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In regards to weapons for future videos - what about some older weapons from antiquity - Babylon, Assyria, Sumerians, Persians and the like. I have to say that I know next to nothing about the armor and weapons of these cultures and it would be nice to learn more.
I would add the Hungarian Fokos. On Wikipedia I've found this family of axes (there are similar ones all around in Eastern Europe) as "Shepherd's axe".
I know all the axes mentioned. If interested in Indian axes look up (parashu axe) associated with Shiva the destroyer or Mahadeva that supposedly gave this parashu to the parashurama the 6th incarnation of vishnu to the creator so it was used as tool. Rama means axe in sanskrit. Other interesting axes include: (Shepherd's axe) -Found mainly in nations from the Carpathian mountains (Doloire)-A middle ages & renaissance crooked broad axe similar to the ''Farmer axes'' mentioned but far more common & wide spread. (Lochaber)- A predominantly Scottish polearm found rarely outside of the British isles that was more common then the overly beloved Scottish claymore. (Alpenstock)- A Swiss axe that was the long strange predecessor of the ice axe & ice pick used as a weapon as well by shepherd's. Their are types of alpenstock made more purposly for warfare but anyone hit with a long axe will suffer.. (Keteriya) odd looking type of battle axe from Sri Lanka that I know little about & likely no 1 does. (Dagger axe)- A type of far east pole arm mainly in China. (Trumbash) A Congolese axe sickle bill hatchet of a sort. My 3 personal favourite from the ancient worlds: (Epsilon axe) -all across Middle east, North Africa eastern & southern Europe often called ''the poor man Khopesh by historians'' for some reason. (Palstave)- Western, south western & northern Europe that I suspect is the predecessor of the socketed axe like the Carolingians-Norse would make. (Sagaris) my favourite used primarily mounted by ancient greeks, Saka and Scythian peoples of the great Eurasian steppe, Middle east & the indo-persian region. This is likely 1 of the most widely used ancient battle axes that no 1 hears of sadly.
@@HH-hd7nd I'm your man concerning Babylon, Assyria, Sumerians, Persians arms & armour as my fascination is the ancient world over the middles ages or later periods. You would likely enjoy the end of my previous comment in this thread as it cover 3 types of ancient axes. I can explain all the swords, spears, clubs, bows, dagger & more but it will be a very long read if you like?
The Kalinga axe was tested by Skallagrim ("The Most Brutal Melee Weapon I've Tested so far (Igorot Headhunting Axe)" and "The Most Vicious Axe vs. Zombie Head... Yikes!")
Yes, it is an incredible design! Sadly in Arms & Armor European & Japanese stuff tends to get the most attention, Chinese A&A may be in 2nd place. And although it's slowly changing Arms & Armor from places like Africa, India, Korea, South East Asia, the Philippines, etc are not as recognized & in some cases looked down on. But some designs in these places are incredibly effective and/or unique. I'm glad the internet has allowed easier access to information on these things. One prime example is the double bow of the Penobscot bow (aka Wabenaki bow) invented about 1900. It consists of a small bow attached by cables on the back of a larger main bow... essentially a compound bow long before cams were implicated in the 1980s. From what I understand they have adjustable draw weight & let off as modern compound bows do yet few have heard of them.
@@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145 not even all european stuff, only a certain subsection. When it comes to axes people of the great steppes and surrounding areas (Modern Romania, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Russia and into caucasus) for example, are particularly fertile when it comes to axes specifically but nobody cares.
I knew it looked familiar. I thought I had seen it on Forged in Fire, but seeing your comment I remembered that Skallagrim video. It may have been on both.
oh yeah that thing was absolute death. Don't think i've seen him destroy targets like that with any other weapon. Honestly I wish people talked about it a lot more
American Naval Boarding axes sometimes had a very funky jagged shape to the beard that is worth looking into. Boarding Axes in general are interesting as they're such multi-tools. Bardiches are also well known but under appreciated. Might be interesting to discuss whether Lochaber Axes, from the other side of your island, are a subtype of Bardiche or their own thing. It'd be super interesting if you can find accounts of Bardiches/Lochaber Axes being used in combat, because it's hard to imagine them in the early modern combat ages that they lasted into.
I'd love to see more detail on the Danish/Norwegian Peasant Axe. Nice job with the cultural diversity of axes. I admire the technology of weaponry, and find it fascinating to see how different cultures use their particular resources and techniques to solve common weapon problems.
Had seen some of these before, but only knew something about the Norwegian peasant axe. They are classed in three different types depending on the shape of the axe head. The ones in your video were type A and B (I think). Also interesting is that a type of staff called "bergmannsstav" (mountain man staff) developed from this design.
@@brittakriep2938 I'm think i remember having read that they are purely ceremonial items, at the german museum in that mine they recreated. But i wonder why a miner would carry an axe as a ceremonial item.
@@sihilius axes are very important for historical miners, think about how much woodwork goes into constructing and reinforcing mines before the widespread use of concrete and metal reinforcement
Geometrically, the Nordic peasant's axe looks like the upper point of the bit is in alignment with the handle. I think that would make it more optimized for sharp force impact thrusts, more for stopping power than for depth of penetration. The angle does look awkward for chopping into someone, but I would love to see both of those hypotheses tested.
I was just thinking much the same, the alignment of the handle and toe (tip of the bit) is surely a purposeful design decision. Many of these examples look to be repurposed axe heads hung on alternative handles rather than forged with this in mind - perhaps this is alluded to in the name 'peasants axe'. Certainly an interesting design.
I thought It would be more of a tool/weapon. as a tool it could've been used as a walking stick with the head providing the sort of holding point where your hand could be or a simple chopping axe(depending on blade thickness) for smaller trees and such. obviously there could be a weapon element
@@richard6133 I'd love to see them tested as well. the whole Idea came from the Eastern europian shepperd axes since they were used by shepperds who were dealing with bandits sometiems and wild/agressive animals
The Igorot battle axe is known as the 'pinang'. If a warrior only manages to graze his opponent as he makes a downward or lateral swipe with his pinang, he can very quickly maneuver it in reverse in which the rear projection would come into play. Imagine it hitting the neck or the jaw as reaction time from the opponent will have to be very, very quick indeed in order to counter that. Once it punctures the neck or the ribcage, the main blade only would serve as the coup de grace. It's a weapon designed for ending close combat at the shortest time possible. For the actual taking of heads, the Cordillerans use a different blade, the pinahig.
Hey Matt! Japanese axes don't seem to get enough love. Everything else gets overshadowed by their swords. Even if fighting axes were more rare, you could still show us some of their tool axes. That would be super Neat'O. Also, I know video games are rarely good sources for historical accuracy, but in the earlier Mount & Blade games we see predominantly longswords, arming swords and the like. But then there's also these larger two handed sabres, usually from the more Swedish sounding areas. We usually think of sabers coming about later on in the age of musketry, so I would assume that those large Swedish sabres are earlier appearances of those types of sword. Of course curved blades of various sorts are found all throughout time and place, so perhaps it wasn't really a new concept or anything. Though the ones I'm referring to are shown to often have a knuckle bow, or a slightly swept cross guard, which was certainly ahead of it's time. At least when comparing to the other swords in common usage at the time, having mostly straight cross guards. But it would still be cool to have a look at those large "proto-sabres", if you will.
Perhaps the bend in the farmer's axe haft was to center more of the axe head weight over the wooden haft. While this would decrease striking power it might have made easier to use for farmers with little combat training.
Hi Matt,I went to Fiji last year and I was quite surprised at the variety of axes and other fighting implements that were found there. I have never seen anyone go through, defies the implements of the Oceana region and it could be a topic for you to do.
