Rondels on Polearms and Other Stuff: Response to Matt Jensen

Today Dr. Nathan Clough takes a closer look at how disc guards on 14th and 15th century polearms were attached, what they were for, and how these weapons were used. This was spurred by some questions that our sword friend Matt Jensen had in his review of our new 15th C. Glaive. Below you can see the guard on our piece, and the original on which it is based, a poleax in the Wallace Collection in London, A926.
Check out the item here: www.arms-n-arm....
We also address the aesthetics of weapons in the late 14th and early 15th centuries and how a stark and undecorated style predominated at the time, which stands in stark contrast to the highly decorated polearms of the following two centuries.
As always, our swords and other weapons are entirely made by us at our shop in Minneapolis, MN out of 6150 carbon steel, hardened and tempered to 50-52 Rockwell. Our swords and other weapons are made to look, feel, and function just like the historical originals on which they are based.
www.arms-n-arm...
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985

[@richstone2627]

Now that's a knife. Good presentation. Many years ago I came to the same conclusion about the Rondel. Of course because I don't have a Phd I was laughed at and told I was wrong. Thank you and keep up the good work.

[@freestatefellow]

Appreciate you guys making changes in response to feedback or explaining your thought process for your decisions. Looks like a cool piece! Hopefully you’ll have one at the ren-fest this year.

[@armsarmorinc.4153]

We will certainly try to have some out there

[@jorgen-ingmarcastell2864]

There is a similar scandinavian weapon, to the glaive, it is nowdays called svärdsstav (swordstaff) in swedish.
It is a short sword on a staff or pole, often dubble edged, an (near) always has a crossguard..

[@armsarmorinc.4153]

Yep they are interesting and excellent weapons. They did make some glaives with cross guards as well though the rondels were far more common in the art and surviving examples than guards.

[@WhatIfBrigade]

I agree it doesn't look very good for parrying on its own. It slopes towards the wielder and doesn't seem to have anything to catch an opponent's strike. Considering the sword guards that are available in that time period, it being a handstop backed by a gauntlet makes much more sense. We think it is weird in the present because we want hand protection, but most spears and polearms don't have much hand protection at all.

[@ewokuk]

lovely weapon & thanks for your explanation of the rondel construction. It's strange though that the rondel discs on rondel daggers were of generally stronger construction & these are generally assumed to provide the hand protection that you describe. The current theory on the rondel poll axe in the Wallace collection is that it was a later (Victorian?) addition . Could this explain it's lighter construction when compared to dagger rondels?

[@gregoryford5230]

I think this a big part of why Japanese swords have the style of guard they do.

[@Eulemunin]

Yay
And we modern people are weird.