The war hammer is an ancient weapon. The war hammer is a powerful argument. The history of the war hammer

Rise higher, our heavy hammer,

Knock, knock, knock harder on the steel chest!

F. Shkulev

Acquaintance

Hammers And maces represent a separate subclass: impact weapons without flexible elements, with a heavily weighted end. Almost all of them (except gerdan, oslop and some hammers) are designed to be used with one hand, and therefore are approximately 50-80 centimeters long, sometimes up to a meter. Weight - from 1 ( club) to 4 ( morning star) kilograms. Two-handed - more.

They consist of a handle (which is more correctly called rod ) and metal working part ( heads ). The handle is most often wooden and bound with iron, but it can be either purely wooden or all-metal.

If the head is wooden and studded with some kind of thorns, or a large stone is fixed on it, then we have before us club, ancient ancestor maces.

What are they needed for?

Why arm yourself with a mace when you can take an axe? What good is an unsharpened weapon? Maybe they were used out of poverty, like staves and clubs?

No, it doesn't look like it. Let's look at the pictures: are these things really worth nothing? Hardly. Then what's the point?

Stay with your guns

First meaning: maces and hammers almost never don't get stuck. And this is their huge an advantage over a sword, and especially over an ax and a spear, which simply love to get stuck and wedged. Even if the weapon can be pulled out, it takes precious seconds, which often costs the fighter his head.

This is especially true in the fight against the shield bearer. Almost any weapon gets stuck in a wooden shield. The Romans used this fact to their advantage (remember what was said about piluma in the corresponding article?), but usually this is a disaster. But with a mace you can easily rid the enemy of the shield (one or two heavy blows - and the arm with the shield will involuntarily drop, and its owner, if he survives, will have to treat the fracture). Some types of hammers ( minting, for example) break through the shield, but also do not get stuck due to the fact that they enter it with a wide wedge.

Silushka heroic

The mace is a power weapon that is perfect for a big guy, even one who is not quite experienced in combat skills. This does not mean that you can learn to wield it instantly (a spear is much better here), but still quite quickly.

What’s more important is that force can be used for the purpose. With a mace, it makes sense, for example, to hit an enemy shield with a swing (as discussed above), parrying it is very inconvenient. Hitting an enemy's weapon with it often knocks out or breaks the latter. But here you need to be careful - the shaft of the mace is not always strong enough.

Attention - myth: in books and films they like to hand the mace to the clumsiest fighter. Although the mace forgives some lack of fencing training, run the fighter must do it well: formation maneuvers with maces require fast movements, not like with pikes.

Mace vs armor

Penetrating enemy armor is one of the most important characteristics by which a weapon is evaluated. For a mace, this indicator is arranged in a special way. She copes with a solid shell mediocrely (a hammer is better); but chain mail does not protect from it at all. That is, it can save its owner’s life, but in no way combat effectiveness. Lamellar(plate) armor, scales and other similar ones hold up a mace blow better, but also very poorly (much worse than a sword blow).

And since such armor was found much more often than super-heavy knightly armor, this was more than relevant - especially in our Rus', where Maximilian There was never any armor in existence.

From any angle

Most types of maces (this does not apply to hammers) have the additional advantage that it makes no difference which side you hit. And since you don’t have to turn the weapon in your hand, this makes it possible to expand the repertoire of techniques compared to a sword or an ax.

In addition, there is less concern about ensuring that the blow does not land casually. Club shots rarely slip.

The economy must be economical

And yet it’s cheap. The fact is that a mace does not require particularly high-quality metal. Medium or even very average will do. She doesn't need to hold cutting edge.

In addition, swords and axes become jagged and chipped in battle. The first can be corrected by long fiddling with a whetstone, the second requires the help of a blacksmith. And the mace... what will happen to it? Well, a mark appeared on her, but this fact will have a minimal effect on her fighting qualities. True, they can cut the core, but this happens much less often than novelists imagine.

That is why the charters of knightly orders often provided for the following clause: on a long journey, a mace must be included in the weapon set. Where there is no one to repair the damage, this is the most reliable choice.

Restrictions

In this case, why haven’t maces and hammers replaced flimsy and unreliable swords? Alas, they have several weaknesses and restrictions.

With or on a shield

This Spartan principle is fully applicable to a fighter with heavy striking weapons: if he does not have a shield, he is not a survivor. Reflecting blows with a mace is an extremely difficult and completely thankless task. And not because the handle is fragile (it is not), but because:

• it's too heavy;
• its handle does not at all prevent the enemy’s blade from sliding along it onto the owner’s fingers. A mace with a guard is nonsense.

True, for a mace there are techniques for indiscriminate (fan) parrying, similar to those done with a club, but they cannot be called simple.

Which shield to choose? Usually round or almond-shaped. It gives the warrior sufficient freedom of movement that he will need. Standing still, you can't fight much with a mace.

Break the ranks!

Like any weapon that requires a sideways swing (axe, flail), the mace is practically unsuitable for closed formation. The reasons are obvious. Meanwhile, dense formation provides additional protection, especially from arrows, and allows the use of heavy, non-maneuverable shields, popularly known as “armored doors.”

In addition, a wide swing forces the fighter to open up slightly, which is dangerous (this is why the Romans generally prohibited slashing blows in their army).

Arms are short

A fighter with a mace has a very short threat range. Even less than a soldier with a sword equal length: Due to the mass and balance of the club, you cannot afford long shots, it is too easy to lose your balance.

That is why main enemy Maces are long weapons that hit the legs, like an ax or halberd. In close formation, it’s still back and forth, but when the halberd begins to move in an arc at knee height... With a spear it’s somewhat simpler, it’s easier to take it onto the shield.

Attention - myth: in several films you can see this technique: rotating the hand with a mace in front of the shield. This is supposedly supposed to repel enemy swords - but why, if there is already a shield behind the mace? However, in fact, this technique really existed, and was even described in Stahlmeyer’s textbook; only it was intended for... breaking a spear stuck in a shield.

Does a hero need a mace?

How justified is the use of a mace by heroes in a fantasy world? The question is ambiguous.

If he has to go at a large monster or giant, there is absolutely no need for a mace, because the blows with it will be felt too weakly. But an impressive coinage on a long handle or an exotic gerdan may come in handy.

But in a fight with a pack of goblins or other similar evil spirits, the mace will help out - it will not get stuck and will not allow you to be overwhelmed by the mass.

If you are fighting with your own kind, this can be a good bet if the enemy has superior forces and inferior quality, but I would not go against a blade master with a mace - the speed of the weapon is not the same.

There are also opponents in fantasy worlds, in battle with whom a mace or hammer is, by definition, the best bet. These are all kinds of stone golems, gargoyles and other similar structures: the ax may be scary for them, but only after a fight with a stone enemy can it be thrown away and cannot be restored. I'm not even talking about the sword.

But the main thing is that when going on a long journey, it is better to follow the rules of the Templars and take with you weapons that will last for a long time. This, as you already understood, is again a mace. You can use it with a sword or an axe, but you must take it.

On the battlefield

Let's say you are a general and you have a regiment of infantry with maces under your command. What tactical tasks would you prefer to assign to him?

