Battle axe A battle axe ( also battle - axe or battle - ax ) is an axe specifically designed for combat . Battle axes were specialised versions of utility axes . Many were suitable for use in one hand , while others were larger and were deployed two - handed . Axes designed for warfare ranged in weight from just over 0 . 5 kg to 3 kg ( 1 to 6 pounds ) , and in length from just over 30 cm to upwards of 1 . 5 m ( 1 to 5 feet ) , as in the case of the Danish axe or the sparth axe . Cleaving weapons longer than 1 . 5 m would arguably fall into the category of polearms . Overview . Through the course of human history , commonplace objects have been pressed into service as weapons . Axes , by virtue of their ubiquity , are no exception . Besides axes designed for combat , there were many axes that doubled as tools and weapons . Axes could be modified into deadly projectiles as well ( see the francisca for an example ) . Axes were always cheaper than sword s and considerably more available . Battle axes generally weigh far less than modern splitting axes , especially mauls , because they were designed to cut legs and arms rather than wood ; consequently , narrowish slicing blades are the norm . This facilitates deep , grievous wounds . Moreover , a lighter weapon is much quicker to bring to bear in combat and manipulate for repeated strikes against an adversary . The crescent - shaped heads of European battle axes of the Roman and post - Roman periods were usually made of wrought iron with a carbon steel edge or , as time elapsed across the many centuries of the medieval era , steel . The hardwood handles of military axes came to be reinforced with metal bands called langets , so that an enemy warrior could not cut the shaft . Some later specimens had all - metal handles . Battle axes are particularly associated in Western popular imagination with the Vikings . Certainly , Scandinavian foot soldiers and maritime marauders employed them as a stock weapon during their heyday , which extended from the beginning of the eighth century to the end of the 11th century . They produced several varieties , including specialized throwing axes ( see francisca ) and " bearded " axes or " skegox " ( so named for their trailing lower blade edge which increased cleaving power and could be used to catch the edge of an opponent ' s shield and pull it down , leaving the shield - bearer vulnerable to a follow - up blow ) . Viking axes were wielded with one hand or two , depending on the length of the plain wooden haft . ( See entry for Viking Age arms and armor . ) History . Europe . Prehistory and the ancient Mediterranean . Stone hand axes were in use in the Paleolithic period for hundreds of thousands of years . The first hafted stone axes appear to have been produced about 6000 BCE during the Mesolithic period . Technological development continued in the Neolithic period ( see , for example , the entry for the Battle - axe people of Scandinavia , who treated their axes as high - status cultural objects ) . Narrow axe heads made of cast metals were subsequently manufactured by artisans in the Middle East and then Europe during the Copper Age and the Bronze Age . The earliest specimens were socket - less . More specifically , bronze battle - axe heads are attested in the archeological record from ancient China and the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt . Some of them were suited for practical use as infantry weapons while others were clearly intended to be brandished as symbols of status and authority , judging by the quality of their decoration . In the eastern Mediterranean Basin during the Iron Age , the double - bladed labrys axe was prevalent , and a hafted , single - bitted axe made of bronze or later iron was sometimes used as a weapon of war by the heavy infantry of ancient Greece , especially when confronted with thickly - armored opponents [ citation needed ] . The sagaris — described as either single bitted or double bitted — became associated by the Greeks with the mythological Amazons , though these were generally ceremonial axes rather than practical implements . The Roman Army equipped itself with axes . Legionaries used them as laboring tools rather than as weapons of war . However , the so - called Barbarian tribes that the Romans encountered north of the Alps did include iron war axes in their armories , alongside swords and spears . The Middle Ages . Battle axes were common in Europe in the Migration Period and the subsequent Viking Age , and they famously figure on the 11th - century Bayeaux Tapestry , which depicts Norman mounted knights pitted against Anglo - Saxon infantrymen . They continued to be employed throughout the rest of the Middle Ages ; although they dipped in popularity during the 12th , 13th and 14th centuries , they did not disappear : Robert I of Scotland used one to defeat Sir Henry de Bohun in single combat at the start of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 , and they enjoyed a sustained revival in use among heavily armored equestrian combatants in the 15th century . Most medieval European battle axes had a socketed head ( meaning that the broader , butt - end of the blade contained an opening into which a wooden haft was inserted ) , and some included langets — long strips of metal affixed to the faces of the haft to prevent it from being damaged during combat . Occasionally the cheeks of the axehead bore engraved , etched , punched or inlayed decorative patterns . Late - period battle axes tended to be of all - metal construction . Such medieval polearms as the halberd and the poleaxe were variants of the basic battle - axe form . As we have seen , battle axes themselves had gone somewhat out of favor with Europe ' s mounted knights between about 1100 and 1400 ( although King Richard the Lionheart had famously wielded one while fighting at Jaffa in 1192 , as did Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314 ) . Expensive swords with long , straight , steel blades intended for slashing became , overwhelmingly , the preferred weapon of upper - class combatants during this period . Such swords were indeed fearsome objects when wielded expertly