Polearm

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A variety of polearms consisting of morning stars, halberds, partisans, spontoons, war scythes, and a ranseur in the center Bron drzewcowa.jpg
A variety of polearms consisting of morning stars, halberds, partisans, spontoons, war scythes, and a ranseur in the center
Evolution of various European polearms from the 13th to 18th centuries Polearms.jpg
Evolution of various European polearms from the 13th to 18th centuries

A polearm or pole weapon is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is fitted to the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, extending the user's effective range and striking power. Polearms are predominantly melee weapons, with a subclass of spear-like designs fit for thrusting and/or throwing. Because many polearms were adapted from agricultural implements or other fairly abundant tools, and contained relatively little metal, they were cheap to make and readily available. When belligerents in warfare had a poorer class who could not pay for dedicated military weapons, they would often appropriate tools as cheap weapons. The cost of training was comparatively low, since these conscripted farmers had spent most of their lives using these "weapons" in the fields. This made polearms the favoured weapon of peasant levies and peasant rebellions the world over.

Contents

Polearms can be divided into three broad categories: those designed for extended reach and thrusting tactics used in pike square or phalanx combat; those designed to increase leverage (due to hands moving freely on a pole) to maximize angular force (swinging tactics) against cavalry; and those designed for throwing tactics used in skirmish line combat. The hook on weapons such as the halberd was used for pulling or grappling tactics, especially against horsemen. Because of their versatility, high effectiveness and low cost, there were many variants of polearm, which were much-used weapons on the battlefield. Bills, picks, dane axes, spears, glaives, guandaos, pudaos, pikes, poleaxes, halberds, harpoons, sovnyas, tridents, naginatas, bardiches, war scythes, and lances are all varieties of polearms.

Polearms were common weapons on post-classical battlefields of Asia and Europe. Their range and impact force made them effective weapons against armoured warriors on horseback, unhorsing the opponent and to some extent effective to penetrate armour. The Renaissance saw a plethora of varieties. Polearms in modern times are largely constrained to ceremonial military units such as the Papal Swiss Guard or Yeomen of the Guard, or traditional martial arts. Chinese martial arts in particular have preserved a wide variety of weapons and techniques.

Classification difficulties

Shang dynasty polearm Bronze Ge Dagger-axe, Sanxingdui 1.jpg
Shang dynasty polearm

The classification of polearms can be difficult, and European weapon classifications in particular can be confusing. This can be due to a number of factors, including uncertainty in original descriptions, changes in weapons or nomenclature through time, mistranslation of terms, and the well-meaning inventiveness of later experts. For example, the word "halberd" is also used to translate the Chinese ji and also a range of medieval Scandinavian weapons as described in sagas, such as the atgeir. As well, all polearms developed from three early tools (the axe, the scythe, and the knife) and one weapon, the spear. [1]

In the words of the arms expert Ewart Oakeshott,

Staff-weapons in Medieval or Renaissance England were lumped together under the generic term "staves" but when dealing with them in detail we are faced with terminological difficulty. There never seems to have been a clear definition of what was what; there were apparently far fewer staff-weapons in use than there were names to call them by; and contemporary writers up to the seventeenth century use these names with abandon, calling different weapons by the same name and similar weapons by different names. To add to this, we have various nineteenth century terminologies used by scholars. We must remember too that any particular weapon ... had everywhere a different name. [2]

While men-at-arms may have been armed with custom designed military weapons, militias were often armed with whatever was available. These may or may not have been mounted on poles and described by one of more names. The problems with precise definitions can be inferred by a contemporary description of Royalist infantry which were engaged in the Battle of Birmingham (1643) during the first year of English Civil War (in the early modern period). The infantry regiment that accompanied Prince Rupert's cavalry were armed: [3]

with pikes, half-pikes, halberds, hedge-bills, Welsh hooks, clubs, pitchforks, with chopping-knives, and pieces of scythes.

