Amana longaxe

[elgostine]

does that helm use actual horsehair for its 'plume' (or is that what yu call feather decoration.? ) and if so. is horsehair usually expensive. and if not. what do most people use as substitutes?

[skallagrimm]

@elgostine I don't know what 'feather decoration' means, but the plume is actually part of a horse tail. I got it years ago from a fur vendor at a faire... cant remember what it cost...

[werewolf17]

The helm really has a physchological effect. Great video.

[killzonephx]

do people get injured in these? im just really curious because i find these amazing and i loev challenges, i was just wondering if real serious injuries come with these

[skallagrimm]

@killzonephx we rarely get more than scrapes and bruises, and have no serious injuries to speak of. We've had a few twisted ankles and knees, banged up fingers, some fat lips,... you get the idea.

[rometotalwarviper]

Could you take your shield from your back if you needed to use it in mid combat? if you lost your weapon for example?

[skallagrimm]

@rometotalwarviper I certainly could, and have. There is a vid in here where I do just that. It was made easier because my helm actually got ripped off my head first. A helmet might be something for the shield strap to get hung up on. The video is an older one of ours and is from the old Salisbury Faire in Des Moines back around 2002 or so.

[skallagrimm]

@skallagrimm The video I mentioned is called 'Salisbury 1'. I actually start out with the boarspear in that one, but I think it shows what you were asking about. Given a bit of space, I had the time to shrug it up and over my head and into my hand. Unfortunately, there is a big asshole blocking the way.

[Antiks72]

That axeman looks BAD ASSS.

[Sardarkar]

You're the best Skallagrimmson!

[EivindBjornson]

Nice! I use a danaxe for the live steel. it's som hard for me to use this weapon in totaly security.

[TYKKETYKKE]

Berserk!

[Asgath]

Thats some good fighting especially considering the problems and limitations of using axes (particularly the big'uns) in live steel.

[KMATIO]

That axe is what my group refers to as 4 footer, or there abouts. It's not really a hand or pole axe, I prefer using it over both as a personal preference. There's alos glaives with mameluke heads on them which are quite nasty, I'll post a video response on here of two members of KMATIO having a half paced spar with pole weapons.

[skallagrimm]

Like the videos info box states, it is a LONGAXE from the Viking Age. They were actually early "cousins" to the poleaxe and glaives from the later periods.

[7410n0]

That was awesome.

[TheArrgh]

seems like a poleaxe might have been more cumbersome, though. The longaxe looks sort of like halfway between a-handaxe or something-and a staff weapon. so it can be used with some of the maneuverability of a smaller axe and some of the reach and motions of a staff. Just a though, but I would imagine that a poleaxe or halberd might actually be MORE difficult to win a fight like this with...

am I right?

[josh14214]

The long pole allows you to parry.... although you would indeed be at a disadvantage if you started flailing out of control with the thing.

[airnt]

I've held original pollaxes at the royal armouries and they're not overly cumbersome at all. yes a daneaxe might be a bit lighter, but it lacks the VERY lethal thrusting spike. the point on a daneaxe might me nasty but won't get through mail for example.

A lot of techniques are interchangable, though.

[TheArrgh]

Makes sense.

And to think, so many people assume Axes were all heavy and cumbersome...

[elgostine]

@TheArrgh largely because most people have held woodchopping axes. which have chunky thick heads quite often to help cut and split wood making the next stroke easier.

waraxes werent designed for cutting trees but for cutting down people. they have quite thin blades

[varangianguard01]

all hail to the poleaxe which also is my favorite !!

WOOOT !!!

[jogvlen]

Thats badass, and I like the screaming bit!

[Randomambusher]

I put my money on the houseman everytime when it comes to single unmounted combat.

[Noegendyr]

Go look up Danish Axe on wikipedia, thats the real name. And its called A Huskarl, Several Huskarler.

And the danish axe was pretty successfull, even some english king took it as his favorite weapon.

[skallagrimm]

If you look closer, you'll perhaps notice that what I am using in NOT a daneaxe. It is a little bit later version, commonly referred to (as I said) a LONGAXE.

Some English King, huh....? It was used by hundreds of others who had no royal ties, and they probably wielded it much better than any king. By the way, does Wikipedia have anything that could help you find a barbershop? GRIN

[Noegendyr]

oh well, im not an axe expert, but i do see a viking shield, so i figured you had a viking theme.

and i wasnt taking a dig at you, just the arrogant people in the comments.

and the guy was Richard Lionheart.

