Dane axe

The Dane axe, also called the long axe or Danish axe, is a European two-handed battle axe of the early medieval period, with a haft ranging from about one meter up to 1.7 meters or more. It emerged during the Viking Age and remained in use into the transition to the High Middle Ages, spreading beyond Scandinavia from the ninth to eleventh centuries through Viking trade, influence and independent development elsewhere. Its blade was broad and thin, twenty to thirty centimeters along the cutting edge, with pronounced horns at the toe and heel, and it was built for powerful cutting strokes against shields, cavalry and unarmored opponents. The design later lengthened into the poleaxes and halberds of the later Middle Ages.