List of polearms

Ancient polearms

European

Asian

Triple dagger-axe ji, Warring States period Warring States Bronze Halberd with 3 Ge & Mao (9873443356).jpg
Triple dagger-axe ji, Warring States period
Dagger-axe

The dagger-axe, or gee (Chinese: 戈; pinyin: gē; Wade–Giles: ko; sometimes confusingly translated "halberd") is a type of weapon that was in use from Shang dynasty until at least Han dynasty China. It consists of a dagger-shaped blade made of bronze (or later iron) mounted by the tang to a perpendicular wooden shaft: a common Bronze Age infantry weapon, also used by charioteers. Some dagger axes include a spear-point. There is a (rare) variant type with a divided two-part head, consisting of the usual straight blade and a scythe-like blade. Other rarities include archaeology findings with two or sometimes three blades stacked in line on top of a pole, but were generally thought as ceremonial polearms. Though the weapon saw frequent use in ancient China, the use of the dagger-axe decreased dramatically after the Qin and Han dynasties. The ji combines the dagger axe with a spear. By the post-classical Chinese dynasties, with the decline of chariot warfare, the use of the dagger-axe was almost nonexistent.

Ji

The ji (Chinese: 戟) was created by combining the dagger-axe with a spear. It was used as a military weapon at least as early as the Shang dynasty until the end of the Northern and Southern dynasties.

Ngao

The ngao or ngau (ง้าว,ของ้าว) is a Thai polearm that was traditionally used by elephant-riding infantry and is still used by practitioners of krabi krabong. Known in Malay as a dap, it consists of a wooden shaft with a curved blade fashioned onto the end, and is similar in design to the Korean woldo. Usually, it also had a hook (ขอ) between the blade and shaft used for commanding the elephant. The elephant warrior used the ngao like a blade from atop an elephant or horse during battle.

Post-classical polearms

European

Dane axe

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] Variants of this basic weapon continued in use in Scotland and Ireland into the 16th century. [5] A form of 'long axe'.

Sparth axe

In the 13th century, variants on the Danish axe are seen. Described in English as a sparth (from the Old Norse sparðr) [6] or pale-axe, [7] the weapon featured a larger head with broader blade, the rearward part of the crescent sweeping up to contact (or even be attached to) the haft.

In Ireland, this axe was known as a sparr axe. Originating in either Western Scotland or Ireland, the sparr was widely used by the galloglass. [8] Although sometimes said to derive from the Irish for a joist or beam, [9] a more likely definition is as a variant of sparth. [10] Although attempts have been made to suggest that the sparr had a distinctive shaped head, illustrations and surviving weapons show there was considerable variation and the distinctive feature of the weapon was its long haft. [11]

Fauchard

A fauchard is a type of polearm which was used in medieval Europe from the 11th through the 14th centuries. The design consisted of a curved blade put atop a 6-to-7-foot-long (1.8 to 2.1 m) pole. The blade bore a moderate to strong curve along its length; however, unlike a bill or guisarme, the cutting edge was on the convex side.

Guisarme

A guisarme (sometimes gisarme, giserne or bisarme) was a polearm used in Europe primarily between 1000 and 1400. It was used primarily to dismount knights and horsemen. Like most polearms it was developed by peasants by combining hand tools with long poles, in this case by putting a pruning hook onto a spear shaft. While hooks are fine for dismounting horsemen from mounts, they lack the stopping power of a spear especially when dealing with static opponents. While early designs were simply a hook on the end of a long pole, later designs implemented a small reverse spike on the back of the blade. Eventually weapon makers incorporated the usefulness of the hook in a variety of different polearms and guisarme became a catch-all for any weapon that included a hook on the blade. Ewart Oakeshott has proposed an alternative description of the weapon as a crescent shaped socketed axe. [12]

Glaive

A glaive is a polearm consisting of a single-edged tapering blade similar in shape to a modern kitchen knife on the end of a pole. The blade was around 18 inches (46 cm) long, on the end of a pole 6 or 7 feet (180 or 210 centimetres) long. [13] However, instead of having a tang like a sword or naginata, the blade is affixed in a socket-shaft configuration similar to an axe head, both the blade and shaft varying in length. Illustrations in the 13th century Maciejowski Bible show a short staffed weapon with a long blade used by both infantry and cavalry. [14] Occasionally glaive blades were created with a small hook or spike on the reverse side. [15] Such glaives are named glaive-guisarme.

Voulge

A voulge (occasionally called a pole cleaver ) is a curved blade attached to a pole by binding the lower two-thirds of the blade to the side of the pole, to form a sort of axe. Looks very similar to a glaive.

