From TheBestLinks.com
A spear is an ancient weapon, used for hunting and war. It consists of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft. The most common design is of a metal spearhead, shaped somewhat like a dagger, and made entirely for thrusting.
Early spears were made for throwing (compare with the javelin or atlatl).
Spears of different designs were used for close combat and for throwing. One of the most famous throwing spears is the pilum used by the Romans.
The spear is a pole weapon, and may be seen as the ancestor of such weapons as the lance, the halberd, the naginata and the pike. Also the bayonet may, when mounted on a rifle, be considered a type of spear.
More than a weapon, a spear may be a symbol of power. In the Chinese martial arts community, the Chinese spear (qiāng 槍) is popularly known as the "king of weapons". Wotan's spear (called Gungnir) is of ashwood, made from the "World-Ash" Yggdrasil, and it is remarkable that Chiron's wedding-gift to Peleus when he married the nymph Thetis at a wedding attended by all the Olympians, was precisely an ashen spear.
One spear of religious significance is the Spear of Destiny, an artifact believed by some to have vast mystical powers.
de:Speer et:Oda ja:槍 pl:Włócznia sv:Spjut
Related links
Top visited
0 of
0 links
[no links posted yet]
>> place link >>
Discussion
Last posted
0 of
0 messages
[no messages posted yet]
>> post message >>
Watch
You can
add this article to your own "watchlist" and receive e-mail notification about all changes in this page.
