The type of Wood
An analysis of the haft stump of the original Langeid Axe showed that this was made from wood from the Prunus family i.e. cherry wood (wood identification conducted by Helge Høeg). This family includes stone fruit trees such as sour cherry, sweet cherry, hagberry and plum. Hagberry (Prunus padus) commonly grows wild in Norway. We believed that the first piece of wood we acquired for the haft was hagberry, but following some uncertainty as to whether this was the case, we eventually ended up with using a piece of sweet cherry wood (Prunus avium). Thanks to Svein Erik Øya and Håvard Kongsrud for their kind assistance with providing wood for the haft.
The length of the haft
Few broadaxes have been found with their haft intact, and virtually none with a full-length haft. In 2013, three broadaxes with hafts (video) were salvaged from the lake of Lough Corrib in Ireland. The wood in these axe hafts was also identified as being from the cherry tree family (Prunus). Only the smallest of the three axes from Lough Corrib has a full-length haft of c. 80 cm, probably intended for one-handed use. The Langeid Axe, however, is a large broadaxe, intended for two-handed use. Near Kirkkomäki in Finland a large broadaxe with a full-length haft of 108 cm was found in grave 37. This was sufficiently intact to be measured in situ (Mäntylä 2007:305). A large amount of 11th century weaponry has been found by Lake Lednica in Poland, among them several axes with their haft intact. One of these, an eastern type of broadaxe, has a complete maple haft measuring 107.4 cm (Kotowicz 2013:186, 274). In Norway no broadaxe has been found with a complete haft. The best haft we have, is from a narrow-edged axe from the river Vorma (C34551), dating from the early 13th century. This has a complete 111 cm spruce haft. Based on these examples, the haft of two-handed broadaxes should be approximately 110 cm long. We ended up with a haft measuring 117 cm.
A band of brass
The Langeid Axe belongs to an exclusive group of broadaxes which are fitted with brass haft banding. The band on the Langeid Axe is made from an almost square plate, 0.5 mm thick. The banding overlaps at the back and is fixed to the haft with 12 brass pins. It carries no decoration. This type of band strengthens the surface of the wood and probably prevented the axe head from slackening and coming loose when used. The brass pins have no heads and are made from 2.5 mm brass wire which has been cut diagonally with a chisel to form the tip. The band on the original axe was subjected to XRF-analysis (X-ray fluorescence) in order to establish the nature of the alloy. The analysis showed that the band consisted of copper with a zinc content of approximately 30 per cent, a few per cent lead and approximately one per cent silver and tin. This is considered brass with a high zinc-content, on par with much modern brass. We had neither the time nor the resources to make brass from scratch during this project, so modern brass of a similar quality was rolled to the correct thickness and used to form the band. Thanks to Ragnar Løchen for his kind assistance with providing brass for the replica axe.
Wedges for fastening the haft
In order to secure the axe head and prevent it from falling off the haft when the axe was in use, wedges were often hammered into the haft end. Many original axes have been found to have had such a wedge, made from either iron or wood. The three axes from Lough Corrib have wooden wedges. The haft stump of the Langeid Axe was carefully examined as we attempted to detect the traces of a wedge. The surface of the haft end is relatively well preserved and even, but no trace of a wooden wedge was found. However, without a wedge the axe head could not have been properly secured. For our first test cutting exercises, we did in fact try to attach the haft the same way as on the original axe – without a wedge. Inevitably, this went wrong, and the axe head came loose after a few blows. Consequently, we inserted wooden wedges to secure our final haft.
Literature
- Kotowicz, Piotr N. (2013) An analysis of the collection of medieval axes. I Topory średniowieczne z Ostrowa Lednickiego i Giecza [Medieval axes from Lednica Holm and Giecz], redigert av Sankiewicz, Paweł og Andrzej M. Wyrwa, s. 43-278. Biblioteka Studiów Lednickich, seria B1, tom 2. Muzeum Pierwszych Piastów na Lednicy. Abedik, Bydgoszcz.
- Mäntylä, Sari (2007) The Meaning of Weapons as Grave Goods: Examples from two Southwest Finnish Crusade Period Cemeteries. I Weapons, weaponry and man: In memoriam Vytautas Kazakevicius, redigert av Audronė Bliujienė, s. 302-309. Archaeologia Baltica 8. Klaipėda University Press, Klaipėda.
