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The scythed chariot was a modified war chariot. The blades extended horizontally for about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) to each side of the wheels. The Greek general Xenophon (430−354 BC), an eyewitness at the battle of Cunaxa, tells of them: "These had thin scythes extending at an angle from the axles and also under the driver's seat, turned toward the ground".
Like the falx or falcata of antiquity, it was thus a curved sword with the cutting edge on the inside (as opposed to the scimitar or sabre type with the edge on the outside). The only known surviving example of a true scythe sword (its blade being made from an actual scythe), is that of Thomas Müntzer (1489–1525), kept in the Historical ...
A war scythe or military scythe is a form of polearm with a curving single-edged blade with the cutting edge on the concave side of the blade. Its blade bears a superficial resemblance to that of an agricultural scythe from which it is likely to have evolved, but the war scythe is otherwise unrelated to agricultural tools and is a purpose-built ...
The cutting edge of a scythe blade is maintained by occasional peening followed by frequent honing. Peening reforms the malleable edge by hammering; creating the desired edge profile, locally work-hardening the metal, and removing minor nicks and dents. For mowing fine grass, the bevel angle may be peened extremely fine, while for coarser work ...
Peening a scythe blade using the jig. Scythe and sickle blades have traditionally been sharpened by occasional peening followed by frequent honing in the field during use. A blade can be sharpened by reforming the malleable steel to create an edge profile that can then be honed. Nicks and cuts to the blade edge can be worked out of the blade by ...
A common variety of bill. Some variants have projections on the backs of the main blades. A medieval bill with a spike and a hook. A bill is a class of agricultural implement used for trimming tree limbs, which was often repurposed for use as an infantry polearm. In English, the term 'Italian bill' is applied to the similar roncone or roncola ...
The name Durendal arguably begins with the French dur-stem, meaning "hard", though "enduring" may be the intended meaning. [1] Rita Lejeune argues that the name may break down into durant + dail, [2] which may be rendered in English as "strong scythe" [3] or explained in more detail to mean "a scimitar or scythe that holds up, resists, endures". [4]
A glaive, sometimes spelled as glave, is a type of pole weapon, with a single edged blade on the end, known for its distinctive design and versatile combat applications. There are many similar polearms such as the war scythe, the Japanese naginata, the Chinese guandao (yanyuedao), the Korean woldo, and the Russian sovnya.