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
Glaive Glaive A glaive (or glave) is a European polearm, consisting of a single-edged blade on the end of a pole. It is similar to the Japanese naginata, the Chinese guandao and pudao, Russian sovnya and Siberian . Typically, the blade is around long, on the end of a pole long, and the blade is affixed in a socket-shaft configuration similar to an axe head, rather than having a tang like a sword or naginata. Occasionally, glaive blades were created with a small hook on the reverse side to better catch riders. Such blades are called glaive-guisarmes. According to the 1599