Archive for March, 2009
The polearm is one of the oldest and most versatile of weapons throughout the ages. The modern definition of a polearm is a weapon with a blade or pointed tip attached to a long shalf. Prehistoric man likely was the first to use a sharpened long stick to slay his dinner, or his neighbor.
Rome also developed a very effective polearm. The pilium, a very sharp spear, was used effectively against the Celts. The development of this weapon was one of the reasons Rome was successful in conquering a large part of the world.
Various types of this weapon gained prominence in the Medieval and Renaissance eras in Europe and elsewhere. They were a means of dealing with cavalry; the foot soldier’s reach was extended to allow him to attack a mounted opponent while avoiding the blade of the knight’s sword.
The classic models of the European polearms were the pike and the halderb. First appearing in the l4th century the halderb was a very versatile weapon. It was usually a little over 5 feet long and had a spiked top that was useful for keeping mounted knights at bay. It also had a hook that could be used to pull him from the saddle, and an axe head that could penetrate his armor.
The pike was a simple spear like weapon that had a metal head attached to a wooden shaft. It came into use in the twelfth century as a defensive weapon again cavalry. The Swiss, however, turned the simple spear into an offensive weapon by employing a phalnx-like infantry formation. From this formation they were able to use pikes as long as 22 and a half feet. This strategy employing a simple spear allowed them to become the premier fighting force of the fourteenth century.
In other parts of the world, the spear or pike was also widely used. Samurai warriors are most often associated with the sword, but in battle they were supported by foot soldiers who used the yari (spears). Perhaps the greatest spearmen in history are the Zulu warriors of Southern Africa. Their military units, called impis, were armed with the short assegai spear. They were able to conquer most of the region in the early nineteenth century.
The common soldier was the part of the military that used the polearm. From prehistoric times to today, these are the warriors that shape our world.
I’ve always fancied myself a bit of a crusader, though I could never match the sacrifice that those knights of old made for their beliefs. There are a lot of great films that make reference to crusaders; films like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Kingdom of Heaven, and even Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Crusading knights were a common part of life in ancient times, wielding their crusader sword and shield with an insignia of their kingdom, they represented all that was devout. I think it’s possible to maintain the ideals of a knight without taking up a sword and shield; just being passionate about your beliefs, and being willing to go beyond words and take action.
While it’s unlikely you’ll ever find me mounted on horseback charging through the plains on my noble steed, it’s sure fun to think about. Even though I don’t believe you need a sword and shield to be a modern day crusader, I do have them just for the sake of novelty!
On Tuesday the world will celebrate the most famous of the Irish holidays. Most will wear green, party with green beer and feast on corned beef and cabbage. The airways will be filled with the exotic music of Enya, Clannad, and the many other Irish musicians that produce the unique flowing sound that screams Ireland. Most everyone is aware of where Ireland is today, and what the country encompasses, but from where did this spirited, talented and renown people evolve?
Several Celtic burial sites have been excavated that reveal something of these hardy people. A rich princely grave was found in Hochdorf in Baden-Wurttemberg. This Celtic chieftain was found with a gold band around his neck, a gold armlet, a belt and shoes embellished with gold and an exquisite gold dagger. The couch he rested on was made of bronze, embossed with ritual dance figures, some of them wielding swords. Another Celtic settlement was unearthed at La Tene on the edge of Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland. The settlement was typical of a rich civilization which probably lasted from about 500 B.C. until the first century B.C. Some of the weapons that were found there related the Celtic genius for sophisticated curvilinear design and fantastic abstraction on natural themes. These Celtic swords were some of the most elegant weapons of any age. The sword often had a human head on the pommel, and sophisticated carving on the handle. Further attesting to the imagination and creative genius of these early Celts, the scabbard for these early swords was brilliantly decorated with dragons, bird pairs, triskele and other geometric designs, floral and animal motifs.
These were the swords that carried the Celts north into Britain and Belgium. In 390 Celts from Gaul invaded Italy and sacked Rome, the capital of the fledgling Roman Republic. The Greek historian Polybius, described the Celts at the battle of Telamon in 225 BC, says: ‘Very terrifying too were the appearance and the gestures of the naked warriors in front, all in the prime of life, and finely built men, and all in the leading companies richly adorned with gold torques and armlets.’ Another Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus spoke of the fighting style of the Celts, ‘they would raise their swords aloft and smite after the manner of wild boars, throwing the whole weight of their bodies into the blow like hewers of wood or men digging with mattocks, and again they would deliver crosswise blows aimed at no target, as if they intended to cut to pieces the entire bodies of their adversaries, protective armour and all……’ Celtic society was heroic and tribal, and the exploits of these great warriors were celebrated in poetry and song, echoes of which survive in epics, such as the Ulster Cycle, Tain Bo Cuailgne (The Cattle Raid of Cooley).
The Celts annihilated the Roman army of the Latin League. The complete defeat of the Latins forced the Romans to adapt or go under. The Celts with their superior swords and better conditioning led to the major changes that Rome made that resulted in the Empire. They copied the short sword of the Celts( gladius), developed the pilium (pole arm) and scutum (body shield). Some historians have asserted that the Celts were paid to leave Rome. Had the Celts not willingly left the Republic, then perhaps the Tiber would run green tomorrow.
Claymore is a term derived from the Gaelic “claidheamohmor,” meaning “great sword.” It was first used to describe the large cross-hilted broadsword used in the Scottish Highlands and by Scottish mercenaries in Ireland from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. In its classic form, the claymore consisted of a straight, broad, double-edged blade, long, diamond-section quillons angling towrd the blade and terminating in quatrefoils, a quillon block extending to form a long spur on each side, and a tubular section leather-covered grip with a wheel-shaped pommel. The blade was generally shorter than blades of Continental two-handed swords of the same period.
The claymore almost certainly developed from a late medieval cross-hilted sword that can be seen on some effigies and tomb slabs in the West Highlands and the Isles. This sword exhibited two of the characteristics found on the claymore, namely, the long, downward-angled quillons and the central part of the quillon block extending in a long spur. The dating of claymores is a complex and imprecise, although there is a claymore of classic form depicted on a grave slab from Oronsay dated 1539. In the latter part of the 16th century, although retaining the characteristic form of quillon and blade, claymores sometimes had large spherical pommels.
A sword related to the claymore is known as the “Lowland” form because of the fact that several examples came from southern Scotland. Lowland swords had angular, round-section quillons, the terminals arranged as turned knobs set at right angles; some have open rings affixed to the center of the quillons on each side. They retained the feature of the quillon block extending to a spur on each side but, unlike the claymore’s, this spur was small and pointed. The pommels of these swords were large and spherical, the long tubular-section grips being of wood covered with leather. One form of the Lowland sword had quillons in the form of an arched cross, and in the center a solid oval plate bent down as an extra guard for the hands. Although Lowland swords have been dated to the second half of the 16th century and those with arched quillons and plate have been dated to the early 17th, little evidence is at present available that would lead to a more precise dating.
Most of the blades of both the Highland and the Lowland claymores appear to be of German origin, whereas the hilts were made by Scottish craftsmen. These craftsmen were very creative in developing a hilt that could be handled effectively with a large blade, as well as protecting the hand.