I was at least vaguely familiar with every one except that Sarawak axe, which I think was completely new to me. A couple thoughts: 1) The Illerup Adal weapons deposit in Denmark turned up a number of axes with bent handles very similar to those Norwegian examples, except in the opposite direction, so that the blade hooks back towards the user. Also among the finds are several examples of chisel-like axe blades (no handles) with the socket inline with the handle, an iron-age survival of the old Bronze Age design, that were evidently mounted on a crooked haft much like those Sarawak axes. Because of the way that trees grow, I suspect that both kinds of axes ended up with the heads angled back towards the user, obviously intentionally in some cases, which leads me to think that that the way they were used took advantage of that backwards hook in someway. Incidentally, these Baltic area axes from the 3rd century (I think - the majority, but not all, the artifacts date to around AD 250) don't look much like later viking axes - quite different design. 2) I was just looking up the Igorots and reading what I could of an early 20th century ethnographic account of them yesterday! Judging from the pictures, there are actually a number of variants of that axe design, and shorter handles and/or much less concavity in the cutting edge are also possible - some have more or less straight edges titling back ~20 degrees or so towards the user. 3)Regarding South African axes, I have to mention Umslopogaas' axe Inkosi-kaas ("Chieftainess" - she must be a woman because she pries into so many things, and a wise one for have been inside the heads of so many men), from the works of H. Rider Haggard. Haggard's Alan Quatermain novels are kind of a forerunner to modern fantasy literature in many ways, set in Africa contemporary to Haggard's own time, but featuring a lot of fantasy or downright supernatural elements, so Inkosikaas can be considered one of the first named weapons in fantasy literature of the (relatively) modern period...She is described as having a repurposed European head rather than a Zulu-made one, but the handle is made from horn and features that wire binding. Umslopogaas shows up in the books Alan Quatermain, Nada the Lily, and She for those interested.
Thank you for making this video. I love axes they're my favorite weapon but I've never seen any of these and I always love learning about new things I've never seen before I'd love to see you talk about an epsilon axe and why they went obsolete but I understand that period and region is way outside your primary specialty Thank you for all your wonderful content
With a little internet search, i found more information on the Norwegian Peasant/Farmer axes. The bent axe-head is for making slicing draw cuts and it helps with edge alignment both during the swing (centre of mass is shifted to haft) and during the cut (edge closer to haft). Used two-handed these also doubled as walking sticks and a status symbol when on ceremonies/holidays. There was a law by the king for farmers to have a weapon for military use. Many had the option to buy a decent axe from the government for a cheap price, but many had these crafted. Make no mistake, while this was predominantly militia weapon, it is a weapon of war first and a status symbol second.
dang, i was decently known with most of these weapons, but the Saruwak (i hope i spelled that right) at the end was completely new to me. Very interesting find! I'd love to look up more of that axe from India, but i don't know how to spell its name :P I really love me some good axes in media, and even more so with proper and interesting techniques and choreography. We need more of that. I personally like to create stories, and one of my most prominent characters wields a long axe, where I try my best to envision neat but not over-the-top brutish fighting techniques, such as quarterstaff ones, pommel smashes and hooking. For any future axes, i'd love to hear more/see more spotlight on the Tabar, Ono and/or Masakari, Ge (dagger axe), Labrys, Lochaber Axe, Egyptian axe mace, shepherd's axe, Sagaris and Nzappa Zap. There's also some sort of Chinese ritual axes with big and heavy heads depicting faces on them, but I don't know the names of them. Luristan Bronze axe heads would be interesting as well, if possible.
This is a lovely, useful video. Straight to the point, excellent image reference, clear explanation of region and fighting style. This is exactly what I was looking for today. Thank you.
Actually, the last one was the only one I think I had seen before though I did not know the details of it. Very interesting video. Would love to see more of these rare weapon types and more of these particular axes explored. Always find your take and research on them fascinating. Thank you.
Bullova are meant for use against unarmoured or lightly armoured opponents and share a lot of parallels in use and training with lathi use (obviously edge alignment would be important with the bullova), furthermore the way they were used to slice explains why they many times had a spike as you flowed into the thrust from slices and vice versa. Easier to demonstrate than explain in writing tbh. The way they were swung defensively to keep multiple attackers at bay is also very lathi like. Defense also was done two ways, against swords usually between the spike and the head, against other polearms you would try and trap the opponents haft with you haft, lock it with your head and twist...the long edge prevented the opponent from grabbing you haft/shaft easily. Shorter examples were sometimes used with shields but most of what I've learnt was two handed use with the longer shafts. It was originally a tribal weapon.
As for the norwegian farmer axe, having fought in viking age reenactments with a dane axe hacking from the second line over the shieldwall, my theory was always that the shape would really lend itself to far reaching descending cuts done from a distance. With this shape you could do a cut that is thrown forward, something inbetween a cut and a thrust, and get someone in the face essentially circumventing the defense helmets of this period (usually with some kind of extended brow rim) provided. I don't really have much proof to back this though (maybe wounds on battlefield remains of that place and period could shed more light on it).
On the curious curve of the Norwegian farmer's ax, I note that it lines the upper point of the ax head directly with the end of.the shaft. At a guess, I would say it was designed to allow thrusts as well as chops while still keeping the shape of the traditional head.
Yes, I was noticing the same. Although not in all the examples I could find. It looks like you could do a decent thrusting (push) cut with all of them them though if you were using both hands. I suspect it would be a bit too heavy up front to do it with any accuracy with just one hand. And a decent enough thrust with the ones where the point was lined up with the shaft. Yeah, I'm thinking that the ability to thrust in addition to chopping might have been the intention of the design. Interesting weapon.I should get one.
I'm probably not the only one to point this out, but Skallagrim has actually done testing with a replica of that Igorot axe. It was every bit as scary taking apart ballistic gel targets as it looks like it would be, and the skull analog he used didn't stand a chance at all against that thing.
As a child I was fascinated by our local museum in Adelaide. The South Australian Museum Humanities Collection is excellent and encompasses ethnographic items from the Pacific, Asia, Africa and the Americas. The Papua New Guinea and Pacific cultures collections are particularly strong. I think I have seen examples of nearly all of these there ! (except the Scandinavian one) You missed the wooden (hardwood) axes of New Guinea. Also, the N.Z. Maori "Mere" is a weapon similar to a "Patu" but usually made of "Greenstone" ie jade, and flatter and longer, While this is often described as a "Club", I would say it is more of a club/sword/axe, as some Maori warriors were said to be able to take off an opponent's head with one blow !
Very good point. For those not able to nip over to Australia, the Pitt Rivers collection in Oxford has several examples of these type of weapons. if you go, please drop a mention to the staff that weapons aren't a guilty secret. They should be on more prominent display.
The Bondeøks - two thoughts: 1. it reminds me of a walking stick, especially since a lot of them seem to have a shoe with a small spike at the end. 2. some of the specimes are so absurdly angled that I wonder if their primary use was as a tool in timberworking (peeling off bark or cutting branches off a felled tree) or even peat cutting. Regarding your question which axes we are familiar with: I have seen all the shapes before and knew the names of the indian axes, but I have never seen or heard of the bondeøks before.
That's very informative video. I am more interested into swords to be honest but axes are also really cool looking and also fascinating weapons. If possible could you talk a bit more about the bronze axes used in the bronze age around the world?
I'm particularly fond of the Nzappa zap of the Songye and the Indian tabar-zaghnal, but ultimately my favorite axe design is the good old Scythian Sagaris. The Swallowtail isizenze of Eswatini Kingdom and the Sinawit of the Kalingas remain iconic, not only as symbols of power and authority but also as impressive weapons
The Japanese ono/masakari is vastly overshadowed by swords and pole-arms when discussing Japanese historical weapons. Edit: I edited my comment to add in the term masakari, unknowingly removing Matt's heart. Whoops.
Irish Gallowglass axe is cool. Fokos/shepherds axe is a fun one. Long shaft acting as a walking stick with a fairly small faced axe with a longish head acting as a grip. Commonly carried by cavalry as well because of reach and weight
Although the Norwegian axes are known as farmers axes, the farmers were the biggest group of landowners in Norway and big farms was almost like nobility. The arms requirement varied according to the size of your farm, and poor, small farms could get away with just getting a pike.
