#dane axe

[cutecuttlefish]

The sword of the day is the Dane axe.

Also known as the English long axe, this was the closest thing to a true two-handed greataxe from D&D that was used historically. Long enough that it should probably be considered a short polearm, the cutting edge on this axe was only between 8-12” (20-30 cm), but the haft was long enough that it could be used as a staff weapon. That length could also be used to give the axe a tremendous amount of leverage, making cuts extremely forceful.

[armthearmour]

A rare Dane Axe recovered from grave 8 in the Langeid Cemetary, Norway, 1000-1050, housed at the Norwegian Cultural History Museum.

[harukaemberfall]

Huevember 14: Concecae

[norseminuteman]

Now this Daneaxe saga has come to the end. hearth refined Steel and wrought iron, brass Collar and a hand hewn haft all put togeather to a formidable weapon. the Dane axe is one of the scariest and most beautiful war axes to my knoledge.  -- Thor’s Forge

[nordwinterfrost]

New medieval vikings reenactment season and new photo session :)

[jormundgandr]

My Axe is done, it’s almost 6ft long. And the thunderstorms are still coming here. I might regret this, but I do have Snapchat, however I won’t be publicly posting it, send me a message.

[kiabugboy]

The assignment for my final day doing internship in Jakarta was 'draw whatever I like' so... Naturally I did some historical inspired stuffs, reskinned as Vikings

[armthearmour]

So can you tell me please what is a sparth axe and why were they so popular with the gallowglass?

Ah yes, the sparth.

So, quite simply, Ireland is a weird place. When we’re talking about the development of arms and armor, it’s oddly distinct from the rest of Europe, especially for the fact that they never seem to adopt plate armor in any real capacity.

Light armor is the name of the game, even into the 16th century, and the Gallowglass, considered a mercenary elite, were some of the most heavily armored blokes on the field, typically only wearing a maille hauberk and a helmet of some kind (with padding beneath.)

(Hands together for Osprey illustrations.)

The sparth is suggested to be a descendant of the (in)famous Dane axe of Viking era fame. As armor in Europe develops, so too do the weapons trying to defeat that armor, so axes like the poleaxe, which is far more equipped for dealing with plate, become popular.

However, since here in Ireland you don’t have heavier armor really developing (it’s been suggested because of the nature of the Irish countryside and Irish warfare at the time) then a large, two handed axe like the sparth fills its purpose perfectly. It wreaks havoc on opponents only armored in cloth, and certainly transmits enough force to give an opponent in maille a bad time.

So we’ve established that the sparth is an effective weapon an Irish military context. The reason they are so synonymous with the gallowglass is because the weapon is so well suited to their role on the battlefield as heavy infantry. The gallowglass were a sort of flank guard, and often served to cover the escape of the other troops with the cattle they were stealing (which was the vast majority of Irish warfare.)

In this capacity putting a big, hard-hitting, intimidating weapons in the hands of your heavily armored mercenary elite seems like a pretty good plan to me. I hope this answers your question!