The Unknown Polearm

This is a very interesting polearm. The pictures were sent in by a web visitor who received this as a gift. He is having trouble identifying it and I thought you might want to give it a shot! It's almost a bardiche but as you can see the lower end of the blade doesn't connect the pole. And with such a long blade I wouldn't categorize it as a poleaxe. They typically had a shorter and stouter blade. I have a page that shows drawings of all different kinds of polearms. You can check out that page if you want a little help in classifying this one. Medieval Polearms

Note: The most likely categorization of this weapon was submitted by a web visitor: (Spivey). He classifies it as a Voulge-Guisarmes. And he is probably right. It has a broad blade like a voulge and also like a voulge it is broadly attached via the bottom portion of the blade. And it has the characteristics of a Guisarme because of the disarming hooks. So we might have a winner here.

Update on this medieval weapon: I got an email from a web visitor (Jake) who has found this exact shape and size weapon in other places. They call it a Halberd/Voulge . I will include some links so you can see more of them. Now I just have to verify the authenticity of this. It could just be some kind of a modern weapon. Or it could be an actual centuries old configuration. Dunno yet. My thanks go to Jake for this great bit of information!

Here is one Here: Halberd/Voulge

And Another: Halberd/Voulge - This site has it labeled as circa 1425-1450 but I haven't been able to verify that yet.

 

Here is what the owner (Nathan) has to say about it:

as far as a better discription... no markings or ingravings of any kind (no made in china stamp lol) if you look closely at the blade edge you can see 6 nicks in it that i recognised right away to be from sword strikes. (i pratice bushido and i know a sword block when i see one). when my father in law first brought it to me it had alot of rust so i know its not stainless steel like the cheap knock offs you can get all over the net. i used a fine steel wool to buff out as much of the rust as possible, then treated it with the same oil of cloves i treat my carbon steel katanas with. i used matching color old english on the wood to bring back some luster and it looks 100% better than the day i got it...i wish i had taken a before and after pic but i didnt bother because i was almost sure it was a medievil viking weapon and a great addition to my weapons collection...i was half right anyway! ... Nathan

There are no markings, engravings, numbers or smithing marks or symbols on the weapon anywhere.

In this first picture you can see that the blade is held to the pole with three brass rivets and two leather straps. This weapon is almost a bardiche but not quite. That is because the bottom of the blade does not connect to the handle.

Here is a theory submitted by a web visitor:

I'm not sure how old the article on your website is, so you may have an answer already, but I'm reasonably sure that the weapon is an ornate lochaber axe.
The Lochaber axe was a type of halberd used by Scottish Highlanders, they can be notoriously difficult to indentify correctly as there isn't any really standard form. What makes me believe that the weapon pictured is lochaber axe is as follows:

• A "shepherd's crook" attachment on the back.
• Aprox length the same as a bardiche (many believe the lochaber axe is just the scottish name for a bardiche)
• The shape of the blade is more consistent with it being a lochaber axe rather than a Voulge or halberd.

Given the difficulty in giving it a definite indentification I think it is one of many variations of a lochaber axe.
Hope this helps 
Matt

Here is a good look at the blade.

It looks like there are some sword nicks in the blade. I wonder if this weapon saw some action.

A Closeup. The wood might be oak and the blade is definitely not stainless steel.

Ok, Here is an overall view of the weapon

Here is an overall view of the whole polearm. It is approximately 5 feet and ten inches in length.

If you can identify this weapon::