As for the peasant axe, I may relate the shape of some Polynesian canoe paddles are shaped like them. The point is at the segment of the arc in use, the head is aligned with the object to be struck or moved at the point of contact . It’s actually a small segment of the arc that does all the work
My favorite axe is the francisca. Not sure why, I just really like the idea of it. I'm also partial to the tabar. One video I'd be interested in Matt are the various weapon combinations available with a shield. Why would our infantry or even skilled warrior (landed gentry) choose a spear/sword/axe/mace combination with a shield and what benefits and drawbacks do each of those give?
15:38 The dominant hand clearly goes above the "lug" on the Igorot axe. It works in the same the hook on the hilt of a Dayak mandau works. To keep your wet hands from slipping back and off while you swing. Yes, a hand-stop, but from the hand slipping backwards, not forwards. And it is definitely not a hand guard in any way.
I have the idea that the curved axe show at the beginning was made that way to be carried on the belt with the axe head on your side and the shaft pointing in an angle backwards(or forward), that way you can have a longer shaft and don't interfere with your walking/riding. Also it can be used as a more confortable walking stick
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford shows some stone/flint axe heads beside bronze axe heads with exactly the same shape. We found an efficient shape and duplicated it when we changed manufacturing methods. But this and the Pitt Rivers Museum have great examples of some of these unusual axes.
I always hate how exaggerated axes can be in movies and games, but the true underdog are war hammers, which are always reduced to ridiculous parodies of a weapon in practically everything from movies to games and even books! I’ll never understand how making a thing so unwieldy as to be absurd is “cool.” P.s. this might be my favorite channel on UA-cam
I blame Citadel Minis, Games Workshop, and Ral Partha for popularizing the oversized fantasy weapons trope, even though they mostly were just trying to make lead miniatures whose weapons wouldn't break off so easy.
@@molochi video games are a big part of it as well, early games with poor rendering meant that weapons had to be made absurdly large to be visually distinct and by the time graphics got better the oversized weapon trope was already firmly established
@@molochi One note on ~28mm miniatures and oversized weapons. There is a practical element to it. If we are playing a tabletop games in which weapons have rules, it's also useful to be able to tell what my and your dudes have equipped at a glance. There is still a style component of course, see for GW whfb vs lotr, the latter had 25mm more realistic proportions and you could still tell apart the weapons.
I think the orientation of the head on the farmer’s axe is so that the farthest forward point of the axe is not even with shaft, so that the result of winging a bit short is a tip cut rather than a partial chop with the shaft hanging up on the target.
Thinking more on it, Even if you ended up hitting with the shaft, you would be able to regain control the weapon after impact much easier then you could with a more traditional axe head. Less of a protrusion to get hooked behind the target
More South East Asian/Pacific content to spice up the excellent Euro/Indian/Nepalese content. Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia (Aceh to West Papua, huge diversity in a vast nation), Papua New Guinea, Soloman Islands, Fiji, Maori, and Indigenous Australians. all have rich hand-to-hand weapon histories that are under-told. Noting that you have covered weapons from some of the above regions/cultures previously and displayed some on your walls, just a polite request for more of the same.
there's also the shepherd's axe, also known as fokos, ciupaga, or valaška, small head, thin blade, oftentimes beautifully decorated, predominantly used by Carpathian shepherds as a tool, walking stick, and a weapon to defend against wolves, there are some depictions of them being used by brigands (Juraj Jánošík), as far as I have found, Hungary has some organisations that view and use them as weapons, most elsewhere it became more of a cultural symbol and a prop for certain kinds of dances etc.
I think the norweigan bonde økse, also called church ax, you took it along when you travelled the long way to church in Norway. Had that shape to be effective against an enemy standing right square in front of you.
14:06 I noticed someone wielding a weapon like this in Horizon: Forbidden West while my wife was playing it. I thought that it kinda made sense, because it has a good shape for going up against the armored machines. It has a good shape for getting in-between armored plates, and it has that pick-like chisel point on the back.
Hello im new to this channel and i love your content. I wanna ask you, In terms of fighting style and weapon choice, What is your favorite historical fighter figure and why? Also, can we expect matt to speak about major historical battles and the weapons used in it.
Eastern European Shepard's Axe. Not battlefield weapons but a fantastic defensive tool for protecting oneself and property while still giving good general utility when out in the mountains. I teach its use and keep one handy. My daughter in law likes to have it around because of all of my arms, she trusts herself to weild that effectively should the need arise.
Due to RPGs, I think I've seen illustrations of all of them, but that's not the same as actual information like where they come from. The two surprises for me were the Norwegian farmer's axe ( I had no idea something that odd-looking had such a long run ) and the Igarot/Kalinga axe where I might have seen it in a picture, but had no idea who made it or how it was put together.
Wouldn't the Norwegian axe be useful as a stand/tripod for early type of firearm? Infantry from the eastern europe used axes as stands for firearms so maybe that was the purpose. Sidearm for melee/peacekeeping on the person and issued matchlock, musket whatever for pitch/siege battle if needed
I happen to own a very nice replica of a Late Medieval Hungarian battle axe (original circa 1500). It has a particularly vicious appearance, and it's one of those weapons that you would expect a culture to come up with if they were having to fight off occupation by the Ottomans! Btw, it's a bit of a shame that you didn't feature the infamous Russian bardiche! The aforementioned Hungarian axe definitely shows the influence of the bardiche, as well as Muslim battle axes such as the tabar.
Once axe I would recommend is the Cambodian Mak. It is like a cross between the Nagaland axe with the Malaysian. Though some call it a sword but it looks more axe like to me.
With the Norwegian axe maybe the angled head originates from its civilian use; it would allow a downward chop to items which were laid low to the ground (chopping logs?)
Doubtful but possible, I haven't found such an axe in any woodworking books I've read and I don't see the benefit for woodwork but I suppose I have a massive blindspot
I saw a type of mounted axe in a cavalry book years ago and cannot find anything about it nowadays, used by the Croats S/E Europe spear shaped head part metal shaft spike or war hammer in the other side. Very informative and interesting looks at weapons that we may never see otherwise. Keep it up
my hypothesis on the bent head axe is not necessarily to make it slicey, but make it a glancing blow instead of imbedding the bit into a torso and getting stuck
What I would really like is for someone to do a bit of test cutting with the Norwegian peasant axe. Besides _maybe_ being better in a thrust, I cannot see what benefits there could possibly be to that design. It seems to be an evolutionary dead end. It is reminiscent, in a way, to an early Japanese tachi, the kenuki-gata tachi. Many of these (not all) had a straight or nearly straight blade but a slightly curved grip - but the blade was offset at an angle to the tang, giving the illusion of a deep curve. The same principle can be seen in its ancestor, the warabite-to. I know the kenuki-gata tachi is still occasionally made, as either ceremonial swords or a journeyman's piece, but I have not been able to find any practical reviews of one. Much less the Norwegian peasant axe.
About Nordic curved axes, I will give you an 99% accurate explanation of why they were tilted upwards like this - it's to emulate the crucial advantage of a slashing type sword, the ability to hit, damage or destroy an opponent AND KEEP YOUR WEAPON UNENTANGLED AND READY TO RE-DEPLOY. If your axe head is getting stuck into shields, armors, or rib cages, you are effectively disarmed, often when most vulnerable. It's a crucial disadvantage that will get you killed. But if you hit, hurt and are ready to strike again, that's huge. that's why they were curved. To be closer to swords in usage.
Why not then just change the shape of the axe head to something more acutely pointed and double-edged? This would have allowed the head to better cut its way out of a target....instead of the heads edge going deep enough into the target to get stuck on its, apparently, unsharpened, hook shaped, top and bottom inner edges. Until seeing how these axes might have been used in combat? Im of the opinion that the curved handle is a cultural or fashion kind of thing, more so than something that serves just a totally practical purpose in combat. Kinda of like the many rapiers and associated swords that DID have combative purpose, but could be elegant, highly elaborate works of art at the same time.