Of course, we will try not to put it on the defensive: a mace is, after all, primarily an offensive weapon (but with hammers you can also defend). And even more so, let’s not try to stop their cavalry attack - it’s so hopeless that your soldiers will most likely just run away.

But it’s very expensive to disperse a formation of pikemen with large shields. Unless, of course, these are Roman legionnaires, but ordinary medieval shield-bearers, that is, a poorly trained army. For cavalry, breaking through it will cost hard-to-replace losses, but soldiers with maces will do the same thing much “cheaper.”

Swordsmen are also a good target, and quite so. Especially those in armor. But against halberdiers, as mentioned above, it’s not very cool to use them; however, the odds against them are proportional to the weight of the halberd. If it is poorly maneuverable, they will break through.

There is no point in throwing our regiment into an attack against riflemen: light shields will not save us, although in the absence of alternatives, a loose formation will bring its benefits.

And finally, the last thing: among all infantry units mace bearers are perhaps the best candidate for an ambush regiment. When attacking from the flank and so on, they more effective than any another walking part. And, whatever one may say, it’s easier to hide them than cavalry...

Determinant impact weapons

Mace

She's the same insect. Its head is spherical or pear-shaped: the Latin word bulla and means ball (compare with English bullet- bullet). There may be protrusions on it, but if they are long spikes, then the weapon has a different name - morning star.

It apparently first appeared in Egypt, and back in the Old Kingdom. The Romans have known the mace since about the 2nd century AD. However, it was introduced en masse by the Arabs: in their region light armor was in use, against which it worked excellently. Maces showed themselves to be especially powerful during the conquest of Persia, famous for its chain mail cavalry. They also helped quite well in the wars with Byzantium.

The mace was borrowed from the Arabs by the inhabitants of the steppe (Khazars, Pechenegs, Cumans), African peoples (they had it in service until European colonization), possibly by the Indians, and later, through the Crusaders, by the Europeans.

True, in Europe the mace was known before, during the times of the Franks, but then it temporarily disappeared, surviving only among the Viking northerners. From whom Rus' adopted this favorite weapon is unknown, maybe from the steppes, or maybe from the Varangians.

As the armor becomes heavier, the mace is gradually replaced by pernach, mint and morning star. But the Ukrainians, whose main enemy for a long time were the Turks, used it unchanged for quite a long time. It was the mace that became the sign of the hetman’s power.

This is interesting: many believe that not only the hetman’s, believing that the mace is a prototype scepter. They are partly right, but only partly: the scepter originally came from a pastoral staff, but some peoples gave it a more mace-like appearance. The Russian scepter, presented to Boris Godunov by Rudolf II, is also essentially a staff, although on the coat of arms it begins to more and more resemble a mace or feather.

timber

Why, strictly speaking, is the head of the mace round and not cube-shaped? Well, there were such weapons. But if the working part of the mace is shaped like a cube or prism, then such an object is called a beam. In Rus' they met, although not too often.

The fact is that the beam, without giving any particular advantage in terms of penetration power, is less indifferent to the angle of impact (and for the same reason it slips off the armor more often).

And he's ugly...

Mace

Transitional view between a club and a mace and the most ancient weapon of this family, a club differs from a club either by a stone attached to the end of the handle, or by spikes stuck directly into the shaft. Spikes can be stone, iron (even banal nails!), and even something as exotic as shark teeth.

This is indeed a completely primitive weapon, and the authors of homespun historical novels, trying to arm the Russian prince in this way in the 13th century, maliciously slander it.

The appearance of maces did not supplant clubs, but they moved from a universal weapon to the category of a common weapon. However, in fairness, it should be noted that this is not entirely fair: a club is more maneuverable, faster and lighter than a mace, and the previously mentioned fan technique, which is very difficult for a mace, is much easier with a club.

This is interesting: Perhaps you have ever seen a bishop in full vestments? On occasion, notice the diamond-shaped piece of fabric that hangs from a ribbon on his right side. You won't believe it, but this is... a club. In any case, that’s what it’s called and is considered a symbolic image of a spiritual weapon, which is the word of God (some, however, believe that it was once a simple handkerchief for wiping hands...). The club can also be found in the vestments of an archimandrite, and sometimes a simple priest - he can wear it as a special reward.

Oslop

Oslop is a two-handed club, what is usually called the Great Club in games. This is a hefty club, usually shod and equipped with spikes, weighing 7-12 kilograms.

They arm with such a contraption those who have plenty of strength, but their combat skills are so-so. It is no coincidence that another form of this word is “dumb.” However, there have also been real pros with oslop - let's remember Hercules...

Oslop works differently than other weapons of this class. He simply demolishes his opponent as if he were knocking down a pin. It is possible - together with the horse. The momentum of a 10-kilogram log is wow.

By the way, this is almost the only weapon with which Can perform those tricks that filmmakers love so much: twirl them in the air at shoulder level shouting: “Shit!” Why with him, and not with a sword or an ax? Because it won't get stuck!

Pernach and shestoper

Often confused with a mace, a pernach is a weapon with a head shaped like several wedge-shaped “feathers” (if there are 4 of them, then it’s just pernach, if 6 - shestoper). Feathers came in various shapes: simple triangular, triangular with a spike-like protrusion, and so on. The handle, as a rule, is made entirely of metal, usually tubular.

Attention - myth: Several domestic science fiction writers, without saying a word, described six-feathers two meters long and without any “feathers”. Apparently, they derived this word from “pole” and “feather”, and not from “six” and “feather”.

Pernach penetrates armor much better than a classic mace, and at the same time is almost as not susceptible to jamming. And it is not surprising that since the 13th-14th centuries it has been rapidly replacing the mace throughout almost all of Europe, including Rus'.

Buzdykhan

An improvement on the classic mace - the ball is strewn with not too long, but impressive points. This picture is familiar to all of us, because in games and in fantasy illustrations the mace is most often drawn this way.

However, buzdykhan was widely popular only in Rus', among the Mongols and some other neighboring peoples; it was almost never found in Europe. Our ancestors knew and appreciated him; It is no coincidence that he gave the name to one of the blows in the Russian fist fighting technique.

A mace (or club) with long, very long ray-shaped spikes. This is also the name of a type of flail, but this will be discussed in another article.

The morning star arose as another response to heavier armor. He also happened to be “professional” (with a high-quality iron ball, in which screwed in spikes), and “peasant” (a club with spikes, essentially the same club).

It penetrated armor even better than the first one, but it could jam, lose its spikes, and so on. In addition, a “professional” morning star is very heavy: one head weighs, at best, a kilogram and a half, or even much more.

Hammer

Initially, it came from an ordinary blacksmith's hammer, and sometimes it was simply transplanted onto a longer handle and went into battle. But this, of course, is not a real war hammer. The real one almost always has wedge-shaped the working part is not sharp like that of a sledgehammer, but also not flat, like that of a sledgehammer.

War hammer is more correctly called coined.

But what instead war hammer usually drawn in games and fantasy! Even in the Warhammer game, which, it would seem, is simply indecent not to know the appearance of a war hammer, they depict a mysterious and obviously expensive device with a polished flat warhead.