against foot soldiers clad in boiled - leather body armor or even maille covered knights on horseback . However , when steel plate - armor covering almost all of a knight ' s body — and incorporating features specifically designed to defeat swords — was developed in the 15th century , a fresh generation of hafted weapons with greater impact - power had to be devised and adopted as a counter - measure by European armies . ( Despite the significance of this development , swords would never lose their prestige as the premier implement of war and symbol of knighthood , changing over the duration of the later Middle Ages from a broad - bladed cutting instrument with a semi - rounded tip into a narrow thrusting instrument with a sharply pointed tip , capable of penetrating any " chinks in the armor " of a fully encased opponent : see , for example , the entry for estoc ) . The newly invented flanged mace , for example , was no crude bludgeon like its predecessors . The vertical flanges projecting at regular intervals from its head could fracture plate armor and smash into underlying body tissue — yet it was a much cheaper weapon to make than a sword , whose blade was inclined in any case to glance harmlessly off the smooth , curved plates of a well - designed suit of armor if used in a chopping manner . Battle axes took the flanged mace ' s innovative design concept one step further . By concentrating the weight of a single , sharpened , crescent - shaped wedge on a small target area of metal plate , the battle axe was capable of slicing through an opponent ' s armor and cutting deeply into the exposed flesh beneath . A sharp , sometimes curved pick was often fitted to the rear of the battle axe ' s blade to provide the user with a secondary weapon of penetration . A stabbing spike could be added , too , as a finial . Similarly , the war hammer evolved in late - medieval times with the aim of punching its spiked head through helmets or breastplates . These armour penetrations were not always fatal . There are many accounts of plate armored knights being struck with said weapons and while the armor was damaged , the individual underneath survived and in some cases completely unharmed . It eventually became common for these various kinds of impact weapons to be made entirely from metal , thus doing away with reinforced wooden hafts . But the increased use of gunpowder - driven projectiles by armies in the field during the 1600s — and the associated demise of elaborate plate armor — rendered the battle axe and its cousins redundant as weapons of war , and they passed into history . A useful visual guide to high - medieval battle axes , contemporary with their employment , are the scenes of warfare depicted in the Maciejowski Bible ( Morgan Bible ) of circa 1250 . Battle axes also came to figure as heraldic devices on the coats of arms of several English and mainland European families . Post - medieval axes . Battle axes were eventually phased out at the end of the 16th century as military tactics began to revolve increasingly around the use of gunpowder . However , as late as the 1640s , Prince Rupert — a Royalist general and cavalry commander during the English Civil War — is pictured carrying a battle axe , and this was not merely a decorative symbol of authority : the " short pole - axe " was adopted by Royalist cavalry officers to penetrate Roundhead troopers ' helmets and cuirasses in close - quarters fighting , and it was also used by their opponents : Sir Bevil Grenville was slain by a Parliamentarian pole - axe at the Battle of Lansdowne , and Sir Richard Bulstrode was wounded by one at the Battle of Edgehill . During Napoleonic times , and later on in the 19th century , farrier s in army service carried long and heavy axes as part of their kit . Although these could be used in an emergency for fighting , their primary use was logistical : the branded hooves of deceased military horses needed to be removed in order to prove that they had indeed died ( and had not been stolen ) . Napoleon ' s Pioneer Corps also carried axes that were used for clearing vegetation — a practice employed by similar units in other armies . Asia . Persia . The Tabarzin ( ) ( sometimes translated " saddle - hatchet " ) is the traditional battle axe of Persia ( Iran ) . It bears one or two crescent - shaped blades . The long form of the " tabar " was about seven feet long , while a shorter version was about three feet long . What made the Persian axe unique is the very thin handle , which is very light and always metallic . The " tabarzin " is sometimes carried as a symbolic weapon by wandering dervish es ( Muslim ascetic worshippers ) . Persian weaponry is at times identical to East Indian weaponry because these two cultures have intermingled many times over the century . " Tabar " means axe , and " zin " originally meant weapon . India . There are examples of the employment of the battle axe in ancient India . The Farasa or Parashu was the weapon of choice of Lord Parashu Ram . It is still borne by some of the heretic sects of Indian Sadhus . A typical Farasa could have single edge or double edge , with a hole for fixing a shaft . The cutting edge of Indian Farasa is invariably broad and the length of the haft could be about three to four feet . It is invariably made of wood / bamboo . In fact , examples of Farasa can still be seen displayed in Indian households — particularly in the villages . During the 17th and 18th centuries , the tabar battle axe was a standard weapon of the mounted warriors of India , Afghanistan and what is now Pakistan . Made entirely of metal , it had a strongly curved blade and a hammer - headed poll and was often decorated with scroll work . Sometimes a small knife was inserted in the tabar ' s hollow haft . The Iranians wielded a similar weapon . Sri Lanka . The Keteriya was a type of battle axe that was used in ancient Sri Lanka . A keteriya consisted of a single edge and a short handle made of wood . This would allow the user to wield it with a single hand . Vietnam . The battle axe is one of the most common type of weapons found in Vietnamese ancient cultures , particularly Dong Son culture .