I think it would be brilliant if you did a spotlight video on the weapons of the Australian Indigenous people. Most everyone knows about boomerangs and spears, but the Australian Aboriginal people designed a wide variety of fighting clubs, unique parrying shields, and even different shapes and designs of boomerang for different purposes. They tend to be overlooked in discussions of historical weaponry. The same for the Pacific Island peoples, like the huge variety of intricately decorated and uniquely shaped wooden clubs and axes made in Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, and so on, as well as the New Zealand Maori weapons.
Since you asked for suggestions I'd really enjoy more videos about central asian and Turkic weapons and sword use. Also Mughal/Indian would be interesting, I know you've done some in the past but India has so much!
The Eastern Romans used axes as well. At various times they were one of the most 'balanced' armies in the world because they fought many varied countries/tribes both in the West and the East. Few empires did that. For example they used both curved swords (the Paramerion) and a straight-double edged sword (The Spathion). So it comes as a little surprise they used axes (The Tzikourion, from the latin Securis). Source: Leo's Tactica. 3 axe heads were mostly used: 1) the normal crescent-shaped, 2) Double Crescent-Shaped, 3) Crescent-Shaped with a point at the opposite end. This 3rd form is more recommended because of the ability to have more armor-penetration.
@scholaegladiatoria there's a guy who replied to a Richard with various sources on the Norwegian axe. It's quite interesting information.
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2. Heard of it. They look pretty interesting. 3. Heard of it. I like long axe blades. 4. Never heard of it. It looks really nice. I want one. 5. Never heard of it. Really funky and cool. 6. Heard of it. I think. Might be confusing it with old European axes. 1. Never heard of it. Can't have been very effective. Probably just a farmers tool. Probably ineffective at that as well. Greetings from Sweden, by the way.
Having some acquaintance with Sarawak (my brother lives there), I have not heard any reference to the biliong as a weapon, but as a tool. The head could be rotated, to serve either as an axe, or an adze, as circumstances dictated. I may be wrong, of course, but that is my general impression. Sarawakians generally used swords or spears in battle...
Hey, Matt. Great video. I was wondering if you could maybe talk in a video about the term “claymore”. It is used all of the time in video games and fiction as a name for something like a longsword or sometimes a great sword. It seems like it is used as a catch all term. Is there a more specific type of sword that is actually a claymore?
I believe it's in Sir Gwain & the Green Knight where an axe is described as a "bow-bent axe". Obviously this reference far predates those Scandinavian 17th century axes but I'm wondering if the design serves the same function. From what I understand bow-bent axes had curves throughout their hafts. However b-b & the 17th c axes may function similarly.
If memory serves, in H. Rider Haggard's 1887 (or 1888?) novel _Allan Quatermain_, Quatermain's Zulu chieftain pal, Umslopogaas, wields a specialized battle axe, with a handle made from a rhinoceros horn and with a back spike. Most of the time Umslopogaas preferred to use the back spike with surgical precision, hence his nickname "the Woodpecker."
I’m very familiar with the Igorot axe. The African axes, I recognized from books. The ones from India were unfamiliar. I think you should have included the dagger-axe of the Bronze Age during the warring states period of ancient China. I also would have included the Shepherd walking stick axe of Eurasia. Thanks for all you do!
Call me crazy, but the back-leaning head on the farmer's axe reads to me as a tool adaptation more so than a war adaptation. The angle of the head could be an advantage when chopping way down at, for instance, roots as you're trying to dig without having to get down to a crouching position to reach.
I made a sparring Nordic peasants axe a few year back for sparring with my HEMA group after I found out about them on a trip. From my experience I found that the head seemed to line up well with my target when I swung it and I didn't need to adjust my technique like I thought I might have to. I don't really know but my guess would be that the axe head might pass through the target without the shaft hitting the target based on the angles when I hit people but that's purely a guess. If you wanted to make one yourself I used an old hockey stick and a rubber dane axe head, it's a very rough replica but with my limited resources it was the best I could do.
@@Mortablunt i guess and its purely a guess, it might help reduce the chance of it getting stuck? But i think it would be less robust and have less impact. All that's speculation based on a poor replica though.
Hi Matt, i'm a nifemaker from sult Brasil, thanks for sharing your knologe about blades, a good ad to this topic could bee the francisca axe, and how they are efective in throwing axe.
When kyrgyz nomads tribes moved from Siberia to Central Asian mountains, the suddenly changed their swords to an axes. Just because in Tien Shan mountains they do not have access to iron as in Siberia, and get it only from trade.
Looking at the picture of the Danish/Norwegian Peasant Axe it seems as if the "weird" bend puts the top point of the axe blade in line with the handle so maybe the idea was to make it more stabby?
Another point to consider about tanged axes that can also be used as tools: some blades are set into the handle such that they can be taken out and set perpendicular to quickly create an adze. These films of Mossi woodcarvers show this for example ua-cam.com/video/gyn7KGPxnM4/v-deo.html
05:00 For some strange reason Danish King Christian IV is crazy popular still in Denmark despite that fact that he pretty much singlehandedly bankrupted the country and lost an immense amount of territory.
Yeah i do not get it, he is one of the most incompetent kings the realm has had… But i think its because of all the architechture, copenhagen ppl seems obsessed with that… Valdemar Atterdag ought to be the king in the spotlight
maybe the weird curve on the Norwegian ax is to cut while thrusting? Instead of stabbing directly through a vital area, which you could 100% also do with this type of blade, you could rip open the side of your opponent extremely effectively. Most people probably wouldn't be expecting someone with an ax to, for lack of a better word, try to push-slice them like that.
Norwegian Bondeöks or peasant axe s tend to have langets in the front, along the curve of the handle. This, atleast speaks of where the expected to meet opposing attacks from swords and the like and might provide insight into their use. I have several pictures of this if your intrested. Also worth notibg is that they are almost exclusively so large that they would probably be held 2 handed
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my 2023 wish is to be able to somehow spectate you and Doug Marcaida playing with weapons
In regards to weapons for future videos - what about some older weapons from antiquity - Babylon, Assyria, Sumerians, Persians and the like. I have to say that I know next to nothing about the armor and weapons of these cultures and it would be nice to learn more.
I would add the Hungarian Fokos. On Wikipedia I've found this family of axes (there are similar ones all around in Eastern Europe) as "Shepherd's axe".
I know all the axes mentioned.
If interested in Indian axes look up (parashu axe) associated with Shiva the destroyer or Mahadeva that supposedly gave this parashu to the parashurama the 6th incarnation of vishnu to the creator so it was used as tool.
Rama means axe in sanskrit.
Other interesting axes include:
(Shepherd's axe) -Found mainly in nations from the Carpathian mountains
(Doloire)-A middle ages & renaissance crooked broad axe similar to the ''Farmer axes'' mentioned but far more common & wide spread.
(Lochaber)- A predominantly Scottish polearm found rarely outside of the British isles that was more common then the overly beloved Scottish claymore.
(Alpenstock)- A Swiss axe that was the long strange predecessor of the ice axe & ice pick used as a weapon as well by shepherd's.
Their are types of alpenstock made more purposly for warfare but anyone hit with a long axe will suffer..
(Keteriya) odd looking type of battle axe from Sri Lanka that I know little about & likely no 1 does.
(Dagger axe)- A type of far east pole arm mainly in China.
(Trumbash) A Congolese axe sickle bill hatchet of a sort.
My 3 personal favourite from the ancient worlds:
(Epsilon axe) -all across Middle east, North Africa eastern & southern Europe often called ''the poor man Khopesh by historians'' for some reason.
(Palstave)- Western, south western & northern Europe that I suspect is the predecessor of the socketed axe like the Carolingians-Norse would make.
(Sagaris) my favourite used primarily mounted by ancient greeks, Saka and Scythian peoples of the great Eurasian steppe, Middle east & the indo-persian region.
This is likely 1 of the most widely used ancient battle axes that no 1 hears of sadly.
@@HH-hd7nd I'm your man concerning Babylon, Assyria, Sumerians, Persians arms & armour as my fascination is the ancient world over the middles ages or later periods.
You would likely enjoy the end of my previous comment in this thread as it cover 3 types of ancient axes.
I can explain all the swords, spears, clubs, bows, dagger & more but it will be a very long read if you like?