Just in case, I’ll note that the hammer, of course, Maybe be a flat part, but it is not combative - it is a butt. It was used mainly not in battle - say, to drive stakes for a picket fence.

Mint is one of the best views weapons in terms of penetrating power, while it, like maces, extremely rarely gets stuck in armor. That's what makes him famous.

Why doesn't it get stuck? Because it doesn’t penetrate armor (and shields) so much as breaks through. That is, it does not form a hole to suit its size, but a wide gap from which it can easily come out.

The hammer handle can be either relatively short or long - two-handed. In Rus', a short horse coin was a sign of ataman power among robbers and some Cossacks.

There were also long two-handed hammers with a piercing spike at the end of the shaft - Lucerne hammers, or crow beaks. But we talked about them in the previous article.

The disadvantage of a hammer compared to a mace is that there is no “symmetry”, which is why the wealth of techniques is significantly reduced.

Klevets

If you still extend the working part of the mint, creating a long beak like a pick, you get a klevets (sometimes it is called that “battle pick”).

This - terrible weapon, against which almost no armor helps. Large mass, a chopping swing and a sharp beak... It not only penetrates the defense, but also inflicts terrible wounds.

However, the klevets lost many of the wonderful properties of his relatives. And first of all, it can get jammed, both in the shield and in the body of the enemy. Moreover, it can easily slide off.

But it is not too heavy - there have been peckers weighing only a kilogram or even less. In addition, there were such exotic things as a throwing claw - something like an Indian tomahawk.

Sometimes klevets are classified as axes. But cutting blows are impossible for them, and therefore such a definition is hardly legitimate. The effect of the hammer is something between impact and piercing - it is not particularly sharpened, but the wedge is much narrower than that of the same hammer.

Mace and hammer on paper

In fantasy

For fantasy heroes, weapons of this type are the third most popular after the sword and ax, although domestic fantasy, in full accordance with national tradition, puts them noticeably higher than the western one. They like to give the mace to a hero from the common people, a big guy with a simple-minded grin. A dwarf usually carries a hammer into battle - for this nation, hammers are only slightly inferior in popularity to axes.

In addition, this is the traditional weapon of worshipers: “We, monks, are people of God, there is no reason for us to shed blood... This is dubye: a bloodless thing, and therefore pleasing to God.” There is another reason for this preference: after all, the traditional enemy of the holy father in fantasy is the undead, and it is believed, not without reason, that a mace is much more effective against a fleshless skeleton than a sword. D&D tradition describes the mace of disruption, a special mace that deals colossal damage to the undead; she can be found in a good dozen novels set in the Forgotten Realms and other D&D worlds.

Warhammer

Of course, I would like to mention the world named after the “hero” of our review first. He even has a hammer in his logo. And this is a typical “can’t happen” weapon: a very intricate hammer, clearly created specifically for combat, but ending in a flat mallet. It’s hard to imagine who needs this and why.

Inside the world, however, it is not too easy to find such a hammer. The original belonged to the prophet, and now to the god Sigmar, and they say it could also be thrown. Today it (or a copy, priests don’t always agree on this) is in the possession of the Emperor. In addition, the knights of the Order of the White Wolf (oddly enough - the only non-worshipper Sigmaru) carry cavalry warhammers as standard equipment, much like the one on the emblem.

Hammer of Kharas

The famous hammer from Krynn, which belonged to the Dwarven king Kharas, is one of the most powerful things in Krynn, and not only as a weapon - they are also supposed to forge Spears, dragonlances. If so, I am ready to forgive him a completely non-combat uniform with a flat working part. However, on the other side it has a spike like a pecker, perhaps they actually fight with it...

The hammer is made of a mysterious transparent material - perhaps the same as the no less famous blue crystal staff of the priestess named Gold Moon.

And the black priest Verminaard in the same work carries a mace called “Night Bringer,” which blinds the enemy with its blow.

In historical novels

Not just fantasy... For example, in the wonderful novel by A.K. Tolstoy “Prince Silver” you can meet many of the weapons we described. The robber ataman Ring, as befits his rank, is armed with a coin, the big peasant Mitka is armed with an oslop, and the prince and boyar Morozov himself are armed with six-feathers. By the way, one of the robbers there is called Shestoper...

In N. S. Nikolaevsky’s novel “Ermak” you can also see Ermak’s coinage, and his associates have pernach, timber and klevets.

But in novels from foreign history, things are worse with them - and this is completely consistent with the truth of life. True, in “Ivanhoe” there is a club, but its role is assigned an unenviable one: “the sharp sword of the templar cut it apart like a reed and fell on the head of its owner.” Apparently, the clubs in old England were rather frail... However, it is possible that Father Took’s club was essentially a oslop.

In myths

We have already mentioned the weapons of Hercules. Giants, Cyclopes, and cannibals also liked to arm themselves in approximately the same way (which, I note, is very logical and reasonable).

An interesting motif found in a large number of different myths is a throwing hammer, for example, Mjolnir of the god Thor. As a rule, these hammers not only flew perfectly, but also returned to the owner, like a boomerang (what is better than a boomerang: it returns only if it misses). As far as we know now, throwing hammers have practically never been encountered in life - except for small coins, more like a tomahawk. However, this topic comes up so often that you can’t help but think - maybe this archaeological discovery is still ahead?

The Greek Hephaestus also fought with a hammer, but his hammer was probably not even a combat one, but an ordinary blacksmith’s one.

In games

In role-playing games, impact weapons have always stood apart: everyone understood that they needed to be introduced, and feverishly came up with: why is it so wonderful? It seems that no one has come up with the idea of ​​not getting stuck - simply because weapons that get stuck and spoil in role-playing games are somehow not in fashion. Well, what is this, really - the paladin has chipped away his enchanted sword, and now in the middle of the adventure he must look for the blacksmith... Not heroics, but some kind of industrial novel.

Ingenuity, however, did not disappoint, and many diverse ideas were born.

The most popular one concerns the wonderful properties of the mace and hammer against the undead, and sometimes also golems. On the one hand, it’s not bad, on the other hand, this is frankly not enough for a full-fledged “feature”.

Second place goes to the concept that a mace has a chance to stun the enemy for a while (as, for example, done in Might & Magic). This is quite realistic, considering that mace hits often, without killing the enemy, quickly incapacitate him.

In Ultima Online, maces quickly destroy enemy armor, making them "weapons against warriors" (spears and daggers are against magicians, swords are an intermediate option). In addition, they cause damage to the enemy's stamina, so that he quickly gets tired. In general, more or less realistic.

In GURPS, the Klecker has a special fate: it is the only weapon that combines the penetrating ability of a piercing blow with the power swing of a slashing blow (which, in general, is true). The price you have to pay for this is that the blade easily gets stuck after a blow (this is true, but most sharpened weapons suffer from the same thing).

Many games believe that wielding a mace is easier than wielding a sword, making it accessible to non-warriors. I'm not sure that makes sense. Priests, because of their vows, also usually use them, but not by choice, but, so to speak, under compulsion.