Svärdstav

A svärdstav (literally sword-staff) is a Swedish medieval polearm that consists of a two-edged sword blade attached to a 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) staff. The illustrations often show the weapon being equipped with sword-like quillons. [16] The illustrations sometimes show a socket mount and reinforcing langets being used, but sometimes they are missing; it is possible this weapon was sometimes manufactured by simply attaching an old sword blade onto a long pole on its tang, not unlike the naginata.

Asian

Naginata

A naginata (なぎなた or 薙刀) is a Japanese polearm that was traditionally used by members of the samurai class. A naginata consists of a wood shaft with a curved blade on the end. Usually it also had a sword-like guard (tsuba) between the blade and shaft. It was mounted with a tang and held in place with a pin or pins, rather than going over the shaft using a socket. The naginata was developed based on the hoko yari from the 1st millennium AD [17] [18] or the tachi from the late Heian period (794ー1185). [19] It was appreciated by samurai who fought on foot as a weapon to maintain optimal distance from the enemy in close combat, but after the Onin War in the 15th century, large groups of mobilized infantry called asigaru began to equip themselves with yari (spear) yumi (longbow) and tanegashima (gun), making naginata and tachi (long sword) obsolete on the battlefield and often replaced with nagamaki and katana. [19] [20] From the Edo period, naginata has been recognized as a martial art practiced by women in the samurai class. [19]

Yari

A yari (やり or 槍) is a Japanese polearm that was traditionally used by members of the samurai class. There are various types of yari, which have different names depending on the shape of the blade attached to the end of the wooden shaft. For example, 'Jumonji yari' refers to a yari with a cross-shaped blade, and 'Sasaho yari' refers to a yari with a blade shaped like a sasa leaf. During the Sengoku period, a large group of ashigaru in a formation used yari as one of their main weapons and exerted tremendous power on the battlefield. Honda Tadakatsu a vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu, had gained a reputation as a master of one of the Three Great Spears of Japan, Tonbokiri. [21]

Woldo

The Korean woldo was a variation of the Chinese guan dao. It was originally used by the post-classical Shilla warriors. Wielding the woldo took time due to its weight, but in the hands of a trained soldier, the woldo was a fearsome, agile weapon famous for enabling a single soldier to cut down ranks of infantrymen. The woldo was continually in use for the military in Korea with various modifications made over the decades. Unlike the Chinese with the guan dao, the Koreans found the woldo unwieldy on horseback, and thus, it was specifically tailored to the needs of infantrymen. The Joseon government implemented rigorous training regimens requiring soldiers to be proficient with swordsmanship, and the use of the woldo. Though it was never widely used as a standard weapon, the woldo saw action on many fronts and was considered by many Korean troops to be a versatile weapon. Recently, a contemporary revival in various martial arts in Korea has brought interest into the application of the woldo and its history.

Guandao

A guandao or kwan tou is a type of Chinese polearm. In Chinese, it is properly called a yanyue dao (偃月刀), 'reclining moon blade'. Some believed it comes from the late Han Era and was supposedly used by the late Eastern Han dynasty general Guan Yu, but archaeological findings have shown that Han dynasty armies generally used straight, single-edged blades, and curved blades came several centuries later. There is no reason to believe their polearms had curved blades on them. Besides, historical accounts of the Three Kingdoms era describe Guan Yu thrusting his opponents down (probably with a spear-like polearm) in battle, not cutting them down with a curved blade. The guandao is also known as the chun qiu da dao ('spring autumn great knife'), again probably related to the depiction of Guan Yu in the Ming dynasty novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms , but possibly a Ming author's invention. It consists of a heavy blade mounted atop a 5-to-6-foot-long (1.5 to 1.8 m) wooden or metal pole with a pointed metal counter weight used for striking and stabbing on the opposite end.

The blade is very deep and curved on its face, resembling a Chinese saber, or dao. Variant designs include rings along the length of the straight back edge, as found in the nine-ring guandao. The "elephant" guandao's tip curls into a rounded spiral, while the dragon head guandao features a more ornate design.

Podao

A podao, 'long-handled sabre', is a Chinese polearm, also known as the zhan ma dao ('horsecutter sabre'), which has a lighter blade and a ring at the end. A podao is an infantryman's weapon, mainly used for cutting the legs off oncoming charging horses to bring down the riders.