The Kalinga axe was tested by Skallagrim ("The Most Brutal Melee Weapon I've Tested so far (Igorot Headhunting Axe)" and "The Most Vicious Axe vs. Zombie Head... Yikes!")
Yes, it is an incredible design!
Sadly in Arms & Armor European & Japanese stuff tends to get the most attention, Chinese A&A may be in 2nd place. And although it's slowly changing Arms & Armor from places like Africa, India, Korea, South East Asia, the Philippines, etc are not as recognized & in some cases looked down on. But some designs in these places are incredibly effective and/or unique. I'm glad the internet has allowed easier access to information on these things.
One prime example is the double bow of the Penobscot bow (aka Wabenaki bow) invented about 1900. It consists of a small bow attached by cables on the back of a larger main bow... essentially a compound bow long before cams were implicated in the 1980s.
From what I understand they have adjustable draw weight & let off as modern compound bows do yet few have heard of them.
@@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145 not even all european stuff, only a certain subsection. When it comes to axes people of the great steppes and surrounding areas (Modern Romania, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Russia and into caucasus) for example, are particularly fertile when it comes to axes specifically but nobody cares.
@@Sk0lzky that is true I was over generalizing. I appreciate you correcting me; thank you.
I knew it looked familiar. I thought I had seen it on Forged in Fire, but seeing your comment I remembered that Skallagrim video. It may have been on both.
oh yeah that thing was absolute death. Don't think i've seen him destroy targets like that with any other weapon. Honestly I wish people talked about it a lot more
Don't forget the massive Sapper's (Sappeurs) axes of the 19th Century, huge tools wielded by large men, a tool, yes but often used as a weapon.
Berdish
I love these ethnographic surveys of little-known weapons. Keep 'em coming!
American Naval Boarding axes sometimes had a very funky jagged shape to the beard that is worth looking into. Boarding Axes in general are interesting as they're such multi-tools. Bardiches are also well known but under appreciated. Might be interesting to discuss whether Lochaber Axes, from the other side of your island, are a subtype of Bardiche or their own thing. It'd be super interesting if you can find accounts of Bardiches/Lochaber Axes being used in combat, because it's hard to imagine them in the early modern combat ages that they lasted into.
I'd love to see more detail on the Danish/Norwegian Peasant Axe. Nice job with the cultural diversity of axes. I admire the technology of weaponry, and find it fascinating to see how different cultures use their particular resources and techniques to solve common weapon problems.
Had seen some of these before, but only knew something about the Norwegian peasant axe. They are classed in three different types depending on the shape of the axe head. The ones in your video were type A and B (I think). Also interesting is that a type of staff called "bergmannsstav" (mountain man staff) developed from this design.
In Germany an axe called ,Bergbarte' existet, but i don't know, if those had been tools, or ceremonial items.
I'll be honest, they look like they could be used in tilling... so maybe a tool?
@@brittakriep2938 I'm think i remember having read that they are purely ceremonial items, at the german museum in that mine they recreated. But i wonder why a miner would carry an axe as a ceremonial item.
@@sihilius axes are very important for historical miners, think about how much woodwork goes into constructing and reinforcing mines before the widespread use of concrete and metal reinforcement
@@sihilius : I don't t know, in my swabian homeregion there is nearly no mining today, so i have never seen traditional miners Things.
Geometrically, the Nordic peasant's axe looks like the upper point of the bit is in alignment with the handle. I think that would make it more optimized for sharp force impact thrusts, more for stopping power than for depth of penetration. The angle does look awkward for chopping into someone, but I would love to see both of those hypotheses tested.
I was just thinking much the same, the alignment of the handle and toe (tip of the bit) is surely a purposeful design decision.
Many of these examples look to be repurposed axe heads hung on alternative handles rather than forged with this in mind - perhaps this is alluded to in the name 'peasants axe'.
Certainly an interesting design.
I thought It would be more of a tool/weapon. as a tool it could've been used as a walking stick with the head providing the sort of holding point where your hand could be or a simple chopping axe(depending on blade thickness) for smaller trees and such. obviously there could be a weapon element
@@eyeteethsightbytes153
I bet you're right on how it came about. 👍
@@aronnemcsik
I'd like to see those ideas tested, too.
@@richard6133 I'd love to see them tested as well. the whole Idea came from the Eastern europian shepperd axes since they were used by shepperds who were dealing with bandits sometiems and wild/agressive animals
You may find Eurasian shepherd's axe (known as "ciupaga" in Poland) an interesting example for a future video.
The Igorot battle axe is known as the 'pinang'. If a warrior only manages to graze his opponent as he makes a downward or lateral swipe with his pinang, he can very quickly maneuver it in reverse in which the rear projection would come into play. Imagine it hitting the neck or the jaw as reaction time from the opponent will have to be very, very quick indeed in order to counter that. Once it punctures the neck or the ribcage, the main blade only would serve as the coup de grace. It's a weapon designed for ending close combat at the shortest time possible. For the actual taking of heads, the Cordillerans use a different blade, the pinahig.
Fantastic video showing some really interesting axes! Thanks!👍
Hey Matt!
Japanese axes don't seem to get enough love. Everything else gets overshadowed by their swords. Even if fighting axes were more rare, you could still show us some of their tool axes. That would be super Neat'O. Also, I know video games are rarely good sources for historical accuracy, but in the earlier Mount & Blade games we see predominantly longswords, arming swords and the like. But then there's also these larger two handed sabres, usually from the more Swedish sounding areas. We usually think of sabers coming about later on in the age of musketry, so I would assume that those large Swedish sabres are earlier appearances of those types of sword. Of course curved blades of various sorts are found all throughout time and place, so perhaps it wasn't really a new concept or anything. Though the ones I'm referring to are shown to often have a knuckle bow, or a slightly swept cross guard, which was certainly ahead of it's time. At least when comparing to the other swords in common usage at the time, having mostly straight cross guards. But it would still be cool to have a look at those large "proto-sabres", if you will.
Perhaps the bend in the farmer's axe haft was to center more of the axe head weight over the wooden haft. While this would decrease striking power it might have made easier to use for farmers with little combat training.
Hi Matt,I went to Fiji last year and I was quite surprised at the variety of axes and other fighting implements that were found there. I have never seen anyone go through, defies the implements of the Oceana region and it could be a topic for you to do.
I was also going to mention Polynesian weapons. Any thoughts on a video on the Māori Taiaha?
I was at least vaguely familiar with every one except that Sarawak axe, which I think was completely new to me. A couple thoughts:
1) The Illerup Adal weapons deposit in Denmark turned up a number of axes with bent handles very similar to those Norwegian examples, except in the opposite direction, so that the blade hooks back towards the user. Also among the finds are several examples of chisel-like axe blades (no handles) with the socket inline with the handle, an iron-age survival of the old Bronze Age design, that were evidently mounted on a crooked haft much like those Sarawak axes. Because of the way that trees grow, I suspect that both kinds of axes ended up with the heads angled back towards the user, obviously intentionally in some cases, which leads me to think that that the way they were used took advantage of that backwards hook in someway. Incidentally, these Baltic area axes from the 3rd century (I think - the majority, but not all, the artifacts date to around AD 250) don't look much like later viking axes - quite different design.
2) I was just looking up the Igorots and reading what I could of an early 20th century ethnographic account of them yesterday! Judging from the pictures, there are actually a number of variants of that axe design, and shorter handles and/or much less concavity in the cutting edge are also possible - some have more or less straight edges titling back ~20 degrees or so towards the user.
3)Regarding South African axes, I have to mention Umslopogaas' axe Inkosi-kaas ("Chieftainess" - she must be a woman because she pries into so many things, and a wise one for have been inside the heads of so many men), from the works of H. Rider Haggard. Haggard's Alan Quatermain novels are kind of a forerunner to modern fantasy literature in many ways, set in Africa contemporary to Haggard's own time, but featuring a lot of fantasy or downright supernatural elements, so Inkosikaas can be considered one of the first named weapons in fantasy literature of the (relatively) modern period...She is described as having a repurposed European head rather than a Zulu-made one, but the handle is made from horn and features that wire binding. Umslopogaas shows up in the books Alan Quatermain, Nada the Lily, and She for those interested.
