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“My Battle-Axe Has a Hale Thirst!” by Mark Hatmaker

 


Below you will find a few choice references to battle-axes from the sagas interspersed with a bit of bite-swinging lore.

“A manly attack, that!”—[Spoken by Kari Solmundarson after Skarphedin Njasson kills Thrain Sigfusson with an axe strike to the jaw.] Njal’s Saga, Ch.92

A favored weapon of what is called the Viking warrior tradition, we also find its influence bleeding into the early Pict and Scots where for a while it was a weapon of preference—likely heavily influenced by the Viking influx in the region.

“Now just for fun we’ll each name what we place our trust in. I’ll choose first, and there are three things I place reliance on---one is my purse, the second my axe, the third my storehouse.”—Spoken by Glum in Killer Glum’s Saga, Ch. 14

We also find the indigenous peoples of the Americas using axes [tomahawk has become the catch-all term] both small hand-axes and, also in some cases, larger two-handers more reminiscent of what we see in the aforementioned cultures.  We must never forget the possible influence from these Norsemen.

See here for the contact point. Vikings, Voyageurs & Skræling.

“He wore a plated mail-coat and a steel helmet with a brim as wide as the width of your hand. He held a gleaming axe over his shoulder, the blade of which was an ell in length. The man was dark, with black eyes and the appearance of a Viking.”—Said of Hunbogi the Strong in The Saga of the People of Laxardal, Ch. 62.

There is a deep and long culture of pragmatic ax use from the woodsmen of Northern Europe to the lumberjacks of the Americas. One would be remiss if one did not delve deeply into the ways and means of axe use by those who used them for hours each and every day of their lives.

For just one of our many explorations of lumbermen lore see The Lumberjack Tabata, [Battle] Ax Mechanics & “Don’t Be a Rubber Maid”

“He was dressed in a black tunic and blue-striped trousers and high black boots; he had a silver belt around his waist and was holding in his hand the axe with which he had killed Thrain—he called it Battle-Ogre—and a small shield, and around his head he had a silk band, with his hair combed back over his ears. He looked the complete warrior, and everybody knew him without having seen him before.”—A description of Skarphedin Nhalsson.] Njals’ Saga, Ch. 120.

The use of battle-axes, tomahawk two-handers as conditioner and war implement were often augmented by sets, or “dances” that allowed the wielder to know the weapon from knob to eye and build up a helluva physique while at it.

For instruction in beginning your own battleaxe journey see here.

“They shall discover today that my axe is both my shield and my armour.”—[Thormod Kolbrun’s skald upon being asked why he carries no shield. The Saga of The Sworn Brothers, Ch. 24

The Black Box Project will present 50+ Battle-Axe dances over the next several volumes.

For more on the Black Box Project.

“He had a broad axe, a mighty weapon, keen-edged and sharp, with which he had sent many a man to dine in Valhalla. He also had a barbed spear with a hard point, a large socket and thick shaft. In those days, very few men were armed with swords.”—Said of Thorgeir Havarsson in The Saga of The Sworn Brothers. Ch. 3

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“Oliver lifted his axe and struck behind him with the extreme point of it, hitting the neck of the man who was coming up behind him, so that his throat and jawbone were cut through, and he fell dead backwards. Then he heaved his axe forwards, and struck the next man in the head, and clove him down to the shoulders.”—Saga of Magnus the Blind & Harald Gille

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