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McBeefâ„¢ · **04-17-2015, 04:58 PM**

(04-17-2015, 04:02 PM)Kage Wrote: Please become my resource on two handed battle axes battle techniques etc.

I've had some viking pages /videos But the more resources the better.
Thank you

So there are a few myths about axes and their use, but the Vikings and Saxons and Nordic people in general did make wide use of Axes in combat.

The most common two handed type is often referred to simply as a 'dane axe' and the best way to show them is to look at some contemporary art. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the battle of Hastings in 1066, where the Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the Saxons under King Harold.

Obviously this is near the end of the Viking age, and Saxons are not Vikings, but having fought them for hundreds of years, the Saxons had adopted many of their weapons and arms.

Here is a Saxon holding a Dane axe.
[Image: 4xlAh2o.jpg]

Here is another Saxon hacking a horses brains out with one.
[Image: c6Qxl4T.jpg]

They were big, they were long, and they had a relatively short, curved blade, often flaring to a point on the tip. Battleaxes tend to have much shorter and thinner blades than one would think, this was especially true in the Viking age. Armor technology was far less advanced than it would be in later years, and a fast moving blade could easily lop off a limb or head. Whereas later war axes looked more like chisels, built for pounding through plate, these were more like razors.

[Image: z03Xmif.jpg]

The blades were far thinner than you might expect, since a sharp blade moving at high speed could cut through mail, the main armor of the period.

As for their use... there isn't a terribly large amount of finesse to the weapon. It's big, it's huge, and its reach is comparable to most spears of the day. It's easy to understand why it is something of a terror weapon. You're some village militia, with a spear and wooden shield, and a group of raiders emerge from the mists, holding giant axes as long as your spears. If he hits you with it, you're dead. If he hits your shield, it will likely sink through and hit your arm. if He hits your spear, he's going to slice it in half.

As for things that aren't viking axes... double bladed axes are not historically accurate, nor are any giant meat cleaver axes. The Strength of an axe comes from the leverage it provides. The weight of the blade was generally kept as low as possible.

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