Cold Steel – Medieval European Boar Hunting Spear – Man at Arms Collection

This large-headed Medieval Boar Hunting Spear by Cold Steel has a spearhead crafted from 1055 high carbon steel. The steel has been blackened and the sharpened edge is moderately sharp. The shaft is of ash wood that has been stained and varnished. The spear ships unassembled to minimize shipping costs – the spearhead is securely fixed to the shaft with a pair of wood screws which are included.

Designed to bring down large game, a medieval boar-hunting spear has a large head designed to create as deep and wide a wound as possible on an unarmored target. It has a strong central ridge not only for strength, but to keep its center rigid to aid in directing a great amount of force into the target. Two distinctive and large winged lugs prevent the spear from penetrating too deeply; this prevents the thrashing, wounded boar from charging up the pole to harm the wielder, allowing him to keep the boar at bay. A wide and dense shaft of hardwood not only helps to prevent breakage from the flailing boar, but also helps direct a great amount of energy into the strike.

Medieval Europe was much more forested than modern Europe and boar were once abundant. Boar hunting was no task for the faint of heart and the hunting of them in the Medieval period was often a restricted sport of the nobility, who hunted them to hone their martial skills. Sometimes skilled and approved huntsmen would hunt a boar for the feast table of his lord.

A typical medieval hunting party often used dogs to corner a boar and disorient the creature, allowing the hunter to approach the boar to strike it with a spear. Some, for a greater challenge, would approach the boar from behind to kill it with a dagger. The truly skilled huntsman could hog-tie the animal to be butchered later, as boar meat spoils relatively rapidly. In the later medieval period it became increasingly common to hunt boar with crossbows and later, firearms.

Hunting boar was clearly hazardous; the 13th century French King Philip IV was killed at a hunt when a charging boar startled his horse, dismounting him and leading to an injury that would cause his death.

Please Note: Our photos show an approximation of the completed weapon – we did not screw the head to the pole, this is why the screws are not present in the photos. Also poles may have slight bends or warps, however, we inspect them to try and pick the best ones available.