The glaive is an ancient weapon, unique and dangerous

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Modern historians and art historians are of great interest to ancient weapons. One of them is the glaive. This weapon is also called glevia. Glaive (glevia) is a type of cold pole piercing and chopping weapon, which was used for close combat by infantrymen on the territory of European countries. Glevia as part of infantry equipment was very common and popular.

Real historical weapons

Glefa is a military weapon that really exists in history, which became widespread in the East in the 9th-12th centuries. According to assumptions, it appeared either in Japan or in North Korea. Glevia was originally a weapon used by mercenary warriors for whom the purpose of life was to kill. These were elite fighters without wide recognition. During the Middle Ages, this weapon fell into second place, and then it was forgotten altogether, since it was difficult to manufacture (by the standards of that time), and it was even more difficult to learn how to use it.

Origin of the name

The name "glaive" (a kind of halberd) comes from the French language. Almost all scholars deduce the etymology of this word from the Celtic term cladivos or from the Latin gladius. In translation, both the first and second options mean "sword". But at the same time, English and French references relating to an earlier period implied by these names "spear". In English, a glaive meant just a spear (approximate period XIV-XVI century).

From the 15th century, the term begins to acquire its modern meaning. At this time, as a whole, swords began to be poetically called the glaive. Today, this name is used in this way in French speech. Starting from the 1980s, the glaive began to designate a weapon that is distinguished by a large number of blades and resembles the shuriken of Japanese ninjas, but is characterized by a much larger size. Such a weapon was credited with the ability to return to the warrior who threw it. This property was explained by magical power or the boomerang principle. In movies and fantasy literature, we can also find throwing glaives.

How was the glaive used?

The glaive is a weapon that, like any other cold long-pole weapon, has one indisputable advantage: thanks to it, a person has the ability to keep a swordsman warrior at a decent distance. A shortened blade or sword is not able to reach an infantryman armed with gley. in the middleIn a duel, the main task of a warrior with a glaive was to prevent the enemy from grabbing the shaft with his free hand. The secondary task was not to drop the weapon if it was beaten off by the shield. In such a situation, the rapprochement of opponents necessarily took place, and the infantryman, in whose hands was the glaive, was defeated.

If there was a duel, the infantryman had the opportunity to use not only the blade, but also all the elements of the glaive. Thanks to this, he had an advantage, both in attack and in defense. A warrior with experience in gley combat tactics could corner his opponent, knock him off his horse, stun him, etc.

How do weapons work?

Glive - a weapon that consists of a shaft, reaching one and a half meters, and an elongated tip. As a rule, a tip was made at least 40 cm long, but sometimes it could reach 60 cm. The width of the tip was five to six centimeters. Making a tool is not at all difficult, so it is possible to create it at home.

The shaft was wrapped around with a metal tape or covered with special metal rivets. Thanks to this manipulation, the wood was protected from being cut in battle. In most cases, the tip was sharpened only on one side. A spike extending from the butt and going to the shaft at a slightly angled angle is a characteristic feature of the glevia. If the glaive was operated in order to repel a blow from above, then such a spike was used to capture an enemy gun. In addition, the spike enhanced the result of stabbing blows to the opponent's armor. In general, glaivewas intended for chopping blows, and they were applied with a tip.

From the bottom of the gley shaft was equipped with another small tip, which was called the inflow, or heel. Unlike the main tip, it was simply sharpened, not sharpened. This tip had two purposes: it contributed to the balance of the weapon in battle, as it played the role of a counterweight, in addition, it was a tool with which to finish off the defeated warrior.

Universal tool

Glefa - a weapon, the photo of which can be seen in our article, was considered a universal weapon of battle. It made it possible to fight effectively both in close formation and when the formation fell apart.

In conditions of close construction, the glaive was used mainly for stabbing blows or chopping from top to bottom. When the formation broke up, the warrior had the opportunity to use a huge arsenal of tricks, which consisted not only of blows with the upper part of the glaive, but also with the middle and lower ones.

Using the middle part, the warrior with the section of the shaft that was between the hands could strike the enemy on the neck or face. With the help of the lower part, the warrior tried to knock the opponent down with an additional hook, which this element of the weapon was often equipped with.

Past and present use of the glaive

From the beginning of its dynamic distribution in the XIV century, the glaive (cold weapon) was the warrior's own weapon. In Burgundy, crossbowmen were actively armed with it. Using the glaive, they repelled the attacks of mounted warriors without any problems. BUTuntil the beginning of the 18th century, guards at the French courts were armed with a glaive. Today, classic glaives can be seen in the hands of the Swiss Guards, who are in the service of the Vatican.

Lack of guns

The glaive is an antique weapon that has a single, but very significant drawback.

It was developed by ninja gunsmiths and was originally a staff used by most Japanese peasants in ancient times. On such a staff, two blades were provided, which, if necessary, unexpectedly advanced. This, most likely, explains the disadvantage of the glaive, which consists in the low durability of the weapon - one strong blow to the shaft could lead to the fact that the warrior had scattered parts of the damaged weapon in his hands.

Different variations of the glaive

The Glaive is an infantry weapon available in various versions. So, for example, there are modifications with two sharp, long and narrow blades, which are located on both sides of the shaft. There were also glevia, on one side of which a wide tip resembling an ax was provided. On the other side of such a weapon was the usual spherical counterweight. The double-bladed glaive (it had two blades at each end of the shaft) was quite rare.

There are about a hundred modifications of glevia in total. Among them there are also such options, which could not be found often. So, a very rare modification was a glaive with two blades. It was made for warriorsloners. The only way to fight with such a glaive is by spinning it, and it will not work in a crowd in which enemies are mixed with friends.

The closest analogues of the glaive are the halberd, ax and reed. Often the glaive is on the halberd classification list. As "relatives" of this tool are called sovnya (Slavic pole weapon) and protazan naginata.

The glaive in the work of Nick Perumov

Glefa is a weapon that is mentioned in Perumov's pentalogy "Keeper of Swords". It was the weapon of choice for Cara Laeda's fighting. But scientists cannot classify the glaive of this character as a glaive in the traditional view of this weapon. This can be explained by five reasons:

• Ker's weapon was two-bladed and had one chopping tip on both sides of the shaft.
• The weapons from the pentalogy were distinguished by their short size and light weight. The real glevia was a heavy weapon and was not intended for filigree fencing.
• Laeda easily used his glaive in cellars and caves. And this is not at all characteristic of the long shaft of a standard gley.
• The warrior managed to beat off an arrow shot at point-blank range with the "author's" gun only by accident.
• Glevia Kara was presented as a detachable weapon. And this means that it could be divided into two separate elements, which formed a pair of short swords.

As a result of Nick Perumov's creativity, people imagine a glaive as a two-bladed weapon. But such a variety of glevia in Europealmost never met. Such modifications could only be found in India and China.