip 6 good men; 3 with "godha dragha Harnesk" wich I am not quite sure how to translate and 3 with Steelbows(crossbows I guess) and quillon-spears
and a horse worth 30 marks (I an unsure how many horses and who gets them based on the other similar mentions they might get one each)

"Friiborne frælsisman och forleningxman som haffuer iiij°[400j marc renttho om aaret
thet ware mere frælse eller forlæningh schal ther wtaff
holla yj godha*) karla medh tiilbörligha weryor iij medh
draffharnisk och glaffuener huar thera medh en godh hest
om xxx march och andre iij medh skytthetygh stoolboghar spetzser kneffuelspiuth eller rör"
-Konug Gusatf den Förstes registratur del 3 page. 253

Same thing here except if you get 400 mark in rent a year you supply 6 men and their accompanying weapons; 3 with I what I think is german "Trabharnisch", lances and each with a horse worth 30 mark as well as 3 other men with "skytthetygh" ( literally shooting tools?, shooting things, probobly the level of armour needed) Steelbows, "Spetzer"(I think spears or pikes),"kneffuelspiuth" quilloned spears or "rör" literally tubes or pipes, which I think means firearms

There is also one call to equip troops that don't involve any close combat infantry weapons from 1526

1524 the Swedish crown tells a bishop to send 100 men armed with
"taallerör spedzer oc hillebarda eller swinspeetz"
-Konug Gusatf den Förstes registratur del1 page. 190

I honsetly dont know what "taallerör" means but the latter half means of halberds or swine(boar)-spears which might also be the quillioned spears

[Parker D.]

Pretty sure the sword staff really isn't a thing as a whole. Depictions typically usually embellish anything the artist(s) would like to, although not hugely commonly, but weapons sometimes too. I mean look in the background with all those unusually shaped and large polearms, most of them are highly unrealistic. A sword staff could work, but its just not really practical whatsoever not to mention would be highly expensive like most of the rest of those polearms. The japanese had their yari which is about as big as you would want to get in a spear. And even those 12",14" yari's are really (at least from what I was always informed by) that they were ceremonial. Anything more than about a 8-10" spear head is kind of ridiculous, its unwieldy, unnecessarily heavy, and more. Of course there have been every measure of weapon created throughout history, but many were abandoned or never pursued for good reason. But thats me. Nice depiction though, I adore medieval artwork it truly is something magnificent. I love the knightly effigies, and depictions, in the books you often find little but highly detailed depictions of knights, in those little "framed" I guess images, there wonderful. Anyways.

[Frank Baker]

Hi, i know this discussion is about western weapons but I thought I would mention Japanese Naginata. These seem to be a pretty good example of a "sword blade on a pole"

[Pedro Paulo Gaião]