Because I already own three other Mark Morrow masterpieces, a Roman Gladius, Roman Pilum and Arkansas fighting bowie, I just had to get two more bladed weapons from Mark.
Although it looks plain and unadorned, this Roman Viking Axe deserves to be included with the other Mark Morrow Masterpieces I put on my walls. The head is made out of Iron, which makes this Viking axe much more historically authentic than so many others on the market. While Mark made the cutting edge from steel.
The girl doing the review with me is Mali. And although she’s probably never seen a Viking axe before, she’s seen enough Viking television series on Netflix to offer a valid opinion on axes. She’s watched both seasons of Viking of Valhalla. And watched every single season of “The Vikings”, not just once, but twice.
I could have had Mark make a Viking sword for me, which I would have included in my collection of Mark Morrow Masterpieces, but that would have missed the point.
The Vikings used swords, but the axe was their primary weapon of choice. It was far cheaper to make than the sword. While axes were useful for doing a lot more than using them for combat. The axe was a tool most Vikings already had because they needed it for making ships. houses, and a whole lot more.
It was also a more effective weapon than a sword due to its far greater weight. And its ability for transferring the force of the man using it to a far smaller cutting edge. But it was difficult to master, but once a Viking warrior got onto it, it was nearly impossible to stop. It could smash through swords, helmets and the light armor in its day far better than any sword. So long as the Viking warrior kept it in perpetual motion.
I asked Mark to make mine with a 28-inch-long shaft. Which made it a two-handed weapon. Although many Vikings fought with far shorter axes, tipped with a much shorter head than mine, the short axes couldn’t do nearly the damage the longer axes could. But they could be used with one hand while the warrior carried his shield in his other hand.
Because it was nearly impossible for a Viking to carry a shield while wielding a long axe, the longer axes were not very capable for defensive use.
However, Viking tactics relied almost entirely on offense, so carrying a shield was not so necessary so long as the Viking warrior was attacking his adversary with the reckless abandon Vikings were so capable of.
Which now brings me to my Mark Morrow Roman Pugio. Because right before ordering my Viking axe from Mark, I ordered a Roman pugio. Which I would put on the wall next to the Roman gladius I bought from Mark a few years earlier.
Oh yes. The Roman pugio. I still remember from my three years of taking Latin, Gladius, Pilum, scutum, and Pugio. Which in English means Roman short sword, Roman spear, shield and dagger. But the Roman Pilum is much more than the kind of daggers you are probably thinking about. Bill Bagwell, who wrote books about the bowie knives he was so fond of, despised most daggers. Viewing them as the tools of assassins, Bagwell felt the dagger had very little stopping power compared to other edged weapons such as a bowie knife or Nepalese Kukri. Bill Bagwell, like Mark Morrow created some of the finest bowie knives ever created. So, I suppose we should be taking his word on the usefulness of most daggers.
My Mark Morrow Roman Pugio has a 9 3/4th inch long blade. But that blade is a full 2 and a quarter-inches wide.
It is double edged, and it’s razor sharp. Which suited the Roman style of combat perfectly. Its primary use for the Roman infantryman was as a backup weapon in case he lost his short sword for had its blade broken in combat. One must keep in mind here that Roman tactics favored the use of either the gladius or pugio as a stabbing weapon even though both could be used to slice up his opponent. The reason the Romans preferred the thrust to the cut is due to an overhead strike with either weapon would leave the Roman infantryman’s belly open to a counter thrust.
The blades of the pugio and the gladius were extremely wide compared to their length. Which enabled both to open up huge holes in an opponent in very short order. It can be said that no knife or sword has anything close to the stopping power of firearms. However, a three-inch hole in an enemy’s lower torso tends to spill out an antagonist’s intestines.
So, in comparing a Roman pugio to most other types of daggers, the pugio makes much bigger holes. Which tend to take the fight out of an opponent very quickly.
Mali not only has watched all six seasons of the Viking television series. She’s also watched a lot of Netflix and Amazon Prime that focus on the Roman Empire. She’s watched all six seasons of Spartacus for example. So, she’s really into Rome which is very unusual for a Thai woman.
And when you watch Mali respond to some of my questions, her watching Spartacus and the Vikings really shows. For example, she makes the valid point that she would favor the Mark Morrow bowie knife over the Mark Morrow Roman Pugio due to its superior ability to deliver an over the head blow. Since at 18 ounces it’s twice as heavy as the Pugio, the Arkansas fighting bowie is much more adept at crushing skulls and bones than the 9-ounce Pugio.
Both are exquisite Mark Morrow Masterpieces. But as beautiful as the Arkansas fighting bowie is, the Pugio is even more striking. And that’s because the Romans viewed their Pugios as a badge of rank. And not just as backup weapons to the Gladius. For example, the Roman Senators who assassinated Julius Caesar all used Pugios to kill Caesar. Pugios also were used quite often by Roman politicians and Army officers to commit suicide if they lost a battle or political power. One would expect such leaders to carry extraordinarily well designed Pugios decorated with Gold and Jewels for example.
Training with Viking Axe, Sword & Shield
More Jack Corbett Reviews of edged weapons.
Review of Mark Morrow Bowie Knife and two Kukri House Fighting Knives
