The Most Common Battlefield Weapon of the Dark Ages
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- In this video, Tom Robinson of Viking reenactment group Blodorn Englar explains why the spear was the most common weapon on the battlefield during the Dark Ages. Easy to make and deadly in the hands of a trained warrior, the spear was used by both the Great Heathen Army and the Anglo-Saxons during the Viking invasion of England in 865.
The pointy stick is the most overpowered weapon in history.
That and long arms. I wonder why women evolved to like tall men 🤔
@@scottanos9981 Tall men = well fed men
Well fed men = better nutrition
Better nutrition = better sperm
@@scottanos9981 They didn't... 😂
@@scottanos9981 😂 You serious?
@@scottanos9981incel alarm is going offf
- So it uses very little iron?
- Yes, that's the point...
Nice
Amazing
take my likes., take it all
Way to be blunt about it
If you’re too blunt you’ll miss the point
“What’s better? A katana or a broadsword?”
“Spear”
Objectively correct
Yarimazing
@@jarlnils435Yes!! Yari ashigaru by Far the Best unit ever! Most op in yari wall
Nope , longbow
@jordans7271 a unit of archers usually relied on a strong infantry corps to be effective
Cheap and easy to make. Swords were a rich man's weapon. Anglo Saxon kings and their housecarls rode to the battle on the smallish native horses and dismounted to fight on foot in a shield wall, many using the Danish battleaxe. The Norman's brought the large, heavy continental steeds which made the difference.
I mean even huscals and the upper clas in general of armys would use spears, and certainly posses them, there is a reason oding uses a spear.
Whats important is that the reason axes where so comon and popular is that people couldnt afford swords as a secodary, however you stll need a weapon for cqb and as a backup in case you loose your spear.
@@giftzwerg7345 Eh, these reasons you and the OP gave are both quite off the mark, when you consider the existence of a weapon like the Gladius and its vast, widespread usage.
It's not expense that was the key point. As far as I'm aware, it never really has been in regards to weaponry like swords and spears and axes. It's a matter of pros and cons.
Some peoples had a tradition of using axes, some traditions of using swords, most all of using spears in some way, but the reason one might choose one over another is due to its upsides or downsides.
Anglo Saxons would also fight on horseback. King Harold was mounted at Hastings. The House Karls only dismounted because there were a lot fewer of them than there were Knights serving William
@joshuabacker2363 the gladius saw widespread use among the Romans who had an incredibly wealthy and powerful empire. All cultures had spears, bows, axes, and swords; swords are just the most expensive because it needs the most iron. Metal is generally more expensive than wood
@@DieNibelungenliad You're right about expense, but the rest of what you said isn't really true. The Romans were using the Gladius from before they ever had any kind of an Empire, or even controlled more than the borders of their city-state.
They also took the idea straight from the Iberian tribes, who *definitely* weren't what you'd consider rich or powerful.
Furthermore, in most *all* cultures, a sidearm of some sort was absolutely used. Even the Hoplites of the Greeks kept a spare weapon on hand for when their otherwise invincible phalanx should falter, the Xiphos, which was - A sword. So ultimately expense meant apparently little to what people would use as weapons, which makes sense as while a sword does take more rare materials than a spear to make, it still doesn't take much at all.
Anyone else get nervous when he said face and neck...
I did when he started pointing it at himself. Always be weary of a man too comfortable with a spear in his face. And yes, do make dirty jokes about this comment.
"Eye sockets" got my attention.
When he said eye. That made me feel not so good.
😢
Ah yes, the long sharp stick.
you can cut it
@@layrex5983 That's not the point
@@layrex5983And now they have two shorter sticks, one of them still being just as sharp, and you have a spear rammed into your gut from the bloke next to them.
@@layrex5983 Yeah you can but like. The price to effectiveness absolutely destroys a sword
Spears are way more durable than most people think, and it's not easy to do that in a battlefield situation.@@layrex5983
All fear pointy stick
Primitive but effective.
Except archers. They fling pointy sticks far away 😅
@@scottanos9981 use shield to counter little pointy stick
Never fear pointy stick, lil bro.
It's amazing that a pointy stick was basically the greatest weapon for all of human history up until gundpowder
Yet we still make it a pointy stick whe. You hear "fix bayonets"
Gun turns to pointy stick
Best way to thrust is line up the point and then walk into the thrust, not push your arm out. If you push your arm out you are far more likely to miss your target, but if you step into the stab your weapon stays where it was and all the force of your body is behind the thrust. A "punch thrust" is desperate form, but can take someone by surprise.
