Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
Weapons of War: the War Hammer
Concussion weapons such as war hammers rose in popularity after the development of plate armor and form-fitting chain mail.
Not to be confused with Mjollnir, the mythical Norse god Thor’s fabled hammer, the real-life war hammer was a brutal and effective weapon. The development of the war hammer began around the middle of the 14th century and mirrored the advance in combat protection—specifically, plate armor. Advances in mesh and chain mail already had prompted the greater popularity of hafted weapons such as the battle-ax and the mace. But when armor started being formed into riveted plates in the mid-14th century, followed by contoured sections that presented a curved, glancing surface against sword strikes, concussion weapons were given a long second look.
The advances in armor showed in the improvement of weapons to counter them. Longer shafts provided greater torquing force and a more powerful hit for two-handed weapons. Simple metal-ball and faceted-head maces changed to massive iron-flanged heads with projecting lugs that became progressively more pointed. These advances were meant to inflict crushing blows to helmets and armor.
But armorers reciprocated by forging surface-hardened steel for armor. The result was significant. Surface-hardened steel was essentially as hard as a sword or ax edge, meaning that a single blow—perhaps the only chance one would get in the heat of battle—was more likely to skip off the surface than to puncture it. Armor wearers had acquired greater survivability.
The hammer, as a basic tool for manual labor, was of ancient origin, but like the axe it quickly became an early peasant weapon as well. A large-headed mallet, war mallet, or maul—the latter made of wood or lead—came to be used on the medieval battlefield. The true war hammer first appeared in the late 14th century, as evidenced by manuscript illustrations and battle histories of the time.
Massed graves excavated from the Battle of Wisby in 1361 revealed many skulls with small square punctures that could only have been made by early war hammers. Similarly, at the Battle of Roosebeke in 1382, Flemish peasants with good basinets were significantly outnumbered by French royal troops and paid a heavy price, as noted by the great French chronicler Jean Froissart: “So loud was the clashing of swords, axes, maces and iron hammers on those Flemish basinets that naught else could be discerned above the din.”
By the beginning of the 15th century, the iron hammer-like head was two inches square and secured to a shaft 25 inches long, similar to that of a battle-ax or mace. It was primarily a horseman’s second weapon, with a leather thong tied to the base of the shaft so that it could be carried at the saddle. (The war hammer had better odds of delivering a full- force blow when traveling downward.) Its smaller surface area made for a concentrated point of impact. It could not puncture the better armors or helmets, but it could put a dent into them that would render the occupant temporarily stunned, vibrating inside the helmet upon impact. A few more speedy blows might be in order, but a forceful first blow sometimes was all that was needed to do the trick.
And as always have a chilled day from the Viking
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