Two ge, two ancient ji, two Song dynasty ji Chinese dagger-axe and related polearms.svg
Two ge, two ancient ji, two Song dynasty ji
Fangtian ji

In the Song dynasty, several weapons were referred to as ji, but they were developed from spears, not from ancient ji. One variety was called the qinglong ji (Chinese :青龍戟; lit.'cerulean dragon ji'), and had a spear tip with a crescent blade on one side. Another type was the fangtian ji (Chinese :方天戟; lit.'square sky ji'), which had a spear tip with crescent blades on both sides. [22] [23] They had multiple means of attack: the side blade or blades, the spear tip, plus often a rear counterweight that could be used to strike the opponent. The way the side blades were fixed to the shaft differs, but usually there were empty spaces between the pole and the side blade. The wielder could strike with the shaft, with the option of then pulling the weapon back to hook with a side blade; or, he could slap his opponent with the flat side of the blade to knock him off his horse.

Barcha and Ballam

The Barcha is a type of lance with a wooden handle, once common in South Asia in the 16th century and was popular weapon of choice in the Maratha Empire. Variations of the barcha is the hand-like Karpa Barcha and the serpent-like Nagni Barcha. Another variant included the Ballam, a javelin effective at bringing down infantry and cavalry at a distance. Nagni Barcha is identified as the weapon used by the Sikh warrior Bhai Bachittar Singh to kill a drunken Mughal war elephant at the Siege of Lohgarh. [24] [25]

Later polearms

European

Corseque

A corseque has a three-bladed head on a 6–8 ft (1.8–2.4 m) haft which, like the partisan, is similar to the winged spear or spetum in the later Middle Ages. [26] It was popular in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Surviving examples have a variety of head forms but there are two main variants, one with the side blades (known as flukes or wings) branching from the neck of the central blade at 45 degrees, the other with hooked blades curving back towards the haft. The corseque is usually associated with the rawcon, ranseur and runka. Another possible association is with the "three-grayned staff" [27] listed as being in the armoury of Henry VIII in 1547 [28] (though the same list also features 84 rawcons, suggesting the weapons were not identical in 16th century English eyes). Another modern term used for particularly ornate-bladed corseques is the chauve-souris. [29]

Halberd

A halberd (or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed polearm that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries but has continued in use as a ceremonial weapon to the present day. [30] First recorded as "hellembart" in 1279, the word halberd possibly comes from the German words Halm (staff) or Helm (helmet), and Barte (axe). The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It always has a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants. Early forms are very similar in many ways to certain forms of voulge, while 16th century and later forms are similar to the pollaxe. The Swiss were famous users of the halberd in the medieval and renaissance eras, [31] with various cantons evolving regional variations of the basic form. [32]

Poleaxe

In the 14th century, the basic long axe gained an armour-piercing spike on the back and another on the end of the haft for thrusting. This is similar to the pollaxe of 15th century. The poleaxe emerged in response to the need for a weapon that could penetrate plate armour and featured various combinations of an axe-blade, a back-spike and a hammer. It was the favoured weapon for men-at-arms fighting on foot into the sixteenth century. [33]

See also

Related Research Articles

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as bone, flint, obsidian, copper, bronze, iron, or steel. The most common design for hunting and/or warfare, since ancient times has incorporated a metal spearhead shaped like a triangle, diamond, or leaf. The heads of fishing spears usually feature multiple sharp points, with or without barbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halberd</span> Type of pole weapon with axe blade topped with a spike

A halberd is a two-handed polearm that came to prominent use from the 13th to 16th centuries. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It can have a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants. The halberd was usually 1.5 to 1.8 metres long.

<i>Naginata</i> Type of Japanese pole weapon

The naginata is a polearm and one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades (nihontō). Naginata were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru and sōhei. The naginata is the iconic weapon of the onna-musha, a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese nobility. A common misconception is that the Naginata is a type of sword, rather than a polearm.