Idk where you heard that. Wouldn't walking into the thrust also put you in range of your target and also three or four of his friends next to him?
@@shakezist No. "Walk into the thrust" doesn't mean "walk towards your opponent until you're in range of kissing" it means "position the weapon correctly and move your body behind it forward, not just shooting it out with your hands." You avoid counter play during the lining up process and with parries after the fact. If you're not able or willing to be in melee range of your opponent, you wouldn't use a melee weapon.
And I heard it from every single historical fencing instructor I've trained with, from historical fencing/fighting manuals of Destreza, and from personal experience with Rapier.
If you didn't step into an attack you don't enter range for yourself to attack at all. If you shot the thrust forward and leaned forward you break your own stability, you'd put yourself in far more jeopardy.
And if you "step into the stab"& miss...now you are within range to be counter- stabbed, slashed, or otherwise made very miserable on your way to Valhalla!
Imagine how physically fit you have to be to carry a shield or spear for a whole battle. I feel total war games really do the exhaustion part of battle justice. Soldiers routed and exhausted have shields and spears almost dragging on the ground
Roman soldiers must have had insane physical fitness, 20-25 mile march nearly everyday carrying over 100lb of kit then have to help build an entire fort every night. Bloody mental.
@@choughed3072 A 20-25 mile march is actually not that bad. For example the modern US Army requires troops to at the minimum pass a 12 mile ruck (50lbs) for men in 4 hours. That's bare minimum though, most expect better with more weight. Napoleon Bonaparte had troops that could make 40 miles per day and that is considered very impressive. I did my first test in 3.5 hours with 60lbs and I am a short guy who was unfit at the time. With more conditioning I would have been able to do much better like many others. There were guys who did 80lbs+ finishing in 2 hours.
@@choughed3072 the truth is that the Romans had ships, boats, and long caravans of donkey, oxen, camels, and slaves to carry all their equipment. The Roman Army was much more than just some legionnaires
@@user-nq2oz8tf2l a half marathon with 40kg in 2 hours is fucking insane
Get up from the desk and go outside for once, try lifting something
I feel like the instructor avoided telling him how wrong he was about it being short because it was "anti-infantry"
i mean in a sense he isnt wrong. Longer spears would be better against cavalry but it would be hard to use a shield making you worse against infantry
A 10ft+ spear (pike really) is better against cavalry but the Vikings weren't really involved much in cavalry warfare. A 6-8ft spear is way easier to use with a shield and he's right it is better against infantry. Don't get me wrong it's a good choice against a cavalryman but a spear in a line fight is a dangerous weapon.
Much more chance of facing infantry
@@swofte9600 if you make it long enough you get a pike, it’s still good against infantry if it’s long but you have to stay in formation
Most European spears were approximately 7 feet long depending on the user, that's plenty capable of anti infantry or anti cavalry use.
Imagine training just to get a Stray Spear through the face 30 seconds into Battle ☠️
No different than training for months in the Army now to only get KIA by a drone from a zoomer controlling hundreds or thousands of miles away on an Xbox controller
@@romyarmada2521 still a bullshit death none the less 🤣
@@TriumphAsh Yh bro. Getting a spear in the face or having nothing left of the body after a missile from a drone are both shit.
What a shit comment 😆
@@TriumphAsh such is life. You die to bullshit with none you can do.
"Face" *Points to neck*
"Neck" *Points to eye socket*
"Eye socket" *Points to face*
This man must be great at rock-paper-scissors. Even he doesn't know his next move 😂
LOL
These types of comments are what happens when people need to be right about something and have nobody to talk to. They just see anything and shit on it for attention, watching every single tiny detail of every frame to get some material to make themselves come across less sad.
@@Ehhhlmao I agree, I pity those people. They think they're so clever and have everything figured out, when in reality they just have too much time on their hands and too little self-respect, so they try to cover it up with snark and a sense of superiority. They really need something better to do with their lives than to overanalyze and belittle others in the comment section of a YT video, right?
@@Ehhhlmao You ok? Do you need someone to talk to?
@@B3RyL glad u agree
Such a good design that we were using them before we had become anatomically modern humans
Everyone gangster with a spear until you get it wedged in someone's orbital socket and can't get it out.
