Halberd types

by goldenbearcz

Hi, im wondering about halberd types and their useing. Are there some better ones or every type have its specific usage, where is best or it doesnt matter until it have spike and blade on stick? Thanks for answers

wotan_weevil

Even if we only consider the classic late Medieval European halberd and its post-Medieval descendants, there is a lot of variety. Fundamentally, they're all cut-and-thrust polearms, with a thrusting spike, a cutting blade, and a back spike, but they vary from heavy battle-polearms that can seriously threaten armour through to ornamental show-off weapons for palace guards. Weights vary from a little over 1kg to over 4kg, and lengths vary from about 6'/180cm to almost 3m.

However, we can divide these into three main groups:

  1. Halberds for large-scale use on battlefields. These appear to typically about 2.5kg, about 2m long (usually from 180 to 220cm). These are long and heavy enough to strike with tremendous amounts of energy, and should be able to do serious damage through lighter armour (e.g., plate armour on arms and legs, often 0.8mm to 1mm thick), while remaining light enough and short enough to be reasonably fast and agile (not as fast and agile as a typical sword of the time, but the halberd has the advantage of range). While there are many variations in detail of halberd designs, most of these would have little effect on use in combat, as long as the overall weight and size remain typical.

  2. Guard halberds. Often ornate (for palace guards, parade use, etc.). These vary a lot in size and weight. Some are very long. Some are very light, and some are very heavy. Many have rather vestigial blades and back spikes, being almost purely thrusting weapons. These are more intended for visual impact and use as thrusting weapons to keep crowds at a distance if needed than for use in battle.

  3. Military halberds intended as badges of rank. These are late, and appear after the halberd has stopped being a weapon of importance on the battlefield. They are a combination weapon and sign of rank of the bearer (a role also performed by spontoons, and some halberds of this type are effectively spontoons with decorative blades.

There are exceptions. There are some very heavy halberds which are plain and appear to be fighting weapons. There are some very early halberds which are less suited for thrusting, such as:

Some examples:

Classic battle halberds:

Evolving towards the post-battle halberd?:

A halberd for thrusting:

Very ornamental halberds, never intended to go on the battlefield. These could still be used to keep crowds at a distance, but are essentially for display rather than use:

There are also a number of other, quite different, weapons also often called halberds. These include the Japanese naginata, the Korean woldo, the Chinese guandao, the Chinese ji (both the late crescent-blade + spear ji and the ancient ge blade + spear), and the ancient Chinese ge and the functional similar ancient Irish bronze halberd.