One of the good ideas, which seems to have only been announced so far, is to give the mace a greater plus from strength and less from dexterity than a sword. True, this is actually closer not to a mace, but to a hammer and an axe, but everything is better than nothing.

In strategy games, oddly enough, there are almost no maces and hammers. In any case, with some special property. In Civilization IV, the mace looks like a flail and serves as an improved version of the axe. In Warhammer, it is identical to the one-handed sword (and only the cavalry hammer, mentioned above, turned out to be a superweapon)

Of course, clubs are often found in games, but correct They haven't taken their place yet. This is understandable: what can the West understand about typically Eastern weapons? So the word is up to our compatriots. Who would describe the mace in the game in accordance with the truth of life - perhaps you?

A war hammer is a type of bladed weapon designed to deliver crushing blows to the enemy, functionally similar to a mace or club. Together with the spear and the axe, the war hammer is one of the most ancient types of bladed weapons; all of them were invented by man back in the Neolithic period.

The war hammer was very popular in the German lands (until the 11th century); it is believed that it was from there that it came to other European countries. However, the “golden age” for the hammer can be called the late Middle Ages, the time of widespread use of plate armor. During this period, the war hammer - along with the ax and pike - became part of the universal long-shafted weapon, with which it was possible to deliver piercing, chopping and crushing blows. After the disappearance of plate armor, the war hammer was still used for some time as a status attribute of the military authorities.

In addition to Europe, war hammers were very popular in the East. Varieties of these weapons in different time widely used in India, Persia, China and Afghanistan.

The hammer, like other types of bladed weapons, had (and still has) great symbolic meaning in different historical periods. It is very widely represented in the mythology of various peoples of the world.

The war hammer is the true quintessence of pressure, pressure, power and brute force, invincible and all-crushing. However, it is characterized by a kind of dualism, since the hammer is not only an instrument of destruction, but also an instrument of creation. This is not only an attribute of war, but also a symbol of labor and creativity. The Scandinavian god of thunder and storm Thor used his stone hammer Mjollnir both as a creative tool and as a weapon of enormous destructive power. This hammer not only flew perfectly, but also always returned to its owner. In Japan, the hammer was a symbol of wealth and prosperity; this tool was an invariable attribute of the Greek god Hephaestus, the patron saint of blacksmiths and metallurgists. However, among some peoples, the hammer was a symbol of evil, a blind natural element, unpredictable and inexorable.

The hammer is a very common heraldic symbol, although in this area its “peaceful” form is more often used. The coat of arms of the Soviet Union featured a hammer and sickle; this symbol was often used by other lovers of leftist ideology.

Description of war hammers

Warhammer (English: Warhammer) is a predominantly Western term, in Russian literature this weapon is often called klevets or mint. Although a small hatchet with a hammer on the butt is often called a “chaser”. The large number of varieties of war hammers that existed in different historical periods, as well as the practice of using hammers as part of a universal warhead along with an ax and a point, led to some confusion in the names.

The war hammer consisted of a shaft and a warhead attached to its top. The length of the shaft could be different, sometimes it reached a meter in length. However, short hammers designed to be held with one hand were also very common. The shaft was usually made of wood (its thickness could vary), but hammers with a metal handle were also found. The warhead had the shape of a parallelepiped or cylinder, one of the ends of which was pointed. A variety of methods were used to attach it to the shaft: a stopper, a rope, and others. The flat part of the striker was called the butt; sometimes it ended with several teeth.

With the blunt side of the hammer it was possible to stun an enemy and break his bones without even breaking through his armor. And to pierce armor or chain mail, a pointed part of the weapon was used, which was often called the beak.

The Swiss hammer Bec de Corbin, better known as the Lucerne hammer, had four spikes of considerable length on the butt, set apart from the central axis of the striker.

The phrase “war hammer” usually evokes an association (for this we have to thank computer games) with a huge and heavy weapon, resembling an ordinary blacksmith's tool. This is not entirely true. By the way, similar misconceptions are associated with another type of impact weapon - a mace. Heavy forge hammers may have been used on the battlefield in some circumstances, but a war hammer designed specifically for warfare was something entirely different. As a rule, this weapon was fencing with one hand, and its weight was 1-2 kg. But in general, we can add that war hammers bore little resemblance to what we are accustomed to understand by the word “hammer.” The main function of this weapon during the period of its greatest distribution was to defeat a well-protected enemy. Some types of war hammer that have survived to this day did not have a hammer at all.

What are the main advantages of a war hammer over other types of melee weapons? There are several of them. First of all, this is the penetrating power of hammers. After the advent of plate armor, the sword began to increasingly turn into an attribute of status, since it was very difficult to hit an enemy clad in iron with it. The center of gravity of a hammer is much higher than that of a sword, so the blow is much more crushing. In addition, all his strength is concentrated at one point, so to break through armor you do not need to have very great strength.

A hammer has another advantage over a spear, ax or sword: it never gets stuck. This is especially important during a duel with a shield bearer. Almost any weapon gets stuck in a wooden shield, but not a hammer. The fact is that upon impact, it does not so much pierce as break through the barrier, forming a fairly wide hole. With sufficient strength and skill, you can split the shield with a few successful blows.

The war hammer had another significant advantage over the sword: it was much cheaper. In the Middle Ages, making a long and strong sword blade was a whole story. This required good quality iron and highly qualified blacksmiths. Therefore, swords were expensive and were not as widespread as modern cinema shows. In addition, a good blow can cause damage to the sword blade (or even break it) and not all of them can be dealt with using a whetstone. A hammer (like a mace) is a completely different matter. The steel for the warhead can be medium, or even very medium. If marks appear on it during use, they will not affect the combat qualities of the weapon in any way.

Why, then, have not war hammers and maces replaced expensive and not very reliable swords? Alas, like any specialized weapon, the hammer has a number of disadvantages.

It was extremely difficult to parry enemy blows with a war hammer. It does not have a very suitable balance for this, in addition, the hilt of this weapon does not prevent the enemy’s blade from slipping. So the warrior definitely needed a shield. Also, the warhammer is not very well suited for use in close formations, it does not work very well at long ranges.

War hammers of the medieval period can be divided into three large groups:

• Short hammer or "rider's hammer". This is a one-handed weapon that was very popular among cavalrymen from the 13th to the 16th centuries. It had a length of 60-80 cm, combat unit weighed about half a kilogram. In Rus', short hammers were traditionally called “klevets” or “chasers”; they were loved by the Zaporozhye Cossacks (kelef, kelep) and the famous Polish hussars. The beak was often supplemented with a small ax and a point. The short hammer was used not only by riders, they were also used with pleasure for close hand-to-hand combat;
• Long or long-shafted hammer. This type The weapon had a shaft of considerable length, from 1.2 to 2 meters. Long-shaft hammers became widespread around the middle of the 14th century. This type of weapon was in many ways reminiscent of a halberd, but differed from it in that its warhead was not solidly forged, but consisted of individual elements. Their composition varied: very often such a hammer had a lance at the end, and an ax was installed instead of a beak. Such weapons are better known as Polex. The surface of the hammer often had teeth, and sometimes an inscription was applied to it. There are known variants of a long hammer, in which the warhead, in addition to the axe, also carried a beak, four spikes and a hammer, and on top there was a pike. Often a guard (rondel) was made on the shaft of long hammers to protect the hands;
• Throwing Hammer. Separately, we can highlight hammers intended for throwing at the enemy. They are very similar to the sports equipment that Olympians use today.

