Battle Axe

Origin

The axe is one of the oldest tools and weapon types humankind used, from the Stone Age, and through the Bronze and Iron Ages it developed into forms specialized for war. The battle axe, branched off from the everyday axe, gave rise to forms unique to each civilization: the Dane axe of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, the throwing francisca of the Franks, and the sagaris of the Scythian and Persian world. Because the head could be made with little metal and simple forging and fitted to a wooden haft, it was cheap and quick to make compared with the costly sword, so it was widely used as the weapon of the common warrior, especially in the Norse and Germanic societies where the sword was scarce.

Features

• A light, broad war-specific axe head
• Many variants such as the Dane axe, the francisca, and the sagaris
• A blade of about 15 to 30 cm, a total length of about 60 to 120 cm
• Hooking, catching a shield with the beard, the lower horn, to nullify it
• Simpler and cheaper to make than a sword
• Used in one hand or two

Stories

The power of the battle axe lay in a cut that gathered force onto a narrow edge. Brought down hard, with that force concentrated on a single point of the blade, it split shields, cleaved helmets, and dealt deep wounds. The hooking that was the axe's own specialty caught the top rim of an enemy's shield with the lower horn of the blade, the beard, pulled it down to break his defense, and then struck the opening laid bare. The Franks used the francisca, thrown in a volley just before the charge, to scatter the enemy's shields and formation, and the elite household guards of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, the huscarls, cut down both horse and man with the two-handed Dane axe.

Weakness

The weakness of the battle axe arises from its structure, leaning toward the cut. It is hard to parry with precision as one does with a sword, and it does not lend itself well to the straight thrust. The wooden haft risks being cut by an enemy's blade or breaking in a violent clash. Above all, the great axe used in two hands leaves no hand for a shield, so the body is exposed and defenseless while swinging. The head is heavy, so on a miss it takes time to move into the next motion, easily allowing a counter.

Cultural Significance

The battle axe is deeply imprinted on the public mind as the symbol of the Viking warrior. The spear was in truth more common, but the axe was held a prized and emblematic weapon in Norse warrior culture and so was strongly bound to it: the axe of Saint Olaf is borne on the coat of arms of Norway to this day. Going further back, the double-bitted ceremonial axe of the Minoan civilization, the labrys, was a sacred symbol beyond a weapon. The axe was also, in societies where the sword was a symbol of wealth and rank, a practical and universal weapon that the common warrior could take in hand.

In Popular Culture

The battle axe is a weapon never missing from works dealing with Vikings and the Middle Ages and from fantasy. It commonly appears as the emblematic weapon of the warrior and the berserker in films and dramas such as Vikings and in countless games, and as the representative weapon of the dwarf races. A huge great axe swung in two hands, or a figure with an axe in each hand, is often drawn. In fiction, though, the axe is often exaggerated as unrealistically heavy and huge, or the image of Viking equals axe is hardened further while the fact that the spear was actually more common is hidden.

Trivia

• The francisca, the Frankish throwing axe, was hurled in a volley just before the charge to break the enemy's shields and scatter his formation, and bounced irregularly on the ground so it was hard to dodge; some hold that the Franks took their name from this axe, though the etymology is debated.
• The two-handed Dane axe was the emblematic weapon of the elite household guards of the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse, the huscarls, and appears on the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings in 1066, where King Harold's huscarls wielded it against the Norman cavalry.
• The hooking that opened a gap by catching the rim of an enemy's shield with the lower horn of the blade, the beard, and pulling it down was the axe's own specialty, and the axe, cheaper and easier to make than a sword, was the weapon of the common warrior in the Norse and Germanic societies where the sword was a symbol of rank; the axe of Saint Olaf remains on the coat of arms of Norway today.