What Is This Weapon Called?

[A. E. Lowan]

This can be a good thread to ask about weird and wild weapons, so I'll get started. I've working on a chapter and it occurs to me that I have no idea what the actual name of this weapon is. I've been calling it a 'pronged war hammer,' but now I'm unsure. It's dwarven, if that helps. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Devor]

Real warhammers were of course much smaller and narrower. But a quick google search refers to the "prongs" on German warhammers.

That info is here.
War Hammers information and pictures

German War Hammer - This is an interesting variation on the warhammer. It had a picking tool and the hammer side had small prongs that could deliver the vicious blow of a hammer yet still make pierces into armor. This design also lightened it for faster swinging.

This image refers to them as "mail."

For me, I would give the warhammer style a name, maybe based on the dwarven land it comes from (it's a "Durlock Warhammer"), then describe it as a wide warhammer with prongs at the corners.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Real warhammers were of course much smaller and narrower. But a quick google search refers to the "prongs" on German warhammers.

That info is here.
War Hammers information and pictures



This image refers to them as "mail."

For me, I would give the warhammer style a name, maybe based on the dwarven land it comes from (it's a "Durlock Warhammer"), then describe it as a wide warhammer with prongs at the corners.

Sweetness! That's a great idea. And thanks for the link.

 

[Insolent Lad]

I would probably call that a 'maul.'

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I would probably call that a 'maul.'

Yeah, looking 'maul' up, I'd say that's also fairly accurate.

 

[Aldarion]

This can be a good thread to ask about weird and wild weapons, so I'll get started. I've working on a chapter and it occurs to me that I have no idea what the actual name of this weapon is. I've been calling it a 'pronged war hammer,' but now I'm unsure. It's dwarven, if that helps. Any suggestions? Thanks!

View attachment 2982

It is a maul, which is a wooden hammer-approximation - hence why the head is so big, it has to be because wood is nowhere as dense as metal. And it was actually a rather popular weapon. That being said, I believe some mauls were given a metal sheathing for greater durability and protection, which is why you get misconceptions about giant warhammers.

 

[Devor]

A maul is more of a tool than a highly optimized weapon of war. A lot of tools get used as weapons on the battlefield, but that's not the impression one gets from the image.

Anyways a "dwarven warhammer" that looks about like that is pretty common terminology in the fantasy genre. It's not a realistic weapon design, but it's one we're all familiar with.

 

[Mad Swede]

A maul is a form of hammer, sometimes with a wooden head and sometimes with a head of iron or lead. The exact shape of the head varies, depending on what the maul is to be used for. Post mauls have a large flat faced wooden head, and are used for knocking posts into the ground - you can see them as a sort of wooden sledgehammer (a wooden head is used to stop the maul damaging the top of the post). Splitting mauls are used to split wood along the grain, and have a metal head with a blade on one side and a flat face on the other (the head is roughly triangular in planform). Spike mauls are used to knock spikes or large nails into wood, and have a long double head with small faces. All mauls have long handles, to give the moment needed to hit something hard.

Mauls can be used as weapons, and one example was at Agincourt where English archers brought mauls with them to knock defensive stakes into the ground, and then later used the same mauls as improvised weapons against French soldiers.

I'd suggest that the picture you posted is of a war hammer. War hammers usually have a metal head, which can have two flat faces but which often has a spike on one face and a flat hammer face on the other. They can have long handles, but usually have shorter handles so that you can use them with one hand. This is especially true of the war hammers used by mounted troops. War hammers are most useful against troops with good armour, as the weight of the hammer allows it to damage armour (and the body behind it) in a way that swords or spears can't do.

 

[Devor]

This can be a good thread to ask about weird and wild weapons, so I'll get started.

I'll go next.

My sprites sometimes use a long narrow net in combat, with claws on one end. They drag it behind them and use it to tangle, trip, disarm; sometimes they use it to drop something from overhead. If they pull at a cord on the net, much of the net closes up, transforming it into something of a lash. This makes it a little stronger if there's something they want to do, like yank a shield out of your hand. If they tighten the cord even more, it closes even further into a rope, with all its uses as a tool.

It's made of special gold-like magic threads, so you can forget the real world physics issues. The threads also respond to sprite magic, making it easier for them to use.

What do I call this thing?

 

[Almyrigan Hero]

I'll go next.

My sprites sometimes use a long narrow net in combat, with claws on one end. They drag it behind them and use it to tangle, trip, disarm; sometimes they use it to drop something from overhead. If they pull at a cord on the net, much of the net closes up, transforming it into something of a lash. This makes it a little stronger if there's something they want to do, like yank a shield out of your hand. If they tighten the cord even more, it closes even further into a rope, with all its uses as a tool.

It's made of special gold-like magic threads, so you can forget the real world physics issues. The threads also respond to sprite magic, making it easier for them to use.

What do I call this thing?

Jokes aside, I'd go with something like 'war snare' or 'sprite snare.' A net isn't exactly a snare, but if you can also tighten it to grab things more directly it's sort of both.

 

[Devor]

Almyrigan Hero, I don't think I could survive all the drama triggered by a blizzard homage.

But snare is great. After struggling through a dozen versions of net, lash and whip, my current name was Winglash. But Wingsnare is a lot more on point. It's a subtle difference, but for some reason it matters.

 

[pmmg]

Knee-capper.

 

[LAG]

Hmmm here's one, fictional: a sword, appearing wooden but in fact grown in molds out of a synthetic material lighter yet stronger than steel, which is able to conduct certain energies, whether electrical or otherwise, through its body for the purpose of either utility or defense on the part of its wielder, who wears a special glove neurally linked via sub-dermal electrodes grafted to their nerves, and this glove in turn links with the sword, making the wielder 'feel' the blade, even if only minimally, also the lethal energies that course from the super-dense nuclear battery in its hilt. Foes hit by the sword, though, are not lucky enough to have their nerves blunted in such a manner.
What would you call these swords, which appear blunt yet can cut through feet of steel?

 

[Devor]

That's a tough one, LAG. I think it's too complex for a purely descriptive name. I would make up a fantasy word, and say it was named after a legend that kind of explains the heart of the weapon. For example, "This is a Yigdra, named after the world tree Yggdrasil."

 

[pmmg]

A nuclear feedback blade.

 

[Lodestone]

Clearly that dwarf is wielding his clan’s favored weapon:

Wolfhammer

(the little spikes look like fangs or canine teeth to me)

 

[Puck]

In general terms, the cartoon depicts a weapon that would never have been used in war during Medieval times. It might have been OK to use such a weapon in a tournament context but not in war. You'd really struggle to wield a weapon that heavy and bulky in a 3 hour battle without tiring.

It depends how realistic you want to make your fantasy however. Also, maybe such a weapon is fine for dwarves because they as so much stronger and have so much more stamina than mere humans. Perhaps it should be called a 'Great Hammer' because of its bulky size. You are pretty much free to call it what you like, since no military hammer of that sort was ever used in history on this planet.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Yeah, it's definitely dwarven. Its name is Terror and it's wielded by the Champion of the Kingdom of the Seven Mountains. As a named weapon, it has magical properties and bestows great status on its bearer. It's also cool, and in fantasy, especially urban fantasy, cool is a factor to consider.

This is a great bit of a discussion of the Rule of Cool in speculative fiction. In other words, "plausible" becomes a delightfully elastic term when you take cool as a factor.

 

[pmmg]

Even cool has its limits.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Even cool has its limits.

That's why I said, 'plausible.' There is a difference between suspending disbelief and taking it bungee jumping.