History of the War Hammer

As mentioned above, the hammer - along with the spear and ax - is the most ancient look bladed weapons invented by man. When our distant ancestor realized that nature had endowed him with not very strong and long arms, and his teeth were poorly suited for self-defense, he began to arm himself. The idea of ​​attaching a massive stone to a wooden stick is not too complicated, so it is not surprising that the war hammer dates back to the Neolithic.

Moreover, the hammer is also good for its versatility; it can be used not only as a weapon, but also to perform many household functions. Often the hammer was the butt of a stone axe, in which case the range of its use expanded even further.

After man discovered metals, hammer heads began to be made from them. First from bronze, and then from iron. Moreover, the hammer was necessary when processing metals in a forge, so it was very common. Later, already in the Middle Ages, ordinary blacksmith hammers were sometimes used in battle, mounted on longer handles.

The hammer was a traditional weapon of the ancient Germans; they used it even before the beginning of the 11th century. With the advent of plate armor, the victorious march of these weapons throughout Europe began. If up to this point a sword or spear was quite enough to defeat an enemy, then something else was needed to break through a heavily armed one. War hammers, on the other hand, had excellent “armor-piercing” characteristics, so they coped with such tasks perfectly. At the same time, they were not too difficult to use and were inexpensive. The action of a hammer is very similar to a mace, but it is more effective against heavy armor. Besides, additional elements its warhead significantly increased the versatility of this weapon.

That is why the short hammer became a favorite weapon of infantry and cavalry. For a long time the knights disdained the despicable weapons of the townspeople, but, in the end, harsh reality left them no choice. By the middle of the 15th century, the war hammer became the usual weapon of the horseman, for which it received its second name - “cavalry hammer”.

The infantry took a slightly different path; at the beginning of the 14th century, hammers with a shaft appeared, the length of which sometimes reached two meters, and the combat unit could include a hammer, a spear, and an ax. Sometimes the lower part of the shaft ended in a deadly spike.

Although, similar weapons Usually referred to specifically as a hammer, it is rather a hybrid of a spear, an ax and a hammer. The classification of such chimeras is a rather complicated issue, since there were a large number of their variations, and each master made weapons according to his own understanding - there was no GOST system at that time.

In Germany, such hammer-spear-axes were called fusstreithammer, in France - bec de corbin, in Switzerland - Lucerne hammers, and in England - poleaxes (poleaxes). It is the latter name that is the most popular today. Such a weapon combines the striking power of a hammer, the penetrating blow of a spear and the wide area of ​​destruction of an ax. With its help, it was very convenient for a foot warrior to repel attacks of enemy cavalry.

Some modern historians generally believe that the polex came not from a war hammer, but from a Danish axe.

By the way, the polex was not only used in war, it was one of the most popular tournament weapons. They were often used during duels; there was even a special “duel” modification of this hammer.

Almost all examples of polaxes that have survived to this day are richly decorated and quite well made, which suggests the material wealth of their owners. Already today, studies have been carried out on the graves of soldiers who died in the battles of Visby (1361) and Tauton (1461), which showed a significant number of deaths from blows by poleaxes.

Wide use firearms gradually makes heavy plate armor unnecessary, and along with it the war hammer goes into oblivion. Although, of course, this does not happen immediately. In the 16th century, combined weapons appeared: swords, rapiers, and knives were placed in the handles of knives and war hammers. They are sometimes used as a firearm rest. The so-called fire stocks generally had blades that were fired from the handle. The so-called crickets were very interesting - peculiar hybrids of pistols and war hammers.

At the end of the 17th century, the war hammer almost completely lost its combat significance and turned into a fashionable attribute that emphasized the high status of its owner. It was worn by officers, and robber atamans often followed their example. This was the case in Germany and Italy. In Poland, the klewiec turned into a civilian self-defense weapon, receiving the name obushok or butt. Hammers were used for similar purposes in Belarus and Hungary.

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Hello, dear readers! Today we will talk about one interesting type of edged weapon - war hammer. This weapon is historically extremely epic and cannot be ignored! For quite a long time I was going to publish a series of articles on this topic, but it didn’t work out. Now a beginning has been made and I think that you will definitely see a continuation of this topic. Now let's move directly to our guest today.

So, Is a war hammer a melee weapon or a tool of creation?

- one of the most ancient types of bladed weapons, which are of the crushing and throwing type at the same time. Man used it back in the Neolithic period, when he realized that God had endowed him with not too long arms and rather weak capabilities. The war hammer constantly accompanied man throughout the Bronze Age, and continues to accompany us today not only as a combat or ceremonial weapon, but also as a production tool.

The very first samples war hammers the pommel was made of stone, then it was replaced by metal.

A war hammer can safely be called multifunctional:

• its butt (shaft, handle) was used to stun the enemy with a blow to the head,
• , the striker or the sharp triangular part of the pommel made it possible to damage the armor of warriors;
• the long spike in the middle was indispensable for delivering a direct blow to the chest, stomach and groin.

Design and manufacture of a war hammer

Today we can safely consider war hammer among the most popular types of bladed weapons, endowed with crushing force. Depending on the type of weapon, the shaft could be short or long (from 100 cm). The thickness also varied. It was made of wood or metal. The high strength of the shaft made it possible to use it both for combat operations and for protection against enemy attacks. At the same time, it can be considered a rather vulnerable part of the hammer, unlike the .

Klevets or striker, i.e. the warhead of the hammer, stone or metal, was made in the form of a solid parallelepiped or cylinder with one pointed end. His margin of safety was enormous. Attaching to the shaft was carried out in different ways. It could be a rope, a stopper, etc. They also produced all-metal war hammers.

War hammer - replica

Nowadays, making such a weapon is not difficult. To do this, you only need wood and a solid piece of metal or stone, as well as the ingenuity of a craftsman and carpentry tools. In my time war hammer dubbed the “bird” weapon due to its appearance striker. When making it, you should adhere to exactly this appearance, i.e. on one side, sharpen the striker like a bird’s beak.

Classification and types of war hammers

If we talk about existing and existing classifications of war hammers, then they can be conditionally divided into two categories.

These are products for:

• melee,
• throwing weapon.

Every people inhabiting the earth has war hammer was presented in one form or another. This was especially popular steel arms, to one degree or another resembling a crow's beak, in the late era.

