Does anyone know how popular throwing hammers were in Europe?
How effective were they compared to other missile / throwing weapons?


The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons Edited by Leonid Tarassuk & Claude Blair

War hammer
[Last paragraph)]
"From the 14th to early 16th centuries, a special type of the war hammer was used in central Europe as a missile weapon, which was given a spinning motion in flight. Functionally similar to the throwing axes, these war hammers had a conical pointed head with a spike and a fluke, and the steel handle was also sharply pointed at the bottom. In its simplest form, the throwing hammer had the form of a Latin cross whose four pointed arms were designed to inflict a wound however the weapon hit."


I managed to find a pic of a throwing hammer at Hermann Historica, see attached.

Does anyone know of any period illustrations showing them in use or any period writings describing their use?

What other throwing weapons were used in warfare throughout history (I know of the Hurlbat, Francisca, Chakram, Darts, Javelins, Slings, Bow and Crossbows)?

Were there any types of knives that were specifically used for throwing?

Thanks

Danny

Hi

There is a khazar multiple knife sheath wich has been suggested to have been used to house throwing knives.
The knives themselves are simple wich suggests that maybe this is true.

Their is a referance to these knives in Companion to Arms and Armour, in Michael Gorelicks chapter about eastern euro arms.

Throwing maces too!

Nick

Thanks for posting the pic. That is an interesting weapon and I am tempted to have a smith I know make one for me. Might be fun to toss around while walking the dogs in the Maine woods (provided I don't loose it of course :))

Byzantine cavalry occationally used throwing hammers, of a traditional short hafted sledgehammer design.

Another contribution to the arsenal of nastiness was the Plumbata; a short dart, with a lead weight and a long, thin barbed head. These where carried by later roman and byzantine troops, as a replacement for the traditional javelin. While not very lethal, having a lead weight hanging from your arm is quite incapacitating.

To steve:
The chance of outright killing someone with a thrown weapon is rather low anyhow. As such, making it smaller and more convenient might be a good tradeof.

Hello all!

Danny,

The throwing hammer you showed looks a bit like a different form of hurlbat. I know you mentioned hurlbats in your post, but just in case others would like to see, I've posted a link and a picture. The throwing hammer looks like a hurlbat with the axe-head replaced with a spike.

Compare your picture of the throwing hammer to the pictures of hurlbats here (I think at least one looks on the small size):

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...ht=hurlbat

And in the pictures below. (I see a bit of a familial resemblance, but maybe it's just me.)

Stay safe!

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Plate 20 Part 5 "Hurlbats" from Medieval Costume, Armour and Weapons.

What other throwing weapon?

Hm. Do stones count? They seem to have been used in almost every single war for which there is a detailed account, although they are definitely not purpose-built weapons if that's what you mean. Central Asian peoples had a variety of throwing axes/hammers--they didn't see these as separate weapons, but rather as a continuum from blunt hammerheads to narrow armor-piercing axes and finally to the broad-headed axes inspired by the utility tool.

Hello all!

If you want to talk throwing weapons worldwide, and not just European, then you must include throwing clubs. The Australian boomerang is perhaps the most famous, but there were others in different times and places.

Australian aborigines used many different sorts of throwing sticks and clubs. Some were of a boomerang shape, while others had bulbous heads. The non-returning kind were used in war. There is a throwing club from the DeGrey River area of NW Australia that has serrations carved in relief around the head to make a blow by hand more effective. When thrown, the pointed end was intended to strike the target.

Ancient Egyptians used throwing sticks to hunt birds and small game.

The Zulu knobkerrie could be used as a throwing weapon. It consisted of a short stick with a knob at one end, made from wood or rhinoceros horn.

The natives of Fiji used a hardwood throwing club.

There are also a weird assortment of throwing knives used in Africa. Many of these have multiple-points so they can cut or pierce no matter how they strike.

I hope this was of interest!

Stay safe!

Hello again!

Here's one example of an African throwing knife, with the information and the picture:

Quote:

Throwing Knife (Kpinga) Uele River Basin, Congo region Niam Niam Culture early 20th c. iron Thrown horizontally at the legs of an enemy or vertically at the body. The Azande kpinga is generally seen as the most perfectly balanced, weighted, and effective missile among the southern throwing knives. Sutton Collection MAC1966-164

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African Throwing Knife.

Hello again!

