Winged lance head/boar spear

[Marcus Mummius]

Salve omnes,

I'm writing a conservation report on this piece:



I'd very much appreciate any info on this lance type. This one was found in a river in Belgium. Is there some kind of typology that can be used as a dating help?

I've read several explanations on the wings of these lance heads. Some say the wings are there to avoid the lance falling out of a wound. Others say they are there to stop the spear from penetrating to deep. What is correct? Or is it a combination of both?

Can anyone offer a tentative dating of this piece?

Thanks in advance,
Kind regards,
Jef

[Marcus Mummius]

Also: when did this lance type first appear?

[Paullus]

Somehow I remember these weapons being connected to the Franks early on.

[Robert Vermaat]

Yep, that's what I recall too - winged spearheads are considered Frankish.

[Matthew Amt]

Ave!

The Sword Forum or My Armoury might be better places to get good information about this.

http://forums.swordforum.com/index.php?s=

http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/index.php

In fact, the latter has a discussion about a repro version,

http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=9632

Judging by the comments there, yes, a winged spearhead is typically Carolingian/Frankish, but was also used into the Norman period.

The wings have nothing to do with penetration! There may be confusion on that score with boar spears, which have a crossbar of some sort behind the blade to keep the boar from simply running down your spearshaft and gutting you even though you already gutted him! It is believed that these wings are rather used for parrying and "fencing" in some way. I don't know the particulars, though.

That's about all I know, unfortunately! That style's never been one of my favorites since it tends to get over-emphasized. And there are a lot of bad repros of it out there...

Holy smokes, is that one really almost 50 cm long?? What a monster! Makes me much more inclined to accept that it's some kind of 2-handed polearm. Yikes.

Well, good luck! I'm always envious of folks who get to play with real artifacts!

Matthew

[Marcus Mummius]

Thanks guys!

Yes, Matt, it's 50cm long )

I choose this artifact because it had different kinds of corrosion and a piece of the wooden shaft was conserved in the socket.

Too bad I couldn't choose something made out of bronze because this depot had very nice 'urneveld' swords.

Looks like the wings were good for everything I've read things about hooking them on enemy shields and pulling them away from them too.

Vale,

[Paullus]

The Vienna Lance (the famous Spear of Longinus) was inspected some time ago. Besides the gold sheath and additional acoutrements added on, the oldest part of the weapon was a Frankish winged lance, the wings of which can be seen in these pictures:

http://community.iexplore.com/photos/jo ... s/hol1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... nze_02.JPG

Its been dated to the 7th century. It looks fairly close to the one you are examining, if slightly longer from the wings on the socket to the beginning of the actual spearhead.

Hope it helps.

[Marcus Mummius]

Thanks Paul!

And all the others!

[Susanne]

Marcus, are you the guy who found the item? It's gorgeous!

[Marcus Mummius]

Marcus, are you the guy who found the item? It's gorgeous!

Actualy I found it hanging on a rack in a stuffy depot Does this count?

It's been found between 1923 and 1925. I've excavated some very nice things but never such a cool lancehead

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

That lance of Longinus almost looks as if there is part of a pilum point in it!
That is supposed to be the lance used to pierce Jesus' side, isn't it?

[Paullus]

Yes Byron it is! According to legend, which seem to be a dime a dozen with regard to the Holy Lance.

The one intriguing part of the Vienna Lance is that the little piece inset into the hole cut into the spear seems to be a highly decorated crucifixion nail. It certainly looks like a pilum head from those pictures From what I remember, it is apparantly a genuine Roman artifact, or at least unable to be proven otherwise beyond reasonable doubt.

According to legend the spear at one time belonged to Constantine (a previous legendary possessor was the famed St. Maurice), whose mother collected various Christian relics, one of which was a nail used in the execution of Jesus. Before the Battle of Milvian Bridge, she supposedly set the nail into the Spear of Longinus before giving it to her son, and the rest is history, so the story goes....

Hopefully I didn't highjack your thread Jef!

[Robert Vermaat]

Before the Battle of Milvian Bridge, she supposedly set the nail into the Spear of Longinus before giving it to her son, and the rest is history, so the story goes....

You mean the rest is legend, or so the myth goes.. :wink:

[Paullus]

Too true