Spears

[Lady Ashenwyte]

@Dan The romans never used spears, they used the gladius, the spear you must be referring to is the on thrown, called a pilum.

Except thrown spears are still spears and pila were often used in melee combat

@But they were unreliable in melee combat, as they were made to bend upon impact with an enemy's shield. The preferred cc weapon of the legionary was their gladius.

       Spear, Javelin, Lance, Whatever you want to call it. I'm using the more general term spear to make things easy. I don't care what fancy name an ancient civilization gave to their spear, it's still a spear.

I don't think it's fair to group a pilum with a spear used by the Normans, they're different.

[Skyblade]

There are plenty of topics on weapons on here, but I want this topic to be solely focused on the highly underrated weapon: the spear. (This includes javelins, pikes, and the like.)
I feel that this should be read and considered by those who enjoy writing fan fictions, for their battles, and also for those who participate in the roleplaying games.


Spears are extremely underrated, being portrayed as specifically throwing weapons that are clumsy because of their length or are useless against a sword; it often is unappealing because of its rather dull appearance. The fact of the matter is that spears have been the most widely-used weapon in history. Yes, swords were used everywhere, but they did not take the same basic shape that spears did: a bit of pointed metal on the end of a stick. That simple. That was why they were so widely used: they were extremely effective, and they were simple to make.

Now, spears can be used in more than a few ways: making quick little jabs, pushing enemies back at a safe distance, and throwing them, all the while able to be protected by a shield.
Spears are effective for jabbing because the leverage one has far back on the shaft with the other hand further up allows for great control and swift movement by the user. In this way one can get through gaps in armor, hit a body twice a second with great damage, and parry other weapons out of the way.
Another reason they are so effective is because they can keep enemies far away from the user and still be able to fight. As long as the user is relatively practiced in the use of the spear, he would be able to stop people from getting close in where he is vulnerable. Another small weapon might also be held for such cases.
Another advantage that a spear has is being able to be held overhand or underhand. This way one can get under or over defenses when necessary. When held underhand the spear is good for pushing and making hard thrusts. Overhand they can be used over the top of a shield, or be thrown if need be.

Spears are not flimsy. A properly made spear's haft is hefty and robust, and it would take quite the blow of a sword to cut it in half, especially if it is made of a dense wood like ash. The same is with axes: the wooden haft is hardly going to be sliced through when both opponents' weapons are moving around. Just because it gets hit does not mean it is going to break. (This is relevant for both opponents; one cannot hack the weapon in half, and the other shouldn't have to worry too much about his weapon being rendered useless.)

There are many adaptations of the spear: the javelin, mostly meant for throwing, the pike, meant for thrusting at a distance, the pole arm, meant for long hits, the "boar" spear with the flutes on the sides to prevent the point being driven further than the user wants, etc. Each are utilized for fighting, and each are extremely effective. One can easily hold off two opponents when wielding a spear, as demonstrated here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LUJ-IMknsN0 .

The spear should not be underestimated.

Hopefully I have offered some help to those who read this, as I want to put a little more realism into people's works, be it in writing or in playing.
Feel free to share your thoughts.

Very interesting! I will be considering this for my writings. Also, thanks for introducing us to Skallagrim. He seems to have some nice stuff posted.