I found an interesting reference to an ancient European throwing weapon in The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms & Weapons, edited by Leonid Tarassuk and Claude Blair. Here's what the entry said regarding the cateia:

Quote:

cateia A throwing weapon consisting of a pointed head fixed to a flexible pole, more than 1 m (3 ft.) long, with nails; at the center of the pole there was a loop, which was used for throwing the cateia and picking it up. The earliest literary reference to it appeared in Virgil (70-19 B.C.), who referred to its use by the people of Campania, although he attributed its origin to the Germanic or Celtic people. Aulus Gellius (2nd century A.D.) mentioned it as a throwing weapon and included it among the tela and the jacula.

Stay safe!

[quote="George Hill"]

Richard Fay wrote:

Does anyone think those might be plumbata?

The plubata has the weight roughly in the middle;
http://www.romancoins.info/plumbata.jpg

It would have a short wooden shaft, to stabilice it...

Hello all!

Jean Thibodeau wrote:

How about the Bolo ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boleadoras Qualifies as a throwing weapon and could very remotely look like a bulbous mace when thrown ? A true Bolo with three balls or a single rock / stone tied to a rope.

Hi Jean!

The "mace" actually a bolo? Who knows? It's very hard to interpret the Bayeux Tapestry because of the limitations of the medium and the style of the piece.

However, the possible airborne mace does look similar to other possible maces from the Bayeux Tapestry. Check out the images on this thread:

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...light=mace

Compare the mace held by the Norman lord and those carried by the fleeing Anglo-Saxons to the possible airborne mace. I think they are all basically the same thing. Of course, it's all conjecture, since the Bayeux Tapestry can be unclear on a lot of the details.

Bolos are a good addition to the thrown weapons list, though! Plumbata, too!

Stay safe!

Richard;

Yes I agree the odds of the one in the Bayeux Tapestry being a Bolo as slim to none but I just made my point or rather " A "
point that the drawing style and the medium of the tapestry is such that it cannot show any details.

A lot there has in the past been used to " guess " about things like scale, ring or banded maille etc ....... Things mostly 19th century guesswork. ( Scale might still be valid or currently accepted. )

Anyway, lets say that the tapestry had just been discovered by an Argentinean Historical researcher he might jump to conclusions about what the thrown mace might be a bolo: The point not being that it does represent a bolo but only that with vague input the human mind will go with what is familiar as a best guess.

My second reason to mention the bolo is because it does fit the original topic as you mentioned.

Just call it a " how many angels can dance on a pin argument " just for the fun of it. :p :lol: ( Just joking with this last comment :D )

Norse sagas describe a thowing weapon called a "pálstafr", which is, most likely, a stone attached to a handle.
They are mentioned mainly in naval battles; The Kingsmirror advices that one should have heavy Pålstaf, to throw at the enemy's shield, and then attack him with a light javelin should the shield be knocked aside.

for natural reasons there are no finds of these, nor pictures that I know of.

Other than that, all kinds of spears where a favourite. Interesting enough, it seems flint tipped throwing spears where still in use well into the middle ages, if the interpretation of the sagas is correct; King Sverre himself used "Skjeptifletta" javelins when fighting on horseback in the 1190's.

There is little mention of throwing axes in the sagas as far as I've gathered; However, stones feature heavily. Throwing stones is mentioned as a good martial skill, along with spear throwing and archery.

Does anybody know of evidence of Hurlbats or similar in the Wars of the Roses? I know they were being used in Germany at that time, but would like to know if they were used in England. ta

[quote="Elling Polden"]

George Hill wrote:

Richard Fay wrote: Does anyone think those might be plumbata? The plubata has the weight roughly in the middle; http://www.romancoins.info/plumbata.jpg It would have a short wooden shaft, to stabilice it...

Yes, with all the biodegrable material still attached, it would look like this.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tribunus/P1110141.jpg

Hello all!

Hey George!

I just saw the image at the link you posted of the reconstructed plumbata and the first thought that crossed my mind: lawn darts! Not the "safe" versions they make now, but the metal-tipped ones they made when they first came out with lawn-darts. I believe they might have actually eventually recalled them, and they certainly redesigned them to be safer. Apparently, people were getting hurt with unsharpened lawn darts. (My family had a set of the old ones - they had a fairly good heft to them, and probably could do some damage to a person!) I can imagine what a sharpened and barbed version could do!

Stay safe!