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 Gorean Weapons - AxesThis is my narrative and relevant references from the Books about Axes. I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban
Axes as weapons are common across Gor and mentioned throughout the books, from the axes used in arena fighting, with either buckler or net[1] to just the ax itself.[2]
The men of Torvaldsland favor the ax as a weapon. All of these have curved blades. Some are larger and double-bladed[3] while most are single-bladed with hammer like backs.[4] They are normally carried slung over the shoulder and held by a broad leather loop, which holds the head of the ax higher than the handle.[5] While being very sharp, it still takes more than one blow to cut a body in two.[6] Chieftains and Jarls carry axes inlaid with gold.[7]
The other most described as favoring the ax are the Alars. A typical Alar ax has a long-handle and a single edged heavy iron blade.[8] In fact, this ax is shown to be too heavy for a woman to wield.[9] In the dialect of the Alars this particular type of ax is called the francisca.[10]
Whetstones are used to keep the ax blade sharp.[11]
The Red Savages use a long-handled single bladed ax which has a blunted back suitable for driving pegs, stakes and wedges.[12] And they use axes as trade items[13] and a means of currency.[14]
There is a light throwing ax and one referred to as a night ax, commonly used in approaching isolated sentries and such.[15]
Another ax mentioned is the double-bladed, long handled ax, one blow of which might split the common shield or cleave a helmet to the chest.[16] And the woodsmen's axe,[17] mentioned once as being broad and doubled headed.[18] There is also mentioned a war axe.[19] And some axes have a gap for use in drawing out nails.[20]
The great Kur ax is typically some seven or eight feet in height. The handle is some four inches in diameter and the double blade, from tip to tip, is around two feet in width.[21] Certainly, an axe this large would be difficult for a man to even lift, let alone wield.[22]
The Kur also have another ax but it is gigantic, some ten feet in length, and double-bladed at each end.[23] And lastly, the Kur have something called a double-bladed power ax.[24]
Among the Red Savages, there is what is known as the canhpi, which can be like a long-handled, stone-bladed tomahawk[25] or could end in a heavy knob of wood.[26]
[1] ax and buckler . . . ax and net Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 124 [2] Men waited below for those who still moved, with axes. Renegades of Gor Book 23 Page 282 [3] blond giant from Torvaldsland The large, curved, double-bladed, long-handled ax lay beside him. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 47 [4] shattering his chains with the blunt hammerlike backs of their great, curved, single-bladed axes. Marauders of Gor Book 9 Page 27 [5] Forkbeard then, grinning, slung his ax over his left shoulder, dropping it into the broad leather loop by which it may be carried, its head behind his head and to the left. This loop is fixed in a broad leather belt worn from the left shoulder to the right hip, fastened there by a hook, that the weight of the ax will not turn the belt, which fits into a ring in the master belt. Marauders of Gor Book 9 Page 50 [6] It takes, however, more than one blow to cut a body, that of a man, in two. Marauders of Gor Book 9 Page 104 [7] We saw, too, many chieftains, and captains, and minor Jarls, in the crowd, each with his retinue. These high men were sumptuously garbed, richly cloaked and helmeted, often with great axes, inlaid with gold. Marauders of Gor Book 9 Page 142 [8] An ax, a typical Alar ax, long-handled, armed with its heavy iron blade Mercenaries of Gor Book 21 Page 54 Among them was the heavy, single-bladed Alar war ax. Mercenaries of Gor Book 21 Page 71 [9] She tried again to lift the ax, and then, again, lowered it, until she held it before her, as she had before, with difficulty, with both hands, her hands separated well on the handle. Mercenaries of Gor Book 21 Page 57 [10] Among them was the heavy, single-bladed Alar war ax. In the dialect of the Alars, if it is of interest, this particular type of ax is called the francisca. Mercenaries of Gor Book 21 Page 71 [11] A whetstone, somewhere, was moving patiently, repetitively, on the head of an ax. Guardsmen of Gor Book 16 Page 9 [12] A long-handled, single-bladed ax was pressed into her hands. It was a trade ax. Its back was blunted, for the driving of pegs, stakes and wedges. Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 35 [13] Grunt was engaged in conversation with four or five of the Dust-Leg men. Then he rose to his feet, and went to his stores, to bring forth a fine hatchet. Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 214 [14] She became Grunt's for three hatchets. Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 226 [15] Cabot's interlocutor surely wore Kur harness, though he was not armed, not even with the small throwing ax, or night ax, commonly used in approaching isolated sentries, and such. Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 109 [16] "It is victory," said Thrasymedes, breathing heavily, two hands grasping the long handle of a double-bladed ax, one blow of which might have split the common shield or cleaved a helmet to the chest, "victory, quick and terrible." Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 265 [17] I climbed from the inner ditch, followed by my ten selected men, four swordsmen, four archers, and two men bearing vessels of tharlarion oil and axes, not war axes, but woodsmen's axes. Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 274 [18] the broad, double-headed wood ax Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 27 I felt it could have felled a small tree with a single blow. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 31 [19] I climbed from the inner ditch, followed by my ten selected men, four swordsmen, four archers, and two men bearing vessels of tharlarion oil and axes, not war axes, but woodsmen's axes. Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 274 [20] The expression, for most practical purposes, signifies a certain type of gap, such as, for example, might occur in the edge of a trade ax, or hatchet, for use in drawing nails, an occupation for which red savages, of course, have little use. Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 9 [21] Each, too, carried a great, double-bladed iron ax, which, from blade tip to blade tip, was some two feet in width. The handle of the ax was of carved, green needle wood, round, some four inches in diameter. The axes were some seven or eight feet in height. Marauders of Gor Book 9 Page 171 In the background, leaning against the wall, was a Kur ax, its haft some seven feet in length, its socketed, double-edged blade some two feet in width. It is light in the hands, or paws, of a Kur, but it is not a practical weapon for a human. Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 502 Its haft was easily five or six feet in length, and it had a large, single, double-edged blade. I had never seen such a thing before. It was a Kur ax. Plunder of Gor Book 34 Page 393 [22] I regarded the beast behind me. It was crouched over, grasping the enormous ax. A man would have found it difficult to have lifted, let alone wield, that mighty tool, or weapon. In its grasp it seemed little more than a stick. One blow from that huge, long-handled, broad-bladed, double-bladed device might have felled a small tree. I did not doubt it could cut a man in two. Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Page 209 [23] A praetor now approached the seventh challenger, and placed in his huge paws a gigantic ax, some ten feet in length, and double-bladed at each end, an ax which, in the grip of one such as he, one of such strength, might have decapitated a larl, and perhaps even, with three or four blows, Gor's mightiest constrictor, the giant hith. Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 248 Grendel fetched the ax of the second guard, and lifted that long-handled, double bladed, weighty weapon. Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 579 The Kur furthest back, to the right, as I looked through the bars, the one without a translator, carried a large double-bladed ax. The weight of such a weapon makes it difficult to be wielded by a smaller animal, such as a human. |       
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