[C.L. Miller]

In communicating with Jan from www.sword-gur.com about his "Magna Moraviae lance," he commented that he had left the lower portion of the spear head unpolished and unfinished because that was what was most common in period. Having seen more than a few such spear heads on display in various museums, I was always under the impression that the finish was fairly uniform... but of course this is not always easily determined 1200 years on. Looking, for example, at the heilige lanze, my first impression is still that the lower portion was "finshed," but I could certainly be wrong. Most period illustrations, such as the Stuttgart Psalter, appear to show the spear heads as being of uniform color as well. That said, it does make a certain amount of sense that in equiping a large force aesthetics might take a backseat to more practical concerns.
Does anyone have any thoughts, or any evidence one way or the other?

[Merv Cannon]

Hi............Like so make items in the past, I dont think that there was any one particular way to do a thing...at lease I think it would vary according to local artisans and their traditions and materials. One often sees, on certain other forums, people asking "how did they do this or that" as if there was only one way of producing a thing over the centuries and in different cultures. I agree absolutely that Munitions grade arms and armour would be subject to the practically of war and the time limits amd budget limits. I have some art on file showing mostly all black weapons and polished armour and also some showing bright steel weapons with black harness. Mabye the items were left rough from the forge for the urgent campaign and polished afterwards when they had retiurned and have a bit more time on their hands for parades and stuff ....make sense ? I think that people back then were practical and flexable like most of us today. I also think that sometimes historians who spend too much time with their heads buried in books and not enough time out in the field tend to over classify and want to slot everything neatly into the right pidgeon-hole ....like a big Government department....its human nature !. I am slowly learning not to discount any possibility just because it seems anachronistic or unlikely, because if one becomes too dogmatic, you often get proved wrong by a greater authority.
You also have the very likely possibility that those Victorian museum staff also polished the heck out of the pole-arms so they would go nicely with the armour that they had just finished scrubbing to a bright finish !

[C.L. Miller]

[Jeff Pringle]

I think the lower halves were finished to as high a degree as the blades, because many of the better-preserved winged lances have decorative flutes, grooves and file work on the socket and wings, much of it could not have been forged in so it implies an abrasive finish on the whole spear.
Many of the non-winged spears of the Viking period have sockets covered in silver inlay, I'm not sure if that has much bearing on the Merovingian spear situation.
Putting a uniform finish on a socket like that takes some work, the wings really get in the way.

[C.L. Miller]

[Jared Smith]

I don't actually know, but am thinking the winged spear shown above is more of a style for use on foot.

I am wondering if lance heads for mounted use might have been given less attention than a foot spear in terms of finish at the lower mounting region due to higher liklihood of breakage, and expendability. Obviously heads from broken lances could be picked up later but there would be no guarantees. I realize that the wood lance pole was what normally broke, but am thinking the war lance head may not have had a very long life either. Some of the lance heads from 13th century (particularly Burgandy, lower Germany, areas with Eastern contact) range from long needles to long dagger shapes (10" to 20" lengths, looking fairly fragile in terms of shield impact.)

[Fabrice Cognot]

[Michael Douglas]

In my opinion the finish on the blades was generally the same as on the sockets.
Most early medieval spearheads seem to be nicely done, however as with all
museums we get to see what the museum wishes to display.
I have handled roman iron spearheads with a silky smooth finish, and also
with a roughly hammered finish and terrible workmanship.
But to the point : How 'unfinished' is your socket? Edit ;
Seen the pic in the link.
Looks good like that, and it is 54 euros. Decent value.
Maybe they'll make one with a finished socket for more money.

[C.L. Miller]