Swordstaff

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A Swordstaff is a Danish polearm, used in the medieval ages. It is made by placing a blade at the end of a staff, thus giving the same benefits of a sword with the range of a spear or polearm. This helps the soldier fighting enemies both on foot and mounted. It would often have a small handle just below the sword (similar to tonfa), in order to make it easier to handle.

The length of the weapon makes it easier to fight mounted opponents, while the blade is still handy enough to use in close combat, as opposed to using a spear which is ineffective at close range because only the tip can be used to attack with, or a sword which makes hurting mounted enemies significantly harder. The greater length of the weapon would also help when fighting more heavily armed opponents, since an attack can be executed with considerably more force due to the length of the weapon.

[edit] Trivia

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Units fighting with a swordstaff is featured in the game Medieval II: Total War, in which it is effective against cavalry as well as infantry. In the game it is also known by its Danish name, Svaerdstav (lit. Swordstaff)

Darth Maul, among others in the Star Wars universe, wield double-ended "lightsabers" loosely based on the swordstaff.

Also in Christopher Paolini's Eragon books the witch Angela fights with a sword-staff in various battles, and Dwarves in The Quan Clan also use it.