Flail
A chain-linked striking weapon that bypasses shields
The flail is a striking weapon with a metal head, a ball with or without spikes, joined to a haft by a chain. Because the chain lets the head swing freely, its chief advantage is held to be that it can curve over or around an enemy's shield to strike beyond it. The common one-handed form has a haft of about 40 to 60 cm and a chain of about 30 to 50 cm, a total of about 80 to 110 cm. How widely this spiked, one-handed ball-and-chain flail was actually used, however, is debated among scholars: it appears in medieval illustrations and records, but authentic surviving examples are very rare, so some historians doubt its prevalence. It is thought to have been weaponized from the agricultural threshing flail used to beat grain.