Among the representatives of war hammers are:

• a sample presented in New Caldonia, which was essentially endowed with a point;

• weapon aborigines of australia, made in the form of a stone blade connected to a wooden handle using hot resin;

• Italian war hammer 15th and 16th centuries with a wooden handle, a square striker, an octagonal beak;

• French war hammer 15th century with oak handle, blunt striker, faceted beak;

• New Zealand Maori currents with a blade made of jade and secured to the shaft with a cord;

• "crow's beak"- an artifact of the Bronze Age period, found in Sweden, which is a dagger blade mounted on a bronze handle (it also had ritual significance);

• the war hammer of a medieval European horseman - a wrought iron rod screwed to the shaft with copper wire;

• bavarian war hammer 15th century with a wooden shaft half clad in iron;

• Indian pounded made of steel with a silver-plated shaft;

• protective Japanese Kusarigama- kama yari core, attached to the handle by means of a chain;

• war hammer with brass and silver of the tribes that inhabited the borders between present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan;

• steel combat hammer of the Hindus and Persians with gold notching and velvet-covered handles;

• a 16th century war hammer found in southern Germany, and many others.

Hammer in symbolism

It was not only a type of edged weapon. Since the beginning of civilized times, it has served as a symbol of all-crushing strength and power. However, this symbolism is twofold, since the hammer is also instrument of creation, and not just destruction.

Either way, as a weapon it truly represented brute force. For many peoples, the hammer was recognized as a symbol of evil. Myths connect it with thunder, but here, too, the symbolism was manifested in two ways: thunder is one of the signs of an approaching thunderstorm, and, therefore, a symbol of fertility.

He is an invariable attribute of the gods not only of war or the elements, but also of crafts, Master of Hephaestus from Greek mythology and Vulcan from the Romans were always depicted with a hammer - the personification of creative possibilities. With the help of a hammer and other tools, Hephaestus forged best warrior Troy of Achilles flame armor, helmet, shield and other elements of his impenetrable equipment.

God Thor from Germanic-Scandinavian mythology used a stone hammer known as Mjollnir, both as a productive tool and as a destructive weapon. In Japan, the hammer was a tool of the god of prosperity and became a symbol of wealth and successful gold mining.

The hammer, as a bladed weapon in Rus', has been used in all centuries. The ambivalent attitude towards him has survived to this day. The Soviet symbolism of creation, which included the hammer and sickle, is known to everyone - here's the hammer.

This is also a hammer, but not a combat one (in most cases)

So this one is like this war hammer, not simple as it seems at first glance. This steel arms has a lot of varieties, which we will definitely talk about more than once in the following articles. Therefore, do not forget to join our

A war hammer is a cold pole weapon of the impact-crushing type, similar in its action to a club and a mace. It has been known to man since ancient times; it is believed that our distant ancestors began using a war hammer, along with a spear, an ax and a club, back in the late Stone Age. But the “golden age” of these weapons, without a doubt, was the late Middle Ages, a period when warriors clad in iron from head to toe fought on the battlefield. The hammer was capable of crushing even the most powerful armor.

It was during this period that he became integral part complex long-pole weapons, such as a polex or battle ax. Although, the war hammer was also used as a separate independent weapon.

IN last years Thanks to computer toys and fantasy books, the war hammer has become more recognizable. But such fame played a cruel joke on him. The weapons usually depicted by writers or animators bear very little relation to real war hammers. Usually it is something huge, rectangular and very massive, very reminiscent of an ordinary blacksmith hammer or sledgehammer, decorated with intricate patterns. Of course, a sledgehammer can also be used in battle, there is a lot of historical evidence about this, but a real war hammer had a completely different shape and weight. And to his appearance it looked more like a pickaxe or an ice ax.

The hammer is very widely represented in the mythology of various peoples. Man has always associated it with pressure and brute force, capable of crushing everything in its path. The most famous war hammer, without a doubt, is Mjollnir - the stone weapon of the Scandinavian god Thor. He used his hammer both for creation and as destructive weapon. Mjollnir could be thrown, and not only did it always hit the target, but it also returned to its owner. The Japanese revered the hammer as a symbol of prosperity and wealth; it was a constant companion of Hephaestus, the ancient Greek deity of blacksmithing and metallurgy. With the help of this hammer, Hephaestus forged armor, a sword and a shield for Achilles, with which legendary hero never knew defeat.

At the same time, among some peoples, the hammer was a symbol of the natural elements, powerful, unpredictable and indomitable. The symbolism of the hammer is characterized by a kind of dualism associated with its two functions: peaceful and military. On coats of arms and emblems it is usually the “civilian” form of the hammer that is used. The hammer, as a tool, has long become a symbol of hard work, industrial production, handicrafts. On the coat of arms and flag of the Soviet Union, the hammer symbolized the working class.

The war hammer was popular not only in Europe; similar weapons were also used in other regions of the world: India, China, Persia, and the Middle East.

After losing its combat significance, the war hammer was used for a long time as a status weapon. In Italy, Poland and Germany, hammers were attributes of high military command. They were also popular among bandits and Cossack chieftains.

Description and classification

A war hammer consists of a shaft and a warhead, which was usually made of metal. The term “war hammer” (warhammer) itself is more typical for Western European (English) literature, in Eastern Europe Such weapons were usually called klevets and mints. However, the latter name is often used to refer to small axes with an elongated beak-shaped butt, therefore, to avoid confusion, it is better to avoid this name. In general, we can say that a wide variety of war hammers that existed in different historical periods, as well as the practice of using them as one of the elements of a complex compound weapons, has led to considerable confusion in terminology.

The warhead of the hammers was a cylinder or parallelepiped with one pointed end. It was shaped like a beak and could have different lengths. The other end was shaped like a hammer; its working surface could be smooth or have several teeth. There were different ways of attaching the warhead to the shaft: using a rope, a stopper, etc. With the flat part it was possible to stun the adversary, break his bones, or knock him out of the saddle. However, the main striking element of the hammer, of course, was the beak. With its help it was possible to pierce almost any armor, because the entire force of the blow fell on one point.

The shaft of the war hammer was usually made of wood, but metal handles are also known. Often the wooden shaft was bound with metal. The length of the shaft varied widely, depending on historical period, country, as well as the characteristics of the use of specific weapons.

There is a very common misconception about a war hammer as something heavy and very massive. This is wrong. One-handed samples of these weapons usually weighed 1-2 kg. Hammers had many advantages over other types of bladed weapons, however, they also had very serious disadvantages.

The development of protective equipment has led to a significant decrease in the effectiveness of edged weapons. The sword was not very effective against chain mail armor, and with the advent of armor it began to turn into an attribute of status. The war hammer had a much higher center of gravity than the sword, and, in addition, all the power of the blow was concentrated in one small point. Therefore, in order to pierce heavy armor with a war hammer, it was not necessary to have any extraordinary physical strength. In terms of its punching properties, it was superior to a mace, because the weight of the hammer was better balanced.

This weapon also has one more advantage: the war hammer does not get stuck in the enemy’s armor or shield. And this problem was very serious: after a not very successful blow, you could simply remain unarmed. Almost anything gets stuck in a wooden panel. bladed weapon, but not a hammer or mace. They do not so much pierce as they break through the barrier, leaving a fairly wide hole in it. If you had the necessary skill and sufficient physical strength, it was generally possible to split the enemy’s shield with a hammer.

