Viking halberd

The term "halberd" has been used to translate several Old Norse words relating to polearms[1] in the context of Viking Age arms and armour, and in scientific literature about the Viking Age.[2] In referring to the Viking Age weapon, the term "halberd" is not to be taken as referring to the classical Swiss halberd of the 15th century, but rather in its literal sense of "axe-on-a-pole", describing a weapon of the more general glaive type.

  1. ^ Richard Cleasby; Guðmundr Vigfússon (1874). An Icelandic-English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  2. ^ Saga book of the Viking Society for Northern Research, Volume 23. Viking Society. 1990.