Oldest and most practical weapon
you have some moderate bricks of iron and a village with blacksmith
vola and you have two dozens of people that can stab group of enemies to death with simple and effectice strikes of a simple and effective weapon, and it helpful against cavalry too (yeah technically cavalry with even longer spears can counter spearmen but its always pricey after initial impact if only spearmen disciplined enough to not run away beforehand, and be sliced on the route)
And expert fighter will make wonders with it (although he can choose halberd or other fancier polearm), evading enemy's defence and punching holes in them long before they properly get in range
so easy to learn hard to master, like a proper Blizzard game
Who doesn’t like a spear. Fantastic
The helmet in the middle is what i always pick up and sell in skyrim lol
Wonder if we'll get spears in the next Elder Scrolla game 🤔 ...or if we'll ever get another Elder Scrolls game 😬
Movies: "One dude with a Katana could TOTALLY solo 20 guys!"
History: "If you are pulling out your sword on the battlefield, things have gone wrong, and you're probably on the losing side."
Lmao dude just comes out of nowhere like “yeah hold this shield, we have it for a reason”
Early age type of accompaniing of battle actions are incredibly inventive
No watermelons were hurt filming this video
Yes they were😂
A point that was made quite clearly to me in my fencing class was that the thrust was far faster than the slash.
“You’re going to be looking to stab with this” and to think I’ve been using spears wrong this whole time
I love Spears so much
Also pierce damage is the least resisted damage type for most bosses
People forget that the point of the spear is to keep men brave, because if your weapon is longer, your soldiers will be more confident.
After the Roman Empire disintegrated in the west, lack of concentration of wealth led to decline in the size of horses. For much of the period following antiquity and before the high middle ages horses were used to ride to battle rather than fight on due to the lack of a size advantage.
I'd say if you think of starting living history as a viking age warrior, first thing you buy/make is Spear (after your clothes off course), I made the mistake of buying a helmet and an axehead. If you want to do history living, only "weapon" you'd need is a knife. Being a warrior is only a job, I recommend becoming one only when you can really afford it.
Spears basically carried humanity until firearms shot quick enough.
The spear could still hurt a whole bunch of even draw blood on hitting maille
Spears were usually not held balanced when using with a shield but the elbow over the end of it with the hand keeping the end of the speer below the elbow, on longer spears it can be moved up a bit to keep it steady
Spears were shorter as longer spears despite not having much difference in two handed use they were more unwieldy with a shield with the second most common weapons being the axe or short blades which can be very effective on extended spears, two guys tested things like this in a spear Vs sword test with spears going just higher than you not having much difficulty with the distance closing when paired with shield
Longer spears are better in formation but the vikings moreso focused on the individual, they still clumped up but things like locking shields and other things were not as common
The reason the spear was so successful on the battlefield was because you could teach infantry to be effective with spears in a couple of weeks. Whereas to be proficient with sword takes years. Less valuable to lose a spearman compared to sword
It's small so you can use a shield with it. Of course Alexander the Great and his father Philip never got that memo when he introduced the Sarassa to replace the dory.
They also had longer spears. Mostly used with both hands.
Oh yeah, a big shield. The short that I just watched ahead of these was a group of guys that had really small shields. Their legs were almost entirely undefended. They did the most ineffective shield wall possible.
Congrats for your shield and spear.
The most important thing about a spear is that all the dangerous stuff happens at the pointy end, which is a long way away from you.
Imagine if they had been able to add essentially a pistol grip to it, that would’ve made them weapons to be feared just from the increased accuracy and speed alone
That’s probably why as kids we liked picking up random sticcs
"face"
Points spear at neck
"Neck"
Points spear at face
Every blacksmith could produce a knife or spearhead, but only a swordsmith could make a sword. Same with helmets or mail.
“The face” (as he points at his neck) “the neck” (as he points at his face) “the eye sockets” (as he points at his skull)
The second most common weapon on the battlefield must have been the humble watermelon! It is always used for reference and testing of historically acurate weaponry.
I just have to say I doubt they were for the face or the neck or whatever. If I was a man in a big wall of other men, I think my personal priority would just be staying alive and probably so would everyone else’s. So I would have to imagine that the spear, far from being a precision weapon; was utilized primarily to keep other people with spears as far away from me as possible while the professional soldiers (mounted men and land owning nobles with armor, swords and axes) did the bulk of the actual fighting.
Yes and no. In order to push your opponents back, your attack needs to be a treath. And they also use shields. So you would aim anywhere high up (since you use a spear over your shield) that isnt covered by the shield, which is the head, neck and maybe shoulders
A board with a nail....