Was thinking the first axe's crocked handle was for hooking or pushing away weapons or shields
Thank you for making this video. I love axes they're my favorite weapon but I've never seen any of these and I always love learning about new things I've never seen before
I'd love to see you talk about an epsilon axe and why they went obsolete but I understand that period and region is way outside your primary specialty
Thank you for all your wonderful content
maybe look at something like the Hungarian Fokos or Polish Ciupaga, Czech Valaška, forgot Romanian axe name sorry.
With a little internet search, i found more information on the Norwegian Peasant/Farmer axes. The bent axe-head is for making slicing draw cuts and it helps with edge alignment both during the swing (centre of mass is shifted to haft) and during the cut (edge closer to haft). Used two-handed these also doubled as walking sticks and a status symbol when on ceremonies/holidays.
There was a law by the king for farmers to have a weapon for military use. Many had the option to buy a decent axe from the government for a cheap price, but many had these crafted. Make no mistake, while this was predominantly militia weapon, it is a weapon of war first and a status symbol second.
YES! Finally the norwegian farmers axe (Bondeøks) on Scholagladiatoria!!!!!!
Det hedder en øksE
dang, i was decently known with most of these weapons, but the Saruwak (i hope i spelled that right) at the end was completely new to me. Very interesting find! I'd love to look up more of that axe from India, but i don't know how to spell its name :P
I really love me some good axes in media, and even more so with proper and interesting techniques and choreography. We need more of that. I personally like to create stories, and one of my most prominent characters wields a long axe, where I try my best to envision neat but not over-the-top brutish fighting techniques, such as quarterstaff ones, pommel smashes and hooking.
For any future axes, i'd love to hear more/see more spotlight on the Tabar, Ono and/or Masakari, Ge (dagger axe), Labrys, Lochaber Axe, Egyptian axe mace, shepherd's axe, Sagaris and Nzappa Zap.
There's also some sort of Chinese ritual axes with big and heavy heads depicting faces on them, but I don't know the names of them.
Luristan Bronze axe heads would be interesting as well, if possible.
Sarawak, it's a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, next to Brunei.
@@torianholt2752 Thank you for the correction and info!
I've been trying to find more information about the sarawakian biliong but nothing substantial seems to be turning up
This is a lovely, useful video. Straight to the point, excellent image reference, clear explanation of region and fighting style. This is exactly what I was looking for today. Thank you.
Actually, the last one was the only one I think I had seen before though I did not know the details of it. Very interesting video. Would love to see more of these rare weapon types and more of these particular axes explored. Always find your take and research on them fascinating. Thank you.
5:20 if you ask me, it puts the point of the axe in line with the handle for a more effective thrust
Hi there, I'm Malaysian and the "biliong" axe is more better known as "beliung" here.
Bullova are meant for use against unarmoured or lightly armoured opponents and share a lot of parallels in use and training with lathi use (obviously edge alignment would be important with the bullova), furthermore the way they were used to slice explains why they many times had a spike as you flowed into the thrust from slices and vice versa. Easier to demonstrate than explain in writing tbh. The way they were swung defensively to keep multiple attackers at bay is also very lathi like. Defense also was done two ways, against swords usually between the spike and the head, against other polearms you would try and trap the opponents haft with you haft, lock it with your head and twist...the long edge prevented the opponent from grabbing you haft/shaft easily. Shorter examples were sometimes used with shields but most of what I've learnt was two handed use with the longer shafts. It was originally a tribal weapon.
Hoping to see a fokos, but not at disappointed in your choices. Very interesting.
As for the norwegian farmer axe, having fought in viking age reenactments with a dane axe hacking from the second line over the shieldwall, my theory was always that the shape would really lend itself to far reaching descending cuts done from a distance. With this shape you could do a cut that is thrown forward, something inbetween a cut and a thrust, and get someone in the face essentially circumventing the defense helmets of this period (usually with some kind of extended brow rim) provided. I don't really have much proof to back this though (maybe wounds on battlefield remains of that place and period could shed more light on it).
On the curious curve of the Norwegian farmer's ax, I note that it lines the upper point of the ax head directly with the end of.the shaft. At a guess, I would say it was designed to allow thrusts as well as chops while still keeping the shape of the traditional head.
Yes, I was noticing the same. Although not in all the examples I could find. It looks like you could do a decent thrusting (push) cut with all of them them though if you were using both hands. I suspect it would be a bit too heavy up front to do it with any accuracy with just one hand. And a decent enough thrust with the ones where the point was lined up with the shaft. Yeah, I'm thinking that the ability to thrust in addition to chopping might have been the intention of the design. Interesting weapon.I should get one.
I'm probably not the only one to point this out, but Skallagrim has actually done testing with a replica of that Igorot axe. It was every bit as scary taking apart ballistic gel targets as it looks like it would be, and the skull analog he used didn't stand a chance at all against that thing.
As a child I was fascinated by our local museum in Adelaide. The South Australian Museum Humanities Collection is excellent and encompasses ethnographic items from the Pacific, Asia, Africa and the Americas. The Papua New Guinea and Pacific cultures collections are particularly strong. I think I have seen examples of nearly all of these there ! (except the Scandinavian one) You missed the wooden (hardwood) axes of New Guinea. Also, the N.Z. Maori "Mere" is a weapon similar to a "Patu" but usually made of "Greenstone" ie jade, and flatter and longer, While this is often described as a "Club", I would say it is more of a club/sword/axe, as some Maori warriors were said to be able to take off an opponent's head with one blow !
Very good point. For those not able to nip over to Australia, the Pitt Rivers collection in Oxford has several examples of these type of weapons.
if you go, please drop a mention to the staff that weapons aren't a guilty secret. They should be on more prominent display.
The Bondeøks - two thoughts:
1. it reminds me of a walking stick, especially since a lot of them seem to have a shoe with a small spike at the end.
2. some of the specimes are so absurdly angled that I wonder if their primary use was as a tool in timberworking (peeling off bark or cutting branches off a felled tree) or even peat cutting.
Regarding your question which axes we are familiar with: I have seen all the shapes before and knew the names of the indian axes, but I have never seen or heard of the bondeøks before.
great video. i'd like you to maybe look at the 'shepherd's axe' used in the territories around the carpathian mountains in the future. cheers!
I'm glad you're shining light on some of these obscure weapons from underappreciated cultures, they deserve to be recognized as well!
I Am a Simple Man, i see axes, i click Like! 👍
That's very informative video. I am more interested into swords to be honest but axes are also really cool looking and also fascinating weapons. If possible could you talk a bit more about the bronze axes used in the bronze age around the world?
I'm particularly fond of the Nzappa zap of the Songye and the Indian tabar-zaghnal, but ultimately my favorite axe design is the good old Scythian Sagaris. The Swallowtail isizenze of Eswatini Kingdom and the Sinawit of the Kalingas remain iconic, not only as symbols of power and authority but also as impressive weapons
The Japanese ono/masakari is vastly overshadowed by swords and pole-arms when discussing Japanese historical weapons.
Edit: I edited my comment to add in the term masakari, unknowingly removing Matt's heart. Whoops.
We need more axe-wielding samurai.
Irish Gallowglass axe is cool. Fokos/shepherds axe is a fun one. Long shaft acting as a walking stick with a fairly small faced axe with a longish head acting as a grip. Commonly carried by cavalry as well because of reach and weight
Although the Norwegian axes are known as farmers axes, the farmers were the biggest group of landowners in Norway and big farms was almost like nobility. The arms requirement varied according to the size of your farm, and poor, small farms could get away with just getting a pike.
As for the peasant axe, I may relate the shape of some Polynesian canoe paddles are shaped like them. The point is at the segment of the arc in use, the head is aligned with the object to be struck or moved at the point of contact . It’s actually a small segment of the arc that does all the work
My favorite axe is the francisca. Not sure why, I just really like the idea of it. I'm also partial to the tabar.
