Shepherd's axe

[kronckew]

The Shepherd's axe (Slovak: valaška, Hungarian: fokos, Polish: depending on region - ciupaga, rabanica, uobuszek, cekanka, Czech: valaška, Romanian: baltag, Ukrainian: бартка, топірець) is a long thin light axe used in past centuries by shepherds in the Carpathian Mountains, especially in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine and Hungary. The features of a shepherd's axe combine a tool with a walking stick, that could be used as a light weapon.

picked this one up via ebay last week, delivered yesterday. 40 in. long. axe head is 6 in. wide with a 4 in. edge. weight is 866 grams. head is brass, chrome plated before it was engraved, so the brass shows thru. edge is about as sharp as a butter knife, at that, i would imagine it would do the job it was designed for.

not sure which regional name applies.

[fernando]

Nice but ... decorative, or ceremonial ? :o
... a brass head :shrug:

[kronckew]

i gather, from earlier research that the originals were steel up to the the 20th century, apparently the authorities started banning them in steel, but brass was OK up to the 2nd WW, when they finally figured out the brass ones were also as deadly. a butter knife with 860 grams behind it will do serious damage, as will the other three 'sides'. it's not like you are trying to get thru plate armour with it.

anyhow the sheeple were still getting scared, so they make most of these now with wooden heads. like those of the politicians. i have a czech smith on tap that makes fokos heads out of damascus, and hafted one myself: (attached) also i designed one that has a ordinary steel spiked war hammer head and had him make it. he now sells that one as part of his line. i'll add an alpine spike when i find where i've stashed my spare one. wiki reference:Linky (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd%27s_axe) - i especiialy like the bit where they say "Occasionally they may be seen in the rural parts of the country where older men still use them as walking sticks. They are rarely used as tools or weapons." kind of a cute way of saying 'they are still used as weapons. just not as much as before.