Viking halberd difficult to know what kind of weapon is being described in these translations, or the original texts. Many of these terms are shown below. The "atgeir" was a type of bill or halberd, from Old Norse "geirr", "spear". The "atgeirr" is thought to have been a foreign weapon and is rarely mentioned in the sagas, but is famous as the favorite weapon of Gunnar of Hlíðarendi. In Njál's saga this weapon is shown as used mostly for thrusting, but also for hewing. The "höggspjót", literally "hewing spear", takes its name from Old Norse "högg", "stroke, blow, slaughter, beheading" and "spjót",
Altarpiece of the Halberd to the Papal States. The resistance had been brutally suppressed, many of the rebels having been beheaded by order of the papal legate. The upside-down halberd has been thus interpreted as a symbol of peace. The monumental composition is taken directly from the tradition of Holy Conversations in the Venetian School, inaugurated by Antonello da Messina's San Cassiano Altarpiece. It shows the Madonna and Child on a high throne, with two angels holding the crown (a 15th-century Flemish painting element also in use in Italy). In the lower part are four saints: Stephen, John the Evangelist, Simon the Zealot and