Pollaxe Pollaxe The pollaxe is a type of European polearm. It was widely used by medieval infantry. It is also known by the names poleaxe, pole-axe, pole axe, polax, and Hache (French meaning axe). The term has become synonymous with felling or striking down with delivery of a blow. Weapons such as the halberd, bardiche, and Danish axe are sometimes mistakenly called pollaxes as they are indeed axes mounted on poles, but many etymological authorities consider the "poll"- prefix historically unrelated to "pole", instead meaning "head". However, some etymologists, including Eric Partridge, believe that the word is derived from "pole". The
Bill (weapon) a spear head, and also a hook or spike mounted on the reverse side of the blade. There were many types of bill. English bills tended to be relatively short, with broad chopping heads, while Italian bills (ronche) often had very long thrusting points. The English distinguished between several varieties of bill, including the black, brown and forest bills, but the differences between them are currently not fully understood. George Silver, writing in 1599, stated that the black bill should be long, while the forest bill should be long. One advantage that it had over other polearms was that while