Talk:War scythe

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Do you think it was used by Polish peasants only? What a Polonocentrism. --Ghirla ^-трёп- 05:44, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

The article says that it was not used in Poland only, so I don't know what is your problem. Perhaps you could read the article again? //Halibu tt 09:38, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

The war scythe and the Fauchard are the same thing? Here is a image showing a fauchard: [1] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Deep rain (talk • contribs)

There is certainly some similarity, but considering the time frame I'd say fauchard is a subtype of war scythe.--_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk} 14:44, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Several issues

We say The scythe, a farming tool popular in 19th century Poland,. Surely scythes have been used in agriculture in many lands across many centuries?!? (But weren't necessarily popular with those who had to do the work!)
I really have to agree with the earlier commenter above. I am very skeptical about "war scythe" being an English language term for a scythe-like blade mounted on a pole. (Try Googling it: you will find many references, but all of them are copies of this article, or references role playing games -- the worst generators of mediaeval warfare fallacies!) One off-line reference I have handy (Weapons: an international encyclopedia from 5000BC to 2000AD) depicts no fewer than 86 types of polearms including "agricultural scythe adapted as a polearm, Monmouth Rebellion" but doesn't use the phrase "war scythe" anywhere. Such a weapon is actually called a fauchard if mediaeval or falx if ancient. This article should probably be merged with fauchard.
the chariots of Cyrus the Younger which used scythes Erm, weren't those mounted on the axles of the chariots themselves? Might have used scythe blades, or scythe-like blades, but a totally different weapon.
War scythe is closely related to war sickle. Really? In what way? That both are based on tools originally used to cut grass? That isn't a very close relationship. The two Okinawan "war sickles" bear two obvious and substantial differences to war scythes: they are much smaller, and the blades are perpendicular to the shafts. If this is "closely related" you might as well say that a spear is closely related to an axe.
This article claims The war scythe was probably an early ancestor of more professional pole weapons like halberds. Really? The earliest reference we give to a "war scythe" being used is only 1685. Halberds date back as far as the 14th century. Further, apart from being a pole-arm, halberds bear little resemblance to the war scythe. In fact if we insist on assuming it had to be "descended" from something else rather than just designed for the job, a halberd seems more to be a cross between the 11th century guisarme and the very ancient spear. The guisarme in turn is more likely descended from the 9th century bill which is allegedly based on pruning hooks, if these sorts of theories are to be believed at all. (Personally, I think a lot of these sorts of ideas are just based on Victorian-era ideas which regarded all earlier generations as idiots. More likely, each of these designs was invented by a resourceful soldier or smith in order to attack a particular weakness he had noticed in the enemy's equipment or tactics. And the reason there is such a confusing abundance of designs is that inventing a polearm ain't rocket science!)
In the 1685 battle of Sedgemoor, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, fielded a 5000 strong peasant unit armed with war scythes. I do not think this is accurate. Most other references note that Monmouth's ill-trained, rag-tag army was poorly equipped, and many of the troops had to make do with agricultural equipment. Such was the shortage of equipment that Monmouth ordered 500 -- not 5,000 -- bills to be improvised from scythes. Some other troops (about 1,000, according to one account) were armed with unmodified scythes because they couldn't get anything better. However, the majority of his troops had muskets! It certainly isn't true that the entire body was armed with scythes. Furthermore for completeness we should mention firstly that this wasn't something Monmouth wanted to do, it was an act of desperation; and also that Monmouth's rebel army was slaughtered.
there are documented examples where a scythe has cut through a metal helmet. If such documentation exists, please provide it!