[Anders Nilsson]

I don´t have the sagas with me at the time, but I have read that the axes "Should have good horns".

I recall one saga when the horns was used to stab the oponents in the throat.

Another saga tells of when an axe cuts from above, behind the shield, and the horn stabs through the mail and the chest.

There are also sagas mentioning the axe being used to hook oponents legs, drag them out of the shieldwall and then stabbing them to death.

This stabbing and hooking makes me think of the use uf halberds.
I think that looking at some halberd stuff could make for some understanding of the use of the daneaxe.

[Nick Bourne]

From what I have experienced in sheild walls there are several tactics that I think could easily have been employed and effective:
The first is the case of small teams, maybe just two people, one with a close combat weapon (sword, axe, langseax) and shield covering a warrior with a spear/daneaxe, this enables one to distract an opponent while the other dispatches and protects the other. I've seen this tactic employed by just a few parties in the wall run down less well organised walls.

Another tactic is the dane axe heavy charge within two duelling walls. While the front rank engages, a team of dane axemen (I saw it done with about 15) charge into into gaps between their warriors and offer a near simaltaneous downward blow. This put the enemy onto the backfoot while we were able to regroup and press back hard while the daneaxes retired.

Another is the obvious beserk charge to disrupt the enemy line followed by a boar snout (not always effective, I once saw an entire snout fall over because one of the frontmen tripped up!).

Another time when we were up against a group that had a team of 6 foot plus warriors with huge shields and maille that we couldn't break simply because they were able to reach over us. Not sure it counts as a tactic but it certainly shows how a warband could have had their members arranged to best effect.

There are other tactical choices that can shift a battle one way or another but usually the side that knows how to work together and communicate will win, it becomes second nature to know what you can safely attack with what you have and what to avoid if you can. Its not just a generic wall of random people with random weapons it becomes obvious which parts of the wall are strong with people working together and where the line is weaker with those unable to work with others

[Nathan F]

yeah as he says they work good if you have teams of two one hits and the other defends. a hand axe and sword works great beside each other as one can pull shields down and the other stabs. this can also work with the next rank back i have seen it done with two swords in front and a Dane axe in between and it worked well.
was that boar snout in Hastings? i wasn't there that year but was told about it and saw vids on it was hilarious.
small solid units who stand back and wait for a gap to charge into they are called punch groups in europe are useful to break through lines. if you have the numbers. one thing that always works as well is one or two good archers who can shoot through gaps in the shield wall as well i have a guy who does it to me all the time when we are at shows.
one thing to remember as well is the lower legs and hands would have been prime targets in the battle of wisby later period but same tactics employed the remains showed about 70% of wounds to the legs and the other largest amount to the face. so obvious to throw men of or make them fall then finish them off. and i know with spears me being tall always get my thighs so if they were trying to kill my knees etc would not last long.
and any overhand shots if you try are easy to take the opponents hands off with although im not 100% sure if this was done often. i do irish stick fighting and we target the hands alot and our styles go back pre vik era so it seems likely to me.
and in the saga of grettir the strong it happens a good bit.
also short weapons knives etc are the most useful in a tight shield wall where there is no room to swing weapons so keep that in my i use a scram 90%of the time due to my lanky arms it works wonders.