what is a spear spear
A spear is a versatile weapon, able to be used on foot and mounted on a horse. It is quite flexible in its range it offers. More importantly, in the hands of a good arm, it can be used as a projectile- something similar to a javelin. A lance on the other hand is often a one-time use. If it was made of wood, then it would splinter upon impact with the target. It also needed much impetus to drive the force and this can only be done while on a horse. As such, mounted soldiers often carried a main weapon such a sword or spear to complement the lance.