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The Dane axe or long axe (including Danish axe and English long axe) is a type of European early medieval period two-handed battle axe with a very long shaft, around 0.9–1.2 metres (2 ft 11 in – 3 ft 11 in) at the low end to 1.5–1.7 metres (4 ft 11 in – 5 ft 7 in) or more at the long end. Sometimes called a broadaxe (Old Norse ...
The English advance was then delayed by the need to pass through the choke-point presented by the bridge itself. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon has it that one of the Norwegians (possibly armed with a Dane Axe) blocked the narrow crossing and single-handedly held up the entire English army. The story is that ...
Housecarl is a calque of the original Old Norse term, húskarl, which literally means "house man". Karl is cognate to the Old English churl, or ceorl, meaning a man, or a non-servile peasant. [2] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle uses hiredmenn as a term for all paid warriors and thus is applied to housecarl, but it also refers to butsecarls[a] and ...
The Mammen Axe is a famous example of such battle-axes, ideally suited for throwing and melee combat. [21] An axe head was mostly wrought iron, with a steel cutting edge. This made the weapon less expensive than a sword, and was a standard item produced by blacksmiths, historically. Like most other Scandinavian weaponry, axes were often given ...
The Dane axe is a weapon with a heavy crescent-shaped head mounted on a haft 4 to 6 ft (1.2 to 1.8 m) in length. Originally a Viking weapon, it was adopted by the Anglo-Saxons and Normans in the 11th century, spreading through Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. [4]
The Varangian Guard (Greek: Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, romanized: Tágma tōn Varángōn) was an elite unit of the Byzantine army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangian Guard was known for being primarily composed of recruits from Northern Europe, including ...
Bardiche. A bardiche / bɑːrˈdiːʃ /, berdiche, bardische, bardeche, or berdish is a type of polearm used from the 14th to 17th centuries in Europe. Ultimately a descendant of the medieval sparth axe or Dane axe, the bardiche proper appears around 1400, but there are numerous medieval manuscripts that depict very similar weapons beginning c ...
A bearded axe, or Skeggøx (from Old Norse Skegg, "beard", and øx, "axe"), is any of various axes, used as a tool and weapon, as early as the 6th century CE. It is most commonly associated with Viking Age Scandinavians. The hook or "beard", i.e. the lower portion of the axe bit extending the cutting edge below the width of the butt, provides a ...