"The face" points at neck
"The neck" points at face
Alexander The Great, who led his own cavalry, preferred spears to swords.
Almost every leader has prefered spears over swords. Usually swords were used as a secondary weapon and a tool outside of the battlefield (since only a small part of war is the battle itself, and you need a tool to cut stuff). Either spears or pykes (or variations) were prefered as a melle weapon usually
"You use it to stab the face [Points at neck] the neck [points at face] and the eyes [Points at forehead]"
Brutal times
Kaladin has entered the chat
Watermelons fear this channel.
In my country its simply sharpened bamboo
The perfect weapon. You can produce a lot and just arm a whole village with little to no training.
Can you imagine how many people died horribly at the end of a spear? 😮
There's a saying,
"It takes a 100 days to master a spear, 1000 days to master a blade, 10,000 days to master a sword"
Where do I recognize that guy from?
Hoplites: So a round shield and a spear? How original
You can slash with a spear. Its a stick. You swing it.
How did you use it on J6?
How long is it?
Next time, take a pumpkin like a decent viking.
So spear is for stabbing enemies huh? Never would've guessed
This guy is explaining it to us like he just got their and learner what a spear is and is now telling us based on observation what he thinks😂
I try to wonder which era would be the worst (or best) to be in the military, as far as fear of getting maimed or killed, and I think it’s all equal. For that, I’m glad I don’t live in an era (or current country like Israel or Ukraine) where conscription is occurring.
Spears OP.
Vikings both had and faced cavalry.
Your fruit killing skills are remarkable
Not going to get enough momentum to slash? That's ridiculous.
You can have a sword, or 7 spears.
Sam Smith going medieval
Why don't you teach us how to defend ourselves against pointed sticks?
+15 vs Cavalry
Before the ak47, the spear took the most lives. A weapon for the people, by the people. 🇺🇸🦅✝️
thats not true, one handed spearsa could be quite long, now i dont know about viking one, but generally they would be longer than youreselve, a spear in generally shouldnt be under 2 meters,
ow i dont know if thats just bc they dont know how to use them/ if the reenactors are wrong,
now one reasona vicing mid use a shorter spear is if it is his only weapon, and like bc on raids he mid figh more indoors and stuff,
balacing isnt a problem with the right grip and techice, and a spear should be tapered, so thicker in the back and thiner in the front.
the spears of hoplite where around 8 foot!, Some people even say 9!
The lenght of the spear usually depends on the opponents you are fighting. Hoplites often fought against cavalary, so it makes sense to have longer spears. The vikings usually fought against infantry, and didnt need the extra range
the shafts were longer, to reach OVER the shield wall and poke the warriors on the opposing side. and yes you could use one with a shield though its a helluva lot more effective to have someone else hold the shield while you use both hands. this guy needs to put some armor on an actually try what he's blabbering about before regurgitating assumptions and half truths.
Ah yes, because this can't hurt anyone if you stab them anywhere else than head or neck.
Why are those people always making stuff up on the spot?
Pointy stick is pointy, wherever you stick it.
Grim though
Thanks for the info captain obvious.
Nah man I play chivalry 2 and everyone knows the halberd is wayyy better than the spear
A wonderful weapon, indeed. Good for police riot control perhaps.
German=spearman .....they had the skills to catch spears and throw it back
Call of Duty: Goats 🐐 🐐🐐
Крестьянин с копьем в соло
🇬🇧👍❤️
Medieval weapons are cool. However I'll stick with my old M16A2.
Sounds like david beckham
Oh but the vikings were fighting nights on horseback a book I red sed the knights sed the Norse men were cowards I asked the professor why and bascly when the knights came charging at rhem on there armored horses with there lances and rhere fancy shilds and armor charging down on this Un armored man with a sword rhe norseman would step to the side of the horse that the Lance wasn't then cowardly attack the innocent horse by cutting off the front legs of corse if the norsmen were trampled by the horse that would be perfectly honorable
Poorly described with guesswork. 🤦🏻
Poor man's weapon. Give me a sword 🗡️
Brother, swords are side arms… thats like wanting a glock over an ar
@@MikeHawkaMildlyStank Tell that to the Romans. And a 1vs1 a spearman will always lose against a skilled swordfighter
The romans primary weapon was the javelin
The sword was a sidearm
@@genericname1949 That's simply not true! The javelin was the side arm! If you mentioned the hoplites then yes there main weapon was the spear while the sword was there sidearm.
Ahhh ak-Err-es-Y
How long is it?