War Scythe

By Crusader1307

Another example of a "peasant weapon" that developed into a military weapon, The Scythe is an over-elongated curved cutting blade. Mounted on a 8 to 10 foot pole, it was used to cut/harvest stalks of wheat, etc. Although an effective farm tool for this function, additional handles (generally 2) were added to the mid-section of the pole for better control and technique. Military versions of this device did not have said additional handles. The curved elongated blade was shortened (to some degree). Often wrongly classified with Glaives and related long-bladed {ole Arms, it was still an effective killing weapon. Training similar to fencing tactics were taught. Seen around the 14th/15th Centuries, it was an effective psychological weapon. Some regions called them "Death Dealers". It would not be a stretch of the imagination to see why Medieval perceptions of Death, carrying his Scythe would be too far off.