Wulflund – German Horseman’s Axe

Designed specifically to defeat heavily-armored opponents, late Medieval war axes such as this carried enough kinetic energy to cleave, or at least batter armored plate asunder. Many, such as this example, sported a can-opening pick on the reverse. The increasing use of plate armor forced warriors and weaponsmiths to redesign almost all medieval weaponry to optimize them to defeat armor – usually by maximizing kinetic force by minimizing the striking edge. The late medieval axes are certainly representative of this, as they now featured a spike or pick to puncture armor – a rarer addition to earlier weapons of this time.

This Medieval Horsemans Axe from the Czech Republic is crafted from high carbon steel. The edge is unsharpened, though the extremities of the edge are thin enough that the blade could be considered slightly sharpened at its ends. The grip is of wood. Though it is based on a design for a one-handed weapon, this axe is larger than it may appear and two hands are needed to wield it for all but the very strong.