<i>Yari</i> Japanese straight-headed spear

Yari (槍) is the term for a traditionally-made Japanese blade in the form of a spear, or more specifically, the straight-headed spear. The martial art of wielding the yari is called sōjutsu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glaive</span> Type of pole weapon

A glaive, sometimes spelled as glave, is a type of pole weapon with historical origins in Europe, known for its distinctive design and versatile combat applications. This article delves into the history, design, and cultural significance of the glaive, which is similar to other polearms such as the war scythe, the Japanese naginata, the Chinese guandao, the Korean woldo, and the Russian sovnya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guisarme</span> Type of pole weapon

A guisarme is a pole weapon used in Europe primarily between 1000 and 1400. Its origin is likely Germanic, from the Old High German getīsarn, literally "weeding iron". Like many medieval polearms, the exact early form of the weapon is hard to define from literary references, and the identification of surviving weapons can be speculative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fauchard</span> Type of pole weapon

A fauchard is a type of polearm weapon which was used in Europe from the 11th through the 17th centuries. In later use fauchards became ornamental and ceremonial, growing in size until some examples were almost too heavy to carry, let alone use. The design consisted of a curved blade atop a long pole, although in some portrayals, it is shown on a shorter pole. The blade bore a moderate to strong curve along its length. The cutting edge was only on the convex side of the blade, unlike the guisarme or bill. The fauchard was likely developed from the war scythe with the cutting edge turned opposite, convex instead of concave, so that the weapon was good for both thrusting and slashing attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bardiche</span> Type of long poleaxe

A bardiche, 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. 1250. The bardiche differs from the halberd in having neither a hook at the back nor a spear point at the top. The use of bardiches started in early 14th-century Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dane axe</span> Viking weapon

The Dane axe or long axe is a type of two-handed battle axe with a very long shaft, around 0.9–1.2 metres at the low end to 1.5–1.7 metres or more at the long end, primarily used during the transition between the European Viking Age and early Middle Ages. Other names for the weapon include English long axe, Danish axe, and hafted axe.

<i>Bisentō</i> Japanese pole weapon

A bisentō was a pole weapon used in feudal Japan. The bisentō has various descriptions, "a double-edged long sword with a thick truncated blade", "a spear-like weapon with a blade at the end that resembles a scimitar", "a polearm resembling a glaive, with a long, heavy haft and a heavy, curved blade". The bisentō is said to have been used by ninja and peasants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle axe</span> Axe specifically designed for combat

A battle axe is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were deployed two-handed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dagger-axe</span> Chinese pole weapon

The dagger-axe is a type of pole weapon that was in use from the Longshan culture until the Han dynasty in China. It consists of a dagger-shaped blade, mounted by its tang to a perpendicular wooden shaft. The earliest dagger-axe blades were made of stone. Later versions used bronze. Jade versions were also made for ceremonial use. There is a variant type with a divided two-part head, consisting of the usual straight blade and a scythe-like blade.

<i>Ji</i> (polearm) Chinese pole weapon

The ji was a Chinese polearm, sometimes translated into English as spear or halberd, though they are fundamentally different weapons. They were used in one form or another for over 3000 years, from at least as early as the Zhou dynasty, until the end of the Qing dynasty. They are still used for training purposes in many Chinese martial arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eighteen Arms of Wushu</span>

The Eighteen Arms is a list of the eighteen main weapons of Chinese martial arts. The origin of the list is unclear and there have been disputes as to what the eighteen weapons actually are. However, all lists contain at least one or more of the following weapons:

The hyeopdo was a polearm used in Korea. It was also called micheomdo (Korean: 미첨도), which could be translated as "eyebrow sword" because the curved blade resembled an eyebrow. The first written reference to a hyeopdo is in a Korean martial arts manual from the 17th century called the Muyeyebobeon Yeoksokjip (무예예보번역속집).

The term "halberd" has been used to translate several Old Norse words relating to polearms in the context of Viking Age arms and armour, and in scientific literature about the Viking Age. In referring to the Viking Age weapon, the term "halberd" is not to be taken as referring to the classical Swiss halberd of the 15th century, but rather in its literal sense of "axe-on-a-pole", describing a weapon of the more general glaive type.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish polearms</span> Overview of Scottish pole weapons

Many of the polearms used in Scotland up to the beginning of the 16th century were similar to those used in other parts of the world; however, a number of distinct forms did evolve. The nomenclature of Scottish axes, in particular, is confusing, and the text below follows the classification scheme proposed by David H. Caldwell in his 1980 paper "Some Notes on Scottish Axes and Long Shafted Weapons".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese polearm</span> Polearm traditionally used by Chinese armies

The three most common types of Chinese polearms are the ge (戈), qiang (槍), and ji (戟). They are translated into English as dagger-axe, spear, and halberd. Dagger-axes were originally a short slashing weapon with a 0.9–1.8 m long shaft, but around the 4th century BC a spearhead was added to the blade, and it became a halberd. The spear is also sometimes called a mao (矛), which is sometimes used to designate polearms with a wavy snake-like spearhead. There was another polearm weapon known as the pi (鈹), translated into English as either sword-staff or long lance, that was used from ancient times until the Han dynasty. It was essentially a short sword attached to a stick. From the Warring States period onward, the length of Chinese polearms varied from around 2.8 to 5.5 m ; however, there is no specific designation for a pike in the traditional Chinese lexicon. A very long spear is just called a long spear.

