I thought this would be a good discussion for a site based on an RPG where a lot of what goes down is people hitting other people with swords and various other things designed to kill people! So I ask you the question, what is your favorite medieval weapon? I'm talking pretty much anything up to black powder days. Melee or ranged, hand held or siege equipment, post your favorites here!
I'll start off with two of my favourites. First off is the falchion, a weapon that looks a bit like a machete and combines the versatility of a sword with the power of an axe. Supposedly they could be used to hack through chainmail, which is pretty useful! Plus, it looks ultra sexy
Another one I'd like to mention is the knight's pollaxe. A rather interesting head mounted on the top of a long pole, it had an axe head for cutting, a blunt head for smashing armour, and a spear point to top it all off. A very versatile and deadly weapon!
Ponty declares his love of curved swords....
Curved....Swords!
Mine has to be something ranged, probably a crossbow, or ordinary bow. I always thought flails were pretty awesome, especially when used as trip weapons to stop hordes of cavalry in their tracks.
I agree with your choice, though, too, Falchions were the deadliest weapons among those that wielded them!
Not the most impressive, but when one of my great grandmothers died we found this scary creation living at the back of her shed like a long lost artifact...
...when you wield it you hear the terrified screams of dead weeds ringing in your ears...
...the garden claw. The last thing you want to see coming at you during a peasants revolt.
I have to say my favorite medieval technology was the trebuchet, mainly due to me having heard that they used it at first to launch dead horse and cow corpses away from their kingdom, then started saving said corpses to launch over enemy walls during sieges. NO IDEA of the credulity of the statement, it just stuck with me ever since hearing it.
Like Ponty, I, too, favor the one-sided swords. The falchion is definitely on my list, but as far as design goes, I really like the Shamshir scimitar:
Most likely lighter weight than the falchion, but still plays on the idea of slashing over stabbing. Both would eventually become the saber and the cutlass.
If we're talking late Middle Ages, then I do love the rapier and main-gauche combo. The main-gauche (meaning "left hand" in French) was held in the left hand as a parrying dagger to turn the opponents weapon away. This allowed for freer movement with the rapier; something a buckler or other small shield would make difficult with such a long, non-slashing weapon. This is also where the idea of "dual-wielding" came from, however, you don't attack with a parrying dagger. Somewhere the truth was lost in translation.
So this isnt exactly medieval, it predates it to around 700-something BCE in the Chinese Bronze Age, but this is amazing, and this thread reminded me of it, so ima share. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_Goujian
The Sword of Goujian. Crafted by a king to fight a rival kingdom, this sword fought against his rivals spear, both of which are still in near pristine condition; What stories those blades could tell huh!?