[Noegendyr]

arh shit, just saw your profile, you teach this stuff.. nvm, then

(and props for spreading my herritage)

btw, you name means ugly skull/head :D

[skallagrimm]

Yep, I use the name as it was told to me that it loosely translates to "bald and ugly" which is quite fitting for me as I shave my head....of course the ladies don't exactly find me ugly, but the details aren't important. GRIN

[Noegendyr]

yeah, skalla could mean bald in norwegian or swedish. in danish its skaldet. but all the norse countries spoke a language called "Dansk Tunge" (danish tongue) back then, witch sounds more like icelandic or Faroese in our present ears.

Btw, GRIN translates directly into laugh in danish, so youre deffinatly on to something.

keep up the good work Kriger

[skallagrimm]

Good talking with you my Danish brother. Glad we had this moment.....

Take care.

Skol--

[Noegendyr]

and whats with the shave thing? i dont get it?

[skallagrimm]

NO? I just got a kick out of your profile when I saw that hair all flying around. Yes, it is a Viking "theme" you could say, as we are a Viking period group to begin with. I guess I'm a bit quick to jump on some of the comments that I get from people because most come from dillrods who have never even tried to fight with one, and they think they know all there is about them. You do not truly understand a weapon until you've USED it.

Cheers!

[Btmangan]

Ey! Sorry, was adressing Johnson's comment about heavy weapons. I just had to set that straight.

[Btmangan]

I have never fought with an axe in one-on-one combat before, but I have sparred extensively (For the last two years at least an hour a month with friends) with a heavy spear. If similar to the one in the video, my weapon is heavier than the one in question.

If you believed that weapons of that weight and type were unweildy, you wouldn't survive three seconds on the battlefield. I can easily take care of friends using swords, and since we are fighting without armor, we also need to be carefull

[skallagrimm]

I'm not sure who you are addressing with this comment, or the point you're making. What kind of 'heavy spear' is it you use? Is it a steel weapon?

Most of our guys don't wear armor either, by the way.

[skallagrimm]

They are very effective in group situations, being swung in deadly arcs (and thrusts) to cover a large area. Using a shield bearing man with a weapon, on either side gives you freedom to really keep the axehead moving, which is the object behind this weapon. Done it. You ever fight with one? Don't think for a minute that they weren't effective alone, though.

[PsychosisGnome]

Yeah. Two handed axes are for hacking into combatants around you, not one-on-one dueling.

[Burankhan]

Hard to say; there are no surviving fight manuals from the Viking Age. :(

[Burn2ash]

That looks amazing and as for the sword v axe dispute, lets just say I wouldnt want to be the guy with the sword in that vid.

[skallagrimm]

Certainly, they are real. Handmade (by me) just like an original, though they do have rounded edges and points, rather than being sharp. We all have to go to work on Mondays, after all.

[johnson01]

The halberd was effective because you could THRUST it. Your films depicting the axe thrusting against your opponents would not have worked against knights wearing plate armour, and the necessary swinging motion of the axe weilder left him dreadfully vulnerable to a linear sword thrust.

[skallagrimm]

You can also thrust with the longaxe. And the point is that by the time plate armor was being used the version of the longaxe had a thrusting point added. As well, the broadsword was a hacking slashing weapon, not used overly as a thrusting weapon. Sounds to me like you don't have the proper context of when/where/how these weapons were used and are just arguing to argue.

[BigDummy23]

Viking Era axes could be thrust with, and many axes used in the medieval period, particularly in the British isles, were further developed for the thrust, notably the Sparth Axe of the Scotts and the Kern axe of the Irish.

[skallagrimm]

Have you watched the way it's used in my other vids, or the way other's in my group are using it against me. Plus keep in mind that we are using it as safely as we can, rather than the truely devestating effect it COULD have with just one swing.

[johnson01]

For the axe to be effective you must swing your arms in such a fashion that you expose your torso to a sword thrust. The axe is clumsy and unbalanced, the sword vastly more agile and easier to use. Saxon and Gaelic warriors discovered this the hard way against the Normans.

[skallagrimm]

Not at all true. You've answered my question then. It's neither clumsy or unbalanced and was an important weapon in battles spanning hundreds of years. Just like the sword, the axe developed into new versions of itself because it WAS effective, eventually becoming the halberds and polearms of the late Medievil period.

[Thunar55]

Actually do you know history at all? It had nothing to do with the sword. It had to do with different tactics and using calvery and archers. Did you hear of the hursculs? they were effective against the norman attack it is said the long axes were capable of taking a horses head off. It was mounted knights against shieldwall in which for a time was holding William at bay. Learn some history Johnson01

[skallagrimm]

"The sword is for show, the axe is for dough". Have ya ever tried fighting with either one?

[johnson01]

As the Irish found out when the Normans invaded in the 12th century, the axe is no match for the sword.

[fsbritney]

Whap! Like it.

[placebobobbo]

OUCH! That stuff has got ta hurt.