Glefa - the weapon of antiquity, unique and dangerous

Among modern historians and art historians, ancient weapons are of great interest. One of them is a glaive. The weapon is also called gley. Glaive (gley) is a kind of cold, pole-piercing, slashing weapon used by infantrymen in the territory of European countries for close combat. Glevia as part of equipping the infantry was very common and popular.

A real historical weapon

Glefa is a combat weapon that really exists in history, which spread in the East in the 9th-12th centuries. According to the assumptions, it appeared either in Japan or in North Korea. Initially, the gley was a weapon used by hired warriors, for whom the purpose of life was to kill. They were elite fighters who did not have wide recognition. During the Middle Ages, this weapon took second place, and then it was forgotten in general, since it was difficult to produce (by the then standards), and it was even more difficult to learn how to own it.

origin of name

The name "glef" (a kind of halberd) originated from the French language. The etymology of this word is practically all scientists derive from the Celtic term cladivos or from the Latin gladius. In translation, both the first and second versions denote a "sword". But along with this, English and French references, referring to an earlier period, meant by these names a "spear". In English, the term "spear" was meant by a gleph (approximate period XIV-XVI century).

Since the XV century, the term begins to acquire its modern meaning. At this time, as a whole, glaive begins to poetically call swords. Today, this is the name used in this way in French speech. Beginning in the 1980s, a glaive begins to designate a gun that is characterized by a large number of blades and resembles Japanese ninja shuriken, but is characterized by much larger dimensions. Such weapons were credited with the possibility of returning to the warrior who had thrown him. This property was explained by magical power or the principle of boomerang. In movies and in fantastic literature and we can find glefs for throwing.

How was the glaive used?

Glefa is a weapon that, like any other cold, long-gun weapon, has one indisputable advantage: thanks to it, a person has the ability to hold a warrior-fencer at a decent distance. A shortened blade or sword can not reach an infantryman armed with gley. In the near duel the main task of the warrior with the glaive was not to allow the enemy to grasp the shaft with his free hand. The secondary task was not to drop the weapon if it was defeated by a shield. In such a situation, there was necessarily a convergence of opponents, and the infantryman, in whose hands was the glaive, was defeated.

If there was a duel, the infantryman had the opportunity to use not only the blade, but all the elements of the glaive. Thanks to this, he had the advantage, both in attack and in defense. A warrior with experience in mastering the tactics of a duel with a gley could drive his opponent into a corner, knock him off the horse, stun him, etc.

How is the weapon arranged?

Glaive is a weapon that consists of a pole that reaches a meter and a half, and an elongated tip. As a rule, a tip with a length of at least 40 cm was made, but sometimes it could reach 60 cm. The width of the tip was five to six centimeters. It is not difficult to make a gun, so it is possible to create it at home.

The shaft was wrapped with a metal band or covered with special rivets made of metal. Thanks to this manipulation, the wood was protected in battle from cutting. In most cases, the tip was sharpened only on one side. The thorn that extends from the butt and goes to the shaft slightly at an angle is a characteristic feature of the glue. If the glaive was exploited in order to reflect the blow from above, then such a spike was used to capture the enemy gun. In addition, the spike increased the result of stabbing blows on the opponent's armor. In general, the glaive was intended for chopping blows, and they were applied with a tip.

From the bottom of the gley slots, another small tip was used, which was called a flow, or a heel. He, unlike the main tip, was simply sharpened, not sharpened. This tip had two purposes: it helped balance the weapons in combat, since it served as a counterweight, and in addition, it was an instrument by which to finish off the defeated warrior.

Versatility of the tool

Glefa, a weapon whose photo can be considered in our article, was considered a universal weapon of battle. It made it possible to fight effectively and in a closed formation even when the construction disintegrated disintegrated.

In conditions of closed construction, the glue was mainly applied to thrusting or cutting from the top down. When the system broke up, the warrior had the opportunity to take advantage of a huge arsenal of techniques that consisted not only of strikes by the upper part of the glove, but also of the middle and bottom.

Using the middle part, the warrior by that section of the shaft, which was between the hands, could strike the enemy with blows to the neck or face. With the help of the lower part, the warrior tried to knock down an opponent with an additional hook, which was often equipped with this weapon element.

The use of past and present glaive

Since the beginning of its dynamic expansion in the XIV century, the glaive (cold steel) was the warrior's own weapon. In Burgundy, it actively armed with crossbowmen. Using the gley, they repelled the attacks of mounted warriors without any problems. And before the beginning of the 18th century, the guards armed security guards at French courts. Today classical glefs can be seen in the hands of Swiss guardsmen, who are on duty in the Vatican.

Lack of tools

Glefa is an antique weapon with only one, but very significant drawback.

It was developed by the gunsmiths of the ninja and in the original version was a staff, which in ancient times was used by most Japanese peasants. On such a staff two blades were provided, which, if necessary, were suddenly put forward. This, most likely, explains the lack of a glaive, consisting in the low strength of the weapon - a single strong blow to the shaft could lead to the fact that in the hands of the warrior remained scattered parts of the damaged weapons.

Varied variations of the glaive

Glefa is a weapon for infantry, presented in different versions. For example, the modifications are distinguished with two sharp, long and narrow blades, which are located on both sides of the shaft. Also there were gllevies, on one side of which a wide tip resembling an ax was provided. On the other side of such a weapon was an ordinary spherical counterweight. Two-blade glaive (she had two blades at each end of the shaft) was rare.

In total, there are about a hundred modifications of the glivii. Among them there are also such variants, which could not be met often. So, a very rare modification was a glaive with two blades. It was made for soldiers-singles. You can fight such a gley only by rotating it, and it will not work in a crowd in which enemies mix with friends.

The nearest analogue of the glaive is the halberd, ax and burbot. Often the glaive is on the list of halberd classification. As the "relatives" of this tool are called the sovna (the Slavic armor of the Slavs) and protazan naginata.

Glefa in the work of Nick Perumov

Glefa is a weapon that is mentioned in Perumov's "The Sword Guardian". It was the favorite weapon for Cara Laeda's fighting. But the glef of this character scientists can not be attributed to the glivii in the traditional view of this weapon. This can be explained by five reasons:

• Cara's weapon was two-wedge and had a shaft on each side with one tip of a cutting type.
• The weapon of pentology was short in size and light in weight. The real gley was a heavy tool and was not intended for filigree fencing.
• Laeda easily used his glaive in basements and caves. And this is not typical of the long shaft of the standard glove.
• The warrior succeeded in repelling an arrow, launched at point-blank range, only accidentally.
• Glevia Cara was presented as a detachable weapon. And this means that it could be divided into two separate elements, which formed a pair of short swords.

As a result of the creativity of Nick Perumov, people imagine a glaive with a two-klink weapon. But such a variety of gley in Europe, almost never met. Such modifications could only be found on the territory of India and the Middle Kingdom.