The axe

[Sir Wulf]

In my group I am known as the Axeman. Are there any other axe fighters out there?

[Sir Brian]

No but I am a big fan and would like to learn eventually after I’ve become more proficient with the longsword and sword & buckler! Know of some good texts or manuals that cover the subject? 

[Sir William]

No, but I'm interested...and there are many a tree who quake at the sight of me with an axe in hand. 

[Sir Rodney]

Although I don't fight with the axe exclusively, I did have hours and hours of fun at an SCA event this spring with a four foot axe!

[Edit: Sorry for the lousy picture, I had to rip it from a movie.]

[Thorsteinn]

For SCA use I have a nice little one handed axe and a piece of 5 ft rattan that's just begging to be made into a dane axe.

Plus there's the axe in my hand in my profile pic and  the axe that's on myArms.

For as a Roman might say: Justica Ex Securis!

[Sir Wulf]

The only resource I have ever found was a couple of pages in the "Medieval Swordsmanship" book. I think I might have to put something together myself. The guys I fight with really hate/love to fight me when I have an axe in hand.
We had one fighter practice where we working on shield wall. I was one the outside of the wall. Using the beard of my battle axe I "hooked and locked" one of the shields (a norman kite) and had such a good bite that I was able to drag the guy all the way out of the wall.  Even when the next guy saw what was coming he couldn't stop it happening it to him also.

[Sir James A]

A good axe head is the bane of a shield. I never had the chance to fight with one, but I think it would be incredibly fun.

[Sir Brian]

The only resource I have ever found was a couple of pages in the "Medieval Swordsmanship" book. I think I might have to put something together myself. The guys I fight with really hate/love to fight me when I have an axe in hand.
We had one fighter practice where we working on shield wall. I was one the outside of the wall. Using the beard of my battle axe I "hooked and locked" one of the shields (a norman kite) and had such a good bite that I was able to drag the guy all the way out of the wall.  Even when the next guy saw what was coming he couldn't stop it happening it to him also.

That would be incredibly cool if you did put something together Sir Wulf! There seems to be a critical shortage of historical documentation available for axe fighting which appears to be left up to the WMA community to ‘rediscover’ this particular lost martial art. 

[Sir Rodney]

... We had one fighter practice where we working on shield wall. I was one the outside of the wall. Using the beard of my battle axe I "hooked and locked" one of the shields (a norman kite) and had such a good bite that I was able to drag the guy all the way out of the wall.  Even when the next guy saw what was coming he couldn't stop it happening it to him also.

I love doing that! (As long as my friends can keep the 9' and 12' spears off me.)

Another fun tactic with the axe (or any weapon really) can be had on a bridge/narrow front battle where the number of combatants is relatively small.  This will not work in a Pennsic/Lilies type meat grinder.

Setup:  You wait patiently at the end of the bridge, slightly off to one side.  A brother runs past you onto the bridge with his spear and starts taking pot shots.  The opponents see he's "alone" and, invariably, one or two will charge at him.

Result:  Your spearman backpedals like mad, right past you and your hungry axe.   The charging opponents are almost always focused solely on the spearman and never realize what hit them.  My buddy and I were able to pull this off, repeatedly, at a recent small event.  It took our opponents a long time (too long) to figure it out.

[Sir William]

They should've sent one man under the bridge to hook you; that is what I would have done. 

[Sir Rodney]

They should've sent one man under the bridge to hook you; that is what I would have done. 

Or stab upwards at the "soft vitals" that are not well protected from that angle.

I've never had the privilege, yet, of fighting on a real bridge.

[Sir Wulf]

In our weapon & shield matches the rest of the guys invariably go with sword & shield. So the first time I locked their shield down with my axe and proceeded to defend and vigorously attack with the SHIELD!!! they were all pretty shocked. To be fair until I arrived they were using large Norman kites while I used a modified Vikingr round.

[Sir William]

They should've sent one man under the bridge to hook you; that is what I would have done. 

Or stab upwards at the "soft vitals" that are not well protected from that angle.

I've never had the privilege, yet, of fighting on a real bridge.

Ah, I thought the scenario you put forth had you fighting at the entrance to a bridge...I just assumed you meant a real one. 

[Thorsteinn]

Viking Combat Training at Higgins Armory Museum

Axe Techniques

Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques

-Ivan

[Das Bill]

There seems to be a critical shortage of historical documentation available for axe fighting which appears to be left up to the WMA community to ‘rediscover’ this particular lost martial art. 

Everyone always says that, but it isn't entirely true. It's true that not a lot has been written about the axe specifically, but I honestly think that's just because there was no need: If you study a martial system such as the Liechtenauer tradition, or the Bolognese, or Fiore, etc, then you already know how to use an axe. These systems teach so many weapon forms, and they're all more or less the same, with minor variations. The poleaxe teaches you how to do all the variations and hooking actions of the axe head, the sword teaches you the footwork and mechanics of fighting with a smaller weapon than a poleaxe, and the various staff weapons teach you how to strike with a more percussive weapon than a sword. The weapon is only the tool to implement the art, not a tool to invent an art.