One video I'd be interested in Matt are the various weapon combinations available with a shield. Why would our infantry or even skilled warrior (landed gentry) choose a spear/sword/axe/mace combination with a shield and what benefits and drawbacks do each of those give?
15:38 The dominant hand clearly goes above the "lug" on the Igorot axe. It works in the same the hook on the hilt of a Dayak mandau works. To keep your wet hands from slipping back and off while you swing. Yes, a hand-stop, but from the hand slipping backwards, not forwards. And it is definitely not a hand guard in any way.
I have the idea that the curved axe show at the beginning was made that way to be carried on the belt with the axe head on your side and the shaft pointing in an angle backwards(or forward), that way you can have a longer shaft and don't interfere with your walking/riding.
Also it can be used as a more confortable walking stick
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford shows some stone/flint axe heads beside bronze axe heads with exactly the same shape. We found an efficient shape and duplicated it when we changed manufacturing methods. But this and the Pitt Rivers Museum have great examples of some of these unusual axes.
Happy New Year Matt.
Same to you!
I always hate how exaggerated axes can be in movies and games, but the true underdog are war hammers, which are always reduced to ridiculous parodies of a weapon in practically everything from movies to games and even books! I’ll never understand how making a thing so unwieldy as to be absurd is “cool.” P.s. this might be my favorite channel on UA-cam
I blame Citadel Minis, Games Workshop, and Ral Partha for popularizing the oversized fantasy weapons trope, even though they mostly were just trying to make lead miniatures whose weapons wouldn't break off so easy.
@@molochi video games are a big part of it as well, early games with poor rendering meant that weapons had to be made absurdly large to be visually distinct and by the time graphics got better the oversized weapon trope was already firmly established
@@molochi One note on ~28mm miniatures and oversized weapons. There is a practical element to it. If we are playing a tabletop games in which weapons have rules, it's also useful to be able to tell what my and your dudes have equipped at a glance. There is still a style component of course, see for GW whfb vs lotr, the latter had 25mm more realistic proportions and you could still tell apart the weapons.
Excellent video. Very interesting.
I think the orientation of the head on the farmer’s axe is so that the farthest forward point of the axe is not even with shaft, so that the result of winging a bit short is a tip cut rather than a partial chop with the shaft hanging up on the target.
I have to wonder if the shape of the peasant axe is to prevent it from becoming lodged directly in the target.
Thinking more on it, Even if you ended up hitting with the shaft, you would be able to regain control the weapon after impact much easier then you could with a more traditional axe head. Less of a protrusion to get hooked behind the target
More South East Asian/Pacific content to spice up the excellent Euro/Indian/Nepalese content. Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia (Aceh to West Papua, huge diversity in a vast nation), Papua New Guinea, Soloman Islands, Fiji, Maori, and Indigenous Australians. all have rich hand-to-hand weapon histories that are under-told.
Noting that you have covered weapons from some of the above regions/cultures previously and displayed some on your walls, just a polite request for more of the same.
there's also the shepherd's axe, also known as fokos, ciupaga, or valaška, small head, thin blade, oftentimes beautifully decorated, predominantly used by Carpathian shepherds as a tool, walking stick, and a weapon to defend against wolves, there are some depictions of them being used by brigands (Juraj Jánošík), as far as I have found, Hungary has some organisations that view and use them as weapons, most elsewhere it became more of a cultural symbol and a prop for certain kinds of dances etc.
5:20 the angle of the head puts the point in line with the shaft, which would make a thrust more effective. Just an observation.
I think the norweigan bonde økse, also called church ax, you took it along when you travelled the long way to church in Norway. Had that shape to be effective against an enemy standing right square in front of you.
Best description of weapons in combat from a book springs to mind,
Knives worry people, swords scare people, but Axes terrify!
14:06 I noticed someone wielding a weapon like this in Horizon: Forbidden West while my wife was playing it. I thought that it kinda made sense, because it has a good shape for going up against the armored machines. It has a good shape for getting in-between armored plates, and it has that pick-like chisel point on the back.
good old Matt, always axing the right questions!
Hello im new to this channel and i love your content.
I wanna ask you,
In terms of fighting style and weapon choice, What is your favorite historical fighter figure and why?
Also, can we expect matt to speak about major historical battles and the weapons used in it.
Eastern European Shepard's Axe. Not battlefield weapons but a fantastic defensive tool for protecting oneself and property while still giving good general utility when out in the mountains.
I teach its use and keep one handy. My daughter in law likes to have it around because of all of my arms, she trusts herself to weild that effectively should the need arise.
Due to RPGs, I think I've seen illustrations of all of them, but that's not the same as actual information like where they come from. The two surprises for me were the Norwegian farmer's axe ( I had no idea something that odd-looking had such a long run ) and the Igarot/Kalinga axe where I might have seen it in a picture, but had no idea who made it or how it was put together.
Axes were probably more common in medieval warfare than the sword was. Cheaper to make, easier to teach.
Wouldn't the Norwegian axe be useful as a stand/tripod for early type of firearm? Infantry from the eastern europe used axes as stands for firearms so maybe that was the purpose. Sidearm for melee/peacekeeping on the person and issued matchlock, musket whatever for pitch/siege battle if needed
Honestly, it's Fire Emblem that taught me to appreciate the battle axe. Hector, Camilla, Edelgard. All my favorite characters weild axes
the 1st axes reminded me of the kukrax you reviewed at the end of May 2020. the last axes remined me of the ADZE ship building tool.
I happen to own a very nice replica of a Late Medieval Hungarian battle axe (original circa 1500). It has a particularly vicious appearance, and it's one of those weapons that you would expect a culture to come up with if they were having to fight off occupation by the Ottomans! Btw, it's a bit of a shame that you didn't feature the infamous Russian bardiche! The aforementioned Hungarian axe definitely shows the influence of the bardiche, as well as Muslim battle axes such as the tabar.
I wouldn't call the Bardiche obscure.
@@adambielen8996 , Perhaps you're right!
Once axe I would recommend is the Cambodian Mak. It is like a cross between the Nagaland axe with the Malaysian. Though some call it a sword but it looks more axe like to me.
With the Norwegian axe maybe the angled head originates from its civilian use; it would allow a downward chop to items which were laid low to the ground (chopping logs?)
Doubtful but possible, I haven't found such an axe in any woodworking books I've read and I don't see the benefit for woodwork but I suppose I have a massive blindspot
I saw a type of mounted axe in a cavalry book years ago and cannot find anything about it nowadays, used by the Croats S/E Europe spear shaped head part metal shaft spike or war hammer in the other side.
Very informative and interesting looks at weapons that we may never see otherwise.
Keep it up
my hypothesis on the bent head axe is not necessarily to make it slicey, but make it a glancing blow instead of imbedding the bit into a torso and getting stuck
Always loved your videos about lesser known blade cultures. Very interesting
What I would really like is for someone to do a bit of test cutting with the Norwegian peasant axe. Besides _maybe_ being better in a thrust, I cannot see what benefits there could possibly be to that design. It seems to be an evolutionary dead end.
It is reminiscent, in a way, to an early Japanese tachi, the kenuki-gata tachi. Many of these (not all) had a straight or nearly straight blade but a slightly curved grip - but the blade was offset at an angle to the tang, giving the illusion of a deep curve. The same principle can be seen in its ancestor, the warabite-to. I know the kenuki-gata tachi is still occasionally made, as either ceremonial swords or a journeyman's piece, but I have not been able to find any practical reviews of one. Much less the Norwegian peasant axe.
About Nordic curved axes, I will give you an 99% accurate explanation of why they were tilted upwards like this - it's to emulate the crucial advantage of a slashing type sword, the ability to hit, damage or destroy an opponent AND KEEP YOUR WEAPON UNENTANGLED AND READY TO RE-DEPLOY. If your axe head is getting stuck into shields, armors, or rib cages, you are effectively disarmed, often when most vulnerable. It's a crucial disadvantage that will get you killed. But if you hit, hurt and are ready to strike again, that's huge. that's why they were curved. To be closer to swords in usage.