The hammer had another important advantage over the sword: it was much cheaper. At the medieval level of development of metallurgy, making a long and strong blade was a whole story. Steel was scarce and of poor quality. A strong blow could easily damage the blade and render the weapon unusable. And it was not always possible to correct such defects with the help of a grindstone. In principle, it is impossible to break a war hammer; the damage that it could receive during use did not in any way affect the combat effectiveness of this weapon. In addition, for the manufacture of the warhead of the hammer it was possible to take steel that was not of the highest quality.

However, hammers also had disadvantages that prevented the widespread use of these weapons.

For example, it is very difficult to repel enemy blows with a hammer: a warrior without a shield, armed with a hammer, had little chance of survival. In addition, this weapon was inconvenient in close formation.

Hammers can be divided into several main groups:

• Short hammer. This is a one-handed weapon that appeared in Europe around the 10th century. The short hammer was used by both infantrymen and horsemen. He was very effective in close combat. Around the 13th century, the short hammer became a favorite weapon of the cavalry. It was often called knightly or cavalry. The short hammer had a length of 60-80 cm, its warhead weighed about half a kilogram. The flat striking surface opposite the beak could have a monogram or some kind of figure. When struck, they were imprinted on the enemy’s body. Short hammers were well known in Rus'; they were called “klevets” or “chasers”. Such weapons were loved by the Zaporozhye Cossacks (kelep, kelef) and the famous Polish “flying” hussars. The hammer was often supplemented with a hatchet;
• Long or long-shafted hammer. Such hammers had a shaft of considerable length, from 1.2 to 2 meters. This weapon became extremely popular in the late Middle Ages, from about the middle of the 14th century. Outwardly, the long hammer strongly resembled a halberd, but unlike the latter, its warhead was usually type-built and not solidly forged. In addition to the hammer itself, it could include a variety of elements: a pike, an ax, hooks. Such weapons received separate names - polex, Lucerne hammer. The lower end of the shaft could bear a sharpened metal tip, which could also be used in combat. Some types of poleaxes had a protective guard on the shaft - a rondel. The long-shaft hammer was a purely infantry weapon that could be used very effectively against cavalry in close formation;
• Throwing Hammer. There were also throwing hammers; their shape was similar to modern sports equipment.

Story

Man began making hammers back in the Stone Age, and during this era they were mainly used as weapons. Although, the hammer is very good because of its versatility; you can use it to hit a bear on the back of the head and do something around the house. It is clear that at that time the warhead was made of stone. The hammer could have been the butt of a battle axe.

After humans began using metals, hammer heads began to be made first from bronze, and then from iron. Hammers were not very popular during the period of antiquity, although they were widely used as a blacksmith's tool. The Assyrians have references to war hammers; the Scythians used similar weapons.

The hammer was the oldest and favorite weapon of the Germanic tribes. The Teutons not only used the hammer in battle or for everyday purposes, they endowed it with sacred properties. Later they adopted other types of weapons from neighboring peoples, but never abandoned the hammer. Until the 11th century, hammers were distributed mainly in the territory of modern Germany, but with the improvement of protective equipment, these weapons began their victorious expansion across the European continent.

Starting from the 13th century, hammers increasingly became the standard weapons of infantrymen. And this is not surprising. Previously, the foot warrior was armed with a spear, sword and bow, but such weapons were insufficient against a heavily armed enemy. And the war hammer had excellent “armor-piercing” characteristics. In addition, the hammer could be turned into a universal weapon by adding an ax or pike to it.

Moreover, the knights, who had previously considered hammers to be weapons of the mob, paid attention to these weapons. And already in the 14th century, a short one-handed hammer became a typical weapon of knightly cavalry. Moreover, it was so popular that the hammer soon became a real symbol of the military elite - over time, like the mace, it became an attribute of the military leader.

This is not to say that only cavalrymen used hammers. In the 14th century, this weapon became increasingly popular among infantry. And not only. In 1381, the rebels of Paris very effectively used hammers with lead heads, very reminiscent of ordinary sledgehammers with long handles. The infantry hammer developed along the path of increasing the length of the shaft and complicating the warhead of the weapon. Very soon a point at the end, hooks, and a hatchet were added to its design. Already in the 15th century, the war hammer was very similar to a halberd. Around this time, the polex appeared - a hybrid of an axe, spear and hammer. This weapon was very popular, it was used not only on the battlefield, but even in tournaments. The so-called Lucerne hammer, which had a length of up to two meters, a lance at the end and a double-sided hammer, dates back to the same period. One of its sides - the beak - could have a significant length, and the second was made in the form of a toothed hammer.

The widespread use of firearms led to the almost universal abandonment of heavy armor. Along with them, war hammers also became a thing of the past. Already in the 17th century, this weapon practically lost its combat significance and turned into a certain attribute that emphasized the status of its owner.

A war hammer is a cold pole weapon of the impact-crushing type, similar in its action to a club and a mace. It has been known to man since ancient times; it is believed that our distant ancestors began using a war hammer, along with a spear, an ax and a club, back in the late Stone Age. But the “golden age” of these weapons, without a doubt, was the late Middle Ages, a period when warriors clad in iron from head to toe fought on the battlefield. The hammer was capable of crushing even the most powerful armor.

It was during this period that it became an integral part of complex long-shafted weapons, such as the polex or battle axe. Although, the war hammer was also used as a separate independent weapon.

In recent years, thanks to computer toys and fantasy books, the war hammer has become more recognizable. But such fame played a cruel joke on him. The weapons usually depicted by writers or animators bear very little relation to real war hammers. Usually it is something huge, rectangular and very massive, very reminiscent of an ordinary blacksmith hammer or sledgehammer, decorated with intricate patterns. Of course, a sledgehammer can also be used in battle, there is a lot of historical evidence about this, but a real war hammer had a completely different shape and weight. And in its appearance it looked more like a pickaxe or an ice ax.

The hammer is very widely represented in the mythology of various peoples. Man has always associated it with pressure and brute force, capable of crushing everything in its path. The most famous war hammer, without a doubt, is Mjollnir - the stone weapon of the Scandinavian god Thor. He used his hammer both for creation and as a weapon of destruction. Mjollnir could be thrown, and not only did it always hit the target, but it also returned to its owner. The Japanese revered the hammer as a symbol of prosperity and wealth; it was a constant companion of Hephaestus, the ancient Greek deity of blacksmithing and metallurgy. With the help of this hammer, Hephaestus forged armor, a sword and a shield for Achilles, with which the legendary hero did not know defeat.

At the same time, among some peoples, the hammer was a symbol of the natural elements, powerful, unpredictable and indomitable. The symbolism of the hammer is characterized by a kind of dualism associated with its two functions: peaceful and military. On coats of arms and emblems it is usually the “civilian” form of the hammer that is used. The hammer, as a tool, has long become a symbol of hard work, industrial production, and craftsmanship. On the coat of arms and flag of the Soviet Union, the hammer symbolized the working class.

The war hammer was popular not only in Europe; similar weapons were also used in other regions of the world: India, China, Persia, and the Middle East.

After losing its combat significance, the war hammer was used for a long time as a status weapon. In Italy, Poland and Germany, hammers were attributes of high military command. They were also popular among bandits and Cossack chieftains.

