Posts: 3,079
Threads: 50
Joined: Nov 2003
Reputation:
20
I always thought that the 'wings' on winged spearheads were there to allow the user to parry his opponent's thrusts more easily in an age when the spear was still the preferred and primary weapon.
I think it would be something of a fool's game to thrust a spear that far into a body. Would you be able to pull it out again and bring it to bear before an opponent skewered you?
Crispvs
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers. :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.romanarmy.net">www.romanarmy.net
Posts: 2,462
Threads: 93
Joined: Jun 2006
Reputation:
0
were there many in Limburg back then?
M.VIB.M.
Bushido wa watashi no shuukyou de gozaru.
Katte Kabuto no O wo shimeyo!
H.J.Vrielink.
Posts: 2,462
Threads: 93
Joined: Jun 2006
Reputation:
0
dont know... wasnt there at the time hehehehe
:wink:
M.VIB.M.
its just that i have maybe a more cultivated view of the limburg landscape back then... more fields, acres etcetera, but i moght be totally wrong about the human interference in the natural landscape back then....
Bushido wa watashi no shuukyou de gozaru.
Katte Kabuto no O wo shimeyo!
H.J.Vrielink.
Posts: 3,079
Threads: 50
Joined: Nov 2003
Reputation:
20
As I thought I said above (perhaps I worded it badly), I don't think you would ever thrust a spear so deeply into an opponent during a battle that the head would penetrate as far as the wings on a winged spear. I don't believe that the weapon would be able to be pulled out again easily or quickly enough to be able to parry the next incoming thrust, remembering that each man in a battle line in effectively fighting against five others (the man in front and the two either side of him who can also reach you).
Rather, I have been led to believe that the wings increased the spearman's ability to parry incoming thrusts, as well as being able to be used to hook the opponent's shield.
Crispvs
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers. :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.romanarmy.net">www.romanarmy.net
Posts: 163
Threads: 1
Joined: Apr 2006
Reputation:
0
What about with regard to Horse Men? I have seen early medieval depictions of Horse Men armed with Winged Spears. Could the added impetus of the mount been a problem solved with wings? Doesn't sound right, given the predominance of non winged Lances later on, but I thought I would mention the possibility.
Matthew James Stanham
It is a joyful thing indeed to hold intimate converse with a man after one\'s own heart, chatting without reserve about things of interest or the fleeting topics of the world; but such, alas, are few and far between.
Yoshida Kenko (1283-1350), Tsurezure-Gusa (1340)