Also, most of those shown can be used to stab (or at least poke firmly).
I was speculating that it was wielded more like a halberd; thrusting chops that keep the point towards your enemy rather than typical chops.
Fighting axes are basically swords, so the same design mechanics apply.
How would the tilt work as a farmer's tool?
Why not then just change the shape of the axe head to something more acutely pointed and double-edged?
This would have allowed the head to better cut its way out of a target....instead of the heads edge going deep enough into the target to get stuck on its, apparently, unsharpened, hook shaped, top and bottom inner edges.
Until seeing how these axes might have been used in combat?
Im of the opinion that the curved handle is a cultural or fashion kind of thing, more so than something that serves just a totally practical purpose in combat.
Kinda of like the many rapiers and associated swords that DID have combative purpose, but could be elegant, highly elaborate works of art at the same time.
curved handle seems good for making the beard of the axe dig in with a chop but also better jabs with the horn
I think it would be brilliant if you did a spotlight video on the weapons of the Australian Indigenous people. Most everyone knows about boomerangs and spears, but the Australian Aboriginal people designed a wide variety of fighting clubs, unique parrying shields, and even different shapes and designs of boomerang for different purposes. They tend to be overlooked in discussions of historical weaponry. The same for the Pacific Island peoples, like the huge variety of intricately decorated and uniquely shaped wooden clubs and axes made in Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, and so on, as well as the New Zealand Maori weapons.
Since you asked for suggestions I'd really enjoy more videos about central asian and Turkic weapons and sword use.
Also Mughal/Indian would be interesting, I know you've done some in the past but India has so much!
The Eastern Romans used axes as well. At various times they were one of the most 'balanced' armies in the world because they fought many varied countries/tribes both in the West and the East. Few empires did that. For example they used both curved swords (the Paramerion) and a straight-double edged sword (The Spathion).
So it comes as a little surprise they used axes (The Tzikourion, from the latin Securis). Source: Leo's Tactica.
3 axe heads were mostly used: 1) the normal crescent-shaped, 2) Double Crescent-Shaped, 3) Crescent-Shaped with a point at the opposite end. This 3rd form is more recommended because of the ability to have more armor-penetration.
11:54 looks like a lantip panabas, a larger type of panabas in the visayas, and the tabas from luzon
@scholaegladiatoria there's a guy who replied to a Richard with various sources on the Norwegian axe. It's quite interesting information.
2. Heard of it. They look pretty interesting.
3. Heard of it. I like long axe blades.
4. Never heard of it. It looks really nice. I want one.
5. Never heard of it. Really funky and cool.
6. Heard of it. I think. Might be confusing it with old European axes.
1. Never heard of it. Can't have been very effective. Probably just a farmers tool. Probably ineffective at that as well. Greetings from Sweden, by the way.
Having some acquaintance with Sarawak (my brother lives there), I have not heard any reference to the biliong as a weapon, but as a tool. The head could be rotated, to serve either as an axe, or an adze, as circumstances dictated. I may be wrong, of course, but that is my general impression. Sarawakians generally used swords or spears in battle...
Hey, Matt. Great video. I was wondering if you could maybe talk in a video about the term “claymore”. It is used all of the time in video games and fiction as a name for something like a longsword or sometimes a great sword. It seems like it is used as a catch all term. Is there a more specific type of sword that is actually a claymore?
If it's an axe....Tord is the guy to make. Cheers! Great stuff. Thanks Mr. E.
I believe it's in Sir Gwain & the Green Knight where an axe is described as a "bow-bent axe".
Obviously this reference far predates those Scandinavian 17th century axes but I'm wondering if the design serves the same function.
From what I understand bow-bent axes had curves throughout their hafts. However b-b & the 17th c axes may function similarly.
If memory serves, in H. Rider Haggard's 1887 (or 1888?) novel _Allan Quatermain_, Quatermain's Zulu chieftain pal, Umslopogaas, wields a specialized battle axe, with a handle made from a rhinoceros horn and with a back spike. Most of the time Umslopogaas preferred to use the back spike with surgical precision, hence his nickname "the Woodpecker."
Stone’s Glossary is an excellent reference for these weird weapons. Hunga-Munga! You left that one out.
I’m very familiar with the Igorot axe. The African axes, I recognized from books. The ones from India were unfamiliar.
I think you should have included the dagger-axe of the Bronze Age during the warring states period of ancient China.
I also would have included the Shepherd walking stick axe of Eurasia.
Thanks for all you do!
here's the timestamps of the weapons:
4:17 norwegian peasant/farmer axe
6:26 Sotho axe
8:02 Bulova axe
11:25 Dao axe
13:22 Kalinga/Igorot axe
16:09 Biliong axe
Their's also the Nzappa Zap of the Congo, The Francesca throwing axe, the Tabar and of course the Piercing Axe of Egypt.
Call me crazy, but the back-leaning head on the farmer's axe reads to me as a tool adaptation more so than a war adaptation. The angle of the head could be an advantage when chopping way down at, for instance, roots as you're trying to dig without having to get down to a crouching position to reach.
I made a sparring Nordic peasants axe a few year back for sparring with my HEMA group after I found out about them on a trip. From my experience I found that the head seemed to line up well with my target when I swung it and I didn't need to adjust my technique like I thought I might have to. I don't really know but my guess would be that the axe head might pass through the target without the shaft hitting the target based on the angles when I hit people but that's purely a guess.
If you wanted to make one yourself I used an old hockey stick and a rubber dane axe head, it's a very rough replica but with my limited resources it was the best I could do.
So it sounds like the curvature is a modification to make it more elegant for fighting.
@@Mortablunt i guess and its purely a guess, it might help reduce the chance of it getting stuck? But i think it would be less robust and have less impact. All that's speculation based on a poor replica though.
Hi Matt, i'm a nifemaker from sult Brasil, thanks for sharing your knologe about blades, a good ad to this topic could bee the francisca axe, and how they are efective in throwing axe.
It's a funny thing about Axes, once you see them, use them, feel them hit your shield/weapon or body, you just might get hooked.
When kyrgyz nomads tribes moved from Siberia to Central Asian mountains, the suddenly changed their swords to an axes. Just because in Tien Shan mountains they do not have access to iron as in Siberia, and get it only from trade.
Some of the Xhosa (Sotho?) axes had a curved shaft, so that the end of the blade was in line with the grip. So you can use it like a thrusting sword.
I did not know that. Any museums with examples in the UK?
@@tamlandipper29 try the Pitt-Rivers museum in Oxford
Looking at the picture of the Danish/Norwegian Peasant Axe it seems as if the "weird" bend puts the top point of the axe blade in line with the handle so maybe the idea was to make it more stabby?
Another point to consider about tanged axes that can also be used as tools: some blades are set into the handle such that they can be taken out and set perpendicular to quickly create an adze. These films of Mossi woodcarvers show this for example ua-cam.com/video/gyn7KGPxnM4/v-deo.html
05:00 For some strange reason Danish King Christian IV is crazy popular still in Denmark despite that fact that he pretty much singlehandedly bankrupted the country and lost an immense amount of territory.
Yeah i do not get it, he is one of the most incompetent kings the realm has had… But i think its because of all the architechture, copenhagen ppl seems obsessed with that… Valdemar Atterdag ought to be the king in the spotlight
Tessack median length according to Norwegian Museum website: 92cm/36.22”
Hardly a short one-handed sword, unless you’re comparing to rapiers.
maybe the weird curve on the Norwegian ax is to cut while thrusting? Instead of stabbing directly through a vital area, which you could 100% also do with this type of blade, you could rip open the side of your opponent extremely effectively. Most people probably wouldn't be expecting someone with an ax to, for lack of a better word, try to push-slice them like that.
Have you made any studies about Francisca? The Franker's axe.
Norwegian Bondeöks or peasant axe s tend to have langets in the front, along the curve of the handle. This, atleast speaks of where the expected to meet opposing attacks from swords and the like and might provide insight into their use. I have several pictures of this if your intrested. Also worth notibg is that they are almost exclusively so large that they would probably be held 2 handed