What Are Pole Weapons? 18 Famous Examples Used Throughout History

Ancient weaponry expert Dash Rendar shares some of the most widely-used pole weapons throughout history

Co-authored by Dash Rendar and Eric McClure

Last Updated: January 22, 2026 Fact Checked

A pole weapon (or “hafted” weapon) refers to any melee weapon that has a long handle. Pole weapons were historically important because they allowed the wielder to attack from a longer distance than someone would be able to with a sword or dagger, which was especially important when it came to fighting people on horseback or defending a building or town from a charging force. We talked to ancient weaponry expert Dash Rendar to help us break down the most iconic and important pole weapons of all time. We’ll even cover a few extremely weird and interesting pole weapons that you’ve probably never heard of!

Most Famous Pole Weapons

An illustration of various pole weapons from history, including a spear, pole axe, flail, warhammer, mace, and halberd.

Ancient weaponry expert Dash Rendar says that some of the most iconic and useful pole weapons are the poleaxe, halberd, and pike. Other pole weapons include lances, billhooks, spears, flails, warhammers, and maces. Pole weapons were typically used on battlefields throughout Europe and Asia.

1

Spear

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The spear is one of the earliest weapons ever created by humanity.^{[1]
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Research source} In fact, the oldest confirmed spear dates all the way back to 420,000 years ago!^{[2]
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Research source} A spear is any long shaft with a sharpened, arrow-shaped head on the end of it. It can be thrown or used as a thrusting weapon, and the dimensions of the heads can vary depending on the design and purpose of the weapon.^{[3]
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Raven Eastwood
Jousting and Medieval Weaponry Expert

Expert Interview}
- Many other polearms qualify as a type of spear (for example, a javelin is just a spear you throw). A spear can also just be a spear, though, the same way all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.
- Rendar says a spear can be considered a pole weapon, but it can also be classified in its own subgenre.^{[4]
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  Dash Rendar
  English Warbow and Ancient Weaponry Expert
  
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Meet the wikiHow Expert

Dash Rendar is an English Warbow and Ancient Weaponry expert. He has over 700,000 followers across his social media accounts, where he shares his knowledge about ancient weapons and warriors.

2

Pole Axe

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The pole axe is functionally just a battle axe with an extended handle. Often, there will be a spearhead at the top so that the wielder of the weapon can use the weapon to slash or stab, depending on the situation.^{[5]
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Raven Eastwood
Jousting and Medieval Weaponry Expert

Expert Interview} Rendar says that the spear on top of the pole axe was used to thrust through gaps in plate mail. He says the back of it was more like a hammer that was used for bludgeoning, while the axe on the front of the head was for someone who was more lightly armored or for knocking knights off their horses.^{[6]
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Dash Rendar
English Warbow and Ancient Weaponry Expert

Expert Interview}
- The poleaxe was popular among knights and noblemen in medieval Europe, and the weapons were often used in duels.^{[7]
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- Pole axes are often mistaken for halberds. Halberds have a much bigger spike on the end of it, though, and there’s a “fluke” on halberds (a fluke is a metal hook).
- Rendar adds that this weapon was used all the way up to the invention of firearms, and that the Swiss Guard in Italy still uses them.^{[8]
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  Dash Rendar
  English Warbow and Ancient Weaponry Expert
  
  Expert Interview}

3

Flail

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A flail is a polearm with a ball and chain at the end of it. The ball would typically have spikes or serrated blades on it to maximize damage. The point of a flail was that you could swing the ball around a defender’s shield.^{[9]
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- The flail was a popular weapon in legends, art, and stories from history, but historians still argue over exactly how practical the weapon would have been. Some historians believe very few people ever actually wielded these weapons in combat.^{[10]
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4

Warhammer

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After plate armor became popular and widespread in the 11th-12th centuries, people realized that bladed weapons struggled to penetrate thick metal armor. As a result, bludgeoning weapons became all the rage. Enter, the warhammer: a polearm with a giant mallet or maul head attached to the end of it.^{[11]
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5

Mace

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The mace is another bludgeoning weapon that was developed in response to the rise of metal armor. Unlike the warhammer, which had a flat edge on its head, the mace had a symmetrical, rounded head with a sharp edge that wrapped around it.^{[12]
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Raven Eastwood
Jousting and Medieval Weaponry Expert

Expert Interview} The weight distribution made it easier to swing the mace with a lot of speed, and the edges and grooves in the head were able to cut if the weapon successfully broke through armor.^{[13]
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6

