Category:Battleaxe

BATTLEAXE (slashing)
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Weight: ~4 kg
Rank(s): 1st row

        The battle axe has the distinction of being one of the 
oldest tools and weapons of man. The first battle axe dates back 
about 35,000 years, when weaponers began attaching the blade to 
long wooden handles. The double-bladed battle axe was born in Egypt 
during the Bronze Age, but the design did not gain widespread 
acceptance.
        During the Greco-Roman times, the battle axe was seen as a 
barbarian weapon used by the Franks, Celts, Lombards, and Vikings.
        The earliest modern battle axes were a Danish weapon of the 
ninth century. These weapons did not have double-bladed heads, but 
were still two-handed weapons. The Danes often decorated these axe 
heads with carvings. Some shafts reached six feet in length, which 
caused great structural strain on the point immediately below the 
axe-head.
        English knights of the 14th century adopted the battle axe 
as a favored weapon in foot combat. Its long handle afforded a 
great reach, and allowed for a great amount of force to be focused 
in the blow.
        Naval crews used battle axes as boarding weapons until the 
tactic of boarding parties became obsolete.
        The dwarven battle axe design is based on an actual design 
by the Swiss, who called their version the mordaxt.

Some skill(s) usable with the weapon:
  Axes, battlecry, bladed Fury, cleave, lure and reaving.

See also:
  Cleaver, aklys, tomahawk, hand-axe and great axe.