References

  1. ↑ Dean, Bashford (1916). Notes on Arms and Armor. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p.  135.
  2. ↑ Oakeshott, Ewart (1980). European Weapons and Armour. Lutterworth Press. p. 52. ISBN   0-7188-2126-2.
  3. ↑ Warburton, Eliot, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, and the cavaliers: Including their private correspondence, now first published from the original MSS, vol. 2, London: R. Bentley, p.  149 citing "Special Passages," No. xliii. (King's Collect.)
  4. ↑ Edge, David; John Miles Paddock (1988). Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight. London: Defoe. p. 32. ISBN   1-870981-00-6.
  5. ↑ Caldwell, David (1981). "Some Notes on Scottish Axes and Long Shafted Weapons". In Caldwell, David (ed.). Scottish Weapons and Fortifications 1100-1800. Edinburgh: John Donald. pp. 262–276. ISBN   0-85976-047-2.
  6. ↑ Oakeshott (1980), p.47
  7. ↑ Nicolle, David (1996). Medieval Warfare Source Book Vol. 1. London: Arms & Armour Press. p. 307.
  8. ↑ Marsden, John (2003). Galloglas. East Linton: Tuckwell Press. p. 79. ISBN   1-86232-251-1.
  9. ↑ Marsden (2003), p.82
  10. ↑ "OED". Archived from the original on 27 April 2012.
  11. ↑ Cannan, Fergus (2010). Galloglass 1250-1600 . Oxford: Osprey. p.  23. ISBN   978-1-84603-577-7.
  12. ↑ Ewart Oakeshott (1980), p.53
  13. ↑ Oakeshott (1980), p.53
  14. ↑ "The Morgan Library & Museum Online Exhibitions - The Morgan Picture Bible". 16 March 2016.
  15. ↑ media:Peers and commoners fighting - The Holkham Bible Picture Book (c.1320-1330), f.40 - BL Add MS 47682.jpg
  16. ↑ media:Dolstein 1.gif
  17. ↑ Draeger, David E. (1981). Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts. Kodansha International. p. 208. ISBN   978-0-87011-436-6.
  18. ↑ Ratti, Oscar; Adele Westbrook (1999). Secrets of the Samurai: The Martial Arts of Feudal Japan . Castle Books. p.  241. ISBN   978-0-7858-1073-5.
  19. 1 2 3 薙刀・長巻の基礎知識 (Basic knowledge of naginata and nagamaki) (in Japanese). Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken World. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  20. ↑ 歴史人 September 2020. pp.40-41. ASIN   B08DGRWN98
  21. ↑ 天下三名槍 (Three Great Spears of Japan) (in Japanese). Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken World. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  22. ↑ Jiang Feng-wei (蔣豐維), Chinese weapons dictionary (中國兵器事典)
  23. ↑ Sadaharu Ichikawa (市川定春), Dictionary of the Weapon (武器事典)
  24. ↑ Menon, Sreelata (2011). Guru Nanak: The Enlightened Master. Penguin UK. ISBN   978-81-8475-562-6.
  25. ↑ VSM, D. S. Saggu (2018). Battle Tactics And War Manoeuvres of the Sikhs. Chennai: Notion Press. ISBN   978-1-64249-006-0.
  26. ↑ Norman, A. V. B.; Wilson, G. M. (1982). Treasures from the Tower of London : Arms and Armour. London: Lund Humphries. p.  67. ISBN   0-946009-01-5.
  27. ↑ Grayned meaning bladed
  28. ↑ Norman & Wilson (1982), p.67
  29. ↑ Oakeshott (1980), p.51.
  30. ↑ Oakeshott (1980), pp.47-48
  31. ↑ Douglas Miller : The Swiss at War 1300-1500, Osprey MAA 94, 1979
  32. ↑ Oakeshott (1980), p.47, fig 6
  33. ↑ Miles & Paddock, pp. 127–128
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