Description and classification

A war hammer consists of a shaft and a warhead, which was usually made of metal. The term “war hammer” (warhammer) itself is more typical for Western European (English-language) literature; in Eastern Europe, such weapons were usually called klevets and coins. However, the latter name is often used to refer to small axes with an elongated beak-shaped butt, therefore, to avoid confusion, it is better to avoid this name. In general, we can say that the wide variety of war hammers that existed in different historical periods, as well as the practice of using them as one of the elements of complex composite weapons, led to significant confusion in terminology.

The warhead of the hammers was a cylinder or parallelepiped with one pointed end. It was shaped like a beak and could have different lengths. The other end was shaped like a hammer; its working surface could be smooth or have several teeth. There were different ways of attaching the warhead to the shaft: using a rope, a stopper, etc. With the flat part it was possible to stun the adversary, break his bones, or knock him out of the saddle. However, the main striking element of the hammer, of course, was the beak. With its help it was possible to pierce almost any armor, because the entire force of the blow fell on one point.

The shaft of the war hammer was usually made of wood, but metal handles are also known. Often the wooden shaft was bound with metal. The length of the shaft varied widely, depending on the historical period, country, and the characteristics of the use of a particular weapon.

There is a very common misconception about a war hammer as something heavy and very massive. This is wrong. One-handed samples of these weapons usually weighed 1-2 kg. Hammers had many advantages over other types of bladed weapons, however, they also had very serious disadvantages.

The development of protective equipment has led to a significant decrease in the effectiveness of edged weapons. The sword was not very effective against chain mail armor, and with the advent of armor it began to turn into an attribute of status. The war hammer had a much higher center of gravity than the sword, and, in addition, all the power of the blow was concentrated in one small point. Therefore, in order to pierce heavy armor with a war hammer, it was not necessary to have any extraordinary physical strength. In terms of its punching properties, it was superior to a mace, because the weight of the hammer was better balanced.

This weapon also has one more advantage: the war hammer does not get stuck in the enemy’s armor or shield. And this problem was very serious: after a not very successful blow, you could simply remain unarmed. Almost any bladed weapon gets stuck in a wooden shield, but not a hammer or mace. They do not so much pierce as they break through the barrier, leaving a fairly wide hole in it. If you had the necessary skill and sufficient physical strength, it was generally possible to split the enemy’s shield with a hammer.

The hammer had another important advantage over the sword: it was much cheaper. At the medieval level of development of metallurgy, making a long and strong blade was a whole story. Steel was scarce and of poor quality. A strong blow could easily damage the blade and render the weapon unusable. And it was not always possible to correct such defects with the help of a grindstone. In principle, it is impossible to break a war hammer; the damage that it could receive during use did not in any way affect the combat effectiveness of this weapon. In addition, for the manufacture of the warhead of the hammer it was possible to take steel that was not of the highest quality.

However, hammers also had disadvantages that prevented the widespread use of these weapons.

For example, it is very difficult to repel enemy blows with a hammer: a warrior without a shield, armed with a hammer, had little chance of survival. In addition, this weapon was inconvenient in close formation.

Hammers can be divided into several main groups:

• Short hammer. This is a one-handed weapon that appeared in Europe around the 10th century. The short hammer was used by both infantrymen and horsemen. He was very effective in close combat. Around the 13th century, the short hammer became a favorite weapon of the cavalry. It was often called knightly or cavalry. The short hammer had a length of 60-80 cm, its warhead weighed about half a kilogram. The flat striking surface opposite the beak could have a monogram or some kind of figure. When struck, they were imprinted on the enemy’s body. Short hammers were well known in Rus'; they were called “klevets” or “chasers”. Such weapons were loved by the Zaporozhye Cossacks (kelep, kelef) and the famous Polish “flying” hussars. The hammer was often supplemented with a hatchet;
• Long or long-shafted hammer. Such hammers had a shaft of considerable length, from 1.2 to 2 meters. This weapon became extremely popular in the late Middle Ages, from about the middle of the 14th century. Outwardly, the long hammer strongly resembled a halberd, but unlike the latter, its warhead was usually type-built and not solidly forged. In addition to the hammer itself, it could include a variety of elements: a pike, an ax, hooks. Such weapons received separate names - polex, Lucerne hammer. The lower end of the shaft could bear a sharpened metal tip, which could also be used in combat. Some types of poleaxes had a protective guard on the shaft - a rondel. The long-shaft hammer was a purely infantry weapon that could be used very effectively against cavalry in close formation;
• Throwing Hammer. There were also throwing hammers; their shape was similar to modern sports equipment.

Story

Man began making hammers back in the Stone Age, and during this era they were mainly used as weapons. Although, the hammer is very good because of its versatility; you can use it to hit a bear on the back of the head and do something around the house. It is clear that at that time the warhead was made of stone. The hammer could have been the butt of a battle axe.

After humans began using metals, hammer heads began to be made first from bronze, and then from iron. Hammers were not very popular during the period of antiquity, although they were widely used as a blacksmith's tool. The Assyrians have references to war hammers; the Scythians used similar weapons.

The hammer was the oldest and favorite weapon of the Germanic tribes. The Teutons not only used the hammer in battle or for everyday purposes, they endowed it with sacred properties. Later they adopted other types of weapons from neighboring peoples, but never abandoned the hammer. Until the 11th century, hammers were distributed mainly in the territory of modern Germany, but with the improvement of protective equipment, these weapons began their victorious expansion across the European continent.

Starting from the 13th century, hammers increasingly became the standard weapons of infantrymen. And this is not surprising. Previously, the foot warrior was armed with a spear, sword and bow, but such weapons were insufficient against a heavily armed enemy. And the war hammer had excellent “armor-piercing” characteristics. In addition, the hammer could be turned into a universal weapon by adding an ax or pike to it.

Moreover, the knights, who had previously considered hammers to be weapons of the mob, paid attention to these weapons. And already in the 14th century, a short one-handed hammer became a typical weapon of knightly cavalry. Moreover, it was so popular that the hammer soon became a real symbol of the military elite - over time, like the mace, it became an attribute of the military leader.

This is not to say that only cavalrymen used hammers. In the 14th century, this weapon became increasingly popular among infantry. And not only. In 1381, the rebels of Paris very effectively used hammers with lead heads, very reminiscent of ordinary sledgehammers with long handles. The infantry hammer developed along the path of increasing the length of the shaft and complicating the warhead of the weapon. Very soon a point at the end, hooks, and a hatchet were added to its design. Already in the 15th century, the war hammer was very similar to a halberd. Around this time, the polex appeared - a hybrid of an axe, spear and hammer. This weapon was very popular, it was used not only on the battlefield, but even in tournaments. The so-called Lucerne hammer, which had a length of up to two meters, a lance at the end and a double-sided hammer, dates back to the same period. One of its sides - the beak - could have a significant length, and the second was made in the form of a toothed hammer.

The widespread use of firearms led to the almost universal abandonment of heavy armor. Along with them, war hammers also became a thing of the past. Already in the 17th century, this weapon practically lost its combat significance and turned into a certain attribute that emphasized the status of its owner.