The war hammer is one of the most ancient types of edged weapons, which was used mainly for combat at close range. It was first made in the Neolithic era. The hammer is a dual-use weapon used in both blacksmithing and warfare. In the second case, he is capable of inflicting terrible deforming and breaking blows on the enemy.
General information
As mentioned earlier, the hammer appeared in the Neolithic. Initially, it had a pommel made of stone. Quite often, he served as a butt in a ceremonial stone or battle ax. Over time, this crushing weapon was improved, and in the Middle Ages they already used ordinary blacksmith iron hammers mounted on a long handle. They were somewhat reminiscent of a mace, with which not only deafening, but deforming blows were inflicted.
The most famous representative of this weapon is Mjollnir - the mythical hammer of the storm and thunder god Thor. It has become a truly religious symbol, heraldic emblem andan amulet for all Scandinavians. However, until the XI century. such weapons were used mainly by the Germans.
Distribution
The war hammer was most widely used by riders, starting from the 13th century. Its rapid spread was facilitated by the appearance of reliable knightly armor and armor. Swords, maces, axes and any other weapons used in those days for close combat could no longer cope against them. All of them proved to be ineffective. That is why new variants of the same war hammer began to appear. Its varieties include any polearm with a knob that looks like a hammer on one side, and on the other can look like a straight or slightly curved blade, beak, faceted spike, etc.
The very name "hammer" suggests the presence of at least one of the above elements of the warhead. The weapon retains this name even when the actual hammer is not on it. The most common was the hammer, which had an upward point and, in addition to it, short spikes, which were often located directly on the shock part of the butt or to the side of it. The beaks could pierce the plate on the armor or break the chain mail. The hammer was used to stun the enemy or deform his armor.
Lucernhammer
This is a kind of edged weapons that appeared in Switzerland around the end of the 15th century. It was in service with the foot soldiers of many European countries until the end of the 17th century. This mediev althe weapon was a shackled shaft up to 2 m long, at one end of which there was a warhead in the form of a pointed peak, and at its base - a hammer. Usually it was made bilateral. The shock toothed part of the hammer served to stun the enemy, and the hook part resembled a sharp beak. Given its purpose, we can say that it belonged to a polearm with a crushing action.
It is believed that the reason for the emergence of the Lucerne hammer was the hostilities that took place between the Swiss infantry and the German cavalry. The fact is that the riders had fairly high-quality armor, against which traditional halberds were powerless, since they were not able to break through the iron shell of the rider. It was then that the need arose for a new weapon that could relatively easily penetrate enemy armor. As for the pike, it helped the infantrymen to effectively repel the enemy cavalry attacks. The Lucerne hammer turned out to be so good that over time it managed to completely replace the halberds.
Short Polearms
Similar hammers, in which the handle did not exceed 80 cm in length, appeared in Europe in the 10th century. They were used exclusively in hand-to-hand combat and were often armed with riders. But everywhere such weapons began to be used in cavalry only after 5 centuries. The short shafts of both Eastern and European hammers were very often made of iron and supplied with a special handle for gripping with one or two hands.
War hammer withon the opposite side of the beak, it could have a fairly diverse impact surface, for example, spiked, conical, smooth, pyramidal, crowned with a monogram or some kind of figurine. The last two were used to imprint on the opponent's armor or body.
Long shaft hammers
In the XIV century. this weapon has gained the greatest popularity. It had a long handle up to 2 m and in appearance resembled a halberd. The only difference was that the warhead of the hammers was not solid forged, but assembled from several separate elements. In addition, they almost always had a pike or spear at the end. It is worth noting the fact that this medieval weapon did not always have a beak on the back of the hammer. Instead, an ax was sometimes attached, which could be both small and quite impressive in size. Such an unusual weapon was called polax.
The impact part of the hammer in long-pole weapons was varied: smooth, with small teeth, have one or more short or long spikes, and even defiant inscriptions. There were also such variants of weapons, where the combat head consisted only of hammers, trident beaks or blades, and ended with an unchanged pike on top. Weapons with a long shaft were used mainly by foot soldiers to fight against enemy cavalry. Sometimes they were also used by knights when they dismounted.
Combination weapons
The first examples of it appeared in the 16th century. and were of great varietybut all of them were united by a common feature - they necessarily contained certain elements inherent in war hammers. The simplest of them were with handles, inside of which a sword was placed. Such blades often had some additions in the form of pads - special stands for firearms or crossbows.
Such weapons as fire stocks were much more complicated. In addition to the hammer with hatchets and picks, they were also equipped with long blades up to one and a half meters in length. They could be advanced either automatically or fired from the top of the handle. There were also crickets, which were a combination of hammers with pistols or guns.
Oriental analogues
Klevtsy with short shafts were used not only in European armies, but also in the East. For example, in India, a similar war hammer was called the fakir's staff or drove it, in Afghanistan and Pakistan - lohar, in Persia - tabar. This weapon was very similar to the European one, because it had the same division of the hammer into four spikes. Like the Lucernehammer.
I must say that the klevtsy lasted much longer in the East than in Europe, as they were in great demand, both among the military and among the civilian population. They were especially popular in the Indo-Persian region and even had the same name - "crow's beak". They also made combined weapons in India. There were also analogues in China and Japan.
Butt
After the loss of the combat use of klevtsov, Poland began to publishspecial laws prohibiting the civilian population from wearing them even in the form of canes and staves. Instead of them, another version of the hammer appeared - a butt or butt. He could easily be recognized by the iron, silver or brass knobs and by the beaks, strongly bent towards the shaft, often wrapped in a ring. There were also such specimens in which only a sharp tip was bent or they had an unusually shaped bend. In addition, the opposite end of the handle, up to 1 m long, was also bound in butts. It was mainly worn by the Polish gentry.
As you know, the butt was originally intended for self-defense, but over time it became clear that this weapon was more terrible than the slander. If earlier, during a fight with the enemy, a saber could cut the face, head or arm, and the spilled blood somehow calmed the excited warriors. Now, when a person was hit with a butt, blood was not visible. Therefore, the attacker could not immediately come to his senses and over and over again hit harder and harder, while inflicting fatal injuries on his victim. I must say that the Polish gentry, who wore this weapon, did not feel too sorry for their subjects, and often punished them with beatings, and sometimes killed them.
Give up positions
Over time, the hammer (a weapon of the Middle Ages) lost its former popularity, and it began to be used only as an attribute of various military ranks. So it was in Italy, Germany and other European countries. Their example was followed by robber and Cossack atamans. Quite often, screw-in blades were placed in the handles of these weapons.daggers.