Halberd

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The halberd was perhaps the gold standard in melee weapons from the 13th-16th century. It is a polearm with an axe-like blade on one side of the head and a long spearhead on the tip. On the other side of the axe-like blade, there is a hook (called a “fluke”). The versatility of the design led to the ultimate downfall of the armored knight on horseback as the dominant military of the time. These weapons were exceptionally good at keeping melee fighters at a distance, knocking soldiers off horseback, and pulling on armor to keep opponents under control.^{[14]
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- Halberds are largely associated with Switzerland, where they were first popularized by peasants and farm laborers who needed to defend themselves from mounted attackers.^{[15]
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7

Glaive

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A glaive is kind of like a cross between a sword and a spear. It’s got a long pole with a large blade on the end of it. The blade must only be sharpened to an edge on one side, and the other side of the glaive often contained ornamental designs or small hooks. It was meant to be able to slash, stab, or thrust depending on the situation.^{[16]
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8

Billhook

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The billhook has a curved hook blade that’s sharp on one side and dull on the other. The dull side was designed to hook a cavalry rider’s neck or arm to pull him off the horse as he rode by.^{[17]
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Raven Eastwood
Jousting and Medieval Weaponry Expert

Expert Interview} Once on the ground, the bladed side could be used to slash and stab the poor rider.^{[18]
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9

Swordstaff

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The swordstaff is what it sounds like: a sword with a giant staff for a handle. Historically, swordstaffs weren’t the most popular combat weapon. However, they were popular ornamental weapons for guards, noblemen, and knights. It was most commonly found in the Nordic countries around the 15th century.^{[19]
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- Swordstaffs sound and look kind of like glaives at a glance, but the blade on a swordstaff really is just a sword blade, which means it’s double-edged, straight, and symmetrical.

10

Pike

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Pikes are a type of spear defined largely by their length. While traditional spears can range anywhere from 5–10 ft (1.5–3.0 m) or more, pikes must be at least 18 feet (5.5 m) long by definition.^{[20]
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Research source} These ultra-long spears were phenomenal defensive weapons. Imagine how hard it would be for cavalry or infantry to penetrate a line full of warriors holding 18–25 ft (5.5–7.6 m) long poles with dagger blades on the end of them!

11

Harpoon

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A harpoon is a type of spear with a rope at the bottom and a barbed blade at the tip, which makes it ideal for shredding flesh and hooking on the internal organs of its target. It was traditionally used for hunting wild game and whales, since the barbed blade and the rope connected to the weapon made it impossible for game to escape, although pirates and naval fighters often used them in combat when necessary.^{[21]
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12

Lance

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A lance is a spear with a tapered point on the end of it that could only be used as a thrusting weapon. It was invented in ancient Assyria and Egypt, where fighters on horseback would use it as a primary mounted weapon. Later, European jousts required lances. They functioned kind of like battering rams where the mounted fighter could simply point the tip at the target and then continue riding forward to deliver an incredible blow.^{[22]
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Raven Eastwood
Jousting and Medieval Weaponry Expert

Expert Interview}^{[23]
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13

Monk Spade

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The monk spade is the traditional weapon of the Chinese Buddhist monk. It’s a long polearm with a flat, bell-shaped “blade” at the end of it. The strange-looking weapon was originally intended as a multi-purpose tool. You could strike attackers with the blade, but you could also use the head of the weapon as a shovel. It was often carried by travelling monks who would need something that could dig and clear vegetation while serving as a self-defense tool.^{[24]
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14

Quarterstaff

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The quarterstaff is probably one of the oldest weapons ever invented. At it’s core, it’s really just a long piece of wood that you hit people with. It also works as a walking stick, and it gets around most “weapon bans,” which is why it rose to such prominence historically.^{[25]
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15

Bardiche

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A bardiche is a type of poleaxe with a very distinct, extended blade. The shape of the blade makes it clear it’s primarily a slashing weapon, and most bardiches have a second “handle” spot near the top of the blade so that the weapon can be wielded more like a traditional melee weapon if the owner prefers.^{[26]
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16

Ranseur

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Also known as a brandistock or brandistocco, the ranseur is an Italian polearm weapon with a three-pronged spear head. The central spike is straight, and the two additional prongs loop in a crescent shape. The weapon was popular for its intimidating look and its ability to do serious damage.^{[27]
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17

Dagger Axe

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Also known as a Ji, the dagger axe is a unique historical weapon because it appears to have never been used to hunt animals. Most weapons on this list were used both as hunting tools and weapons for warfare, but the dagger axe was exclusively a combat weapon. It’s basically just a dagger blade attached perpendicularly to the end of a pole. In China, they were often made of jade and used exclusively as a non-hunting weapon that held cultural importance.^{[28]
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18

Trident

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The iconic trident is associated with Poseidon (and fishing in general), but it was also used by warriors throughout history. Tridents have three spear prongs that extend out in a parallel pattern so that you can pierce your target with three blades using one strike.^{[29]
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- Gladiators in Rome popularized the use of tridents in ancient warfare.^{[30]
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