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 have had an average length of from ten to twelve feet. The iron head was either drawn out in an elongated leaf form, with a neck into which the haft was fixed, or it was more robustly fashioned without a neck, the haft being sunk into the head itself, as we see in the Harl. Roll 76, Cotton MS. Nero (page 70, Fig. 87).

In the Bayeux needlework the gonfanon is continually represented, resembling the pennant on a modern military lance.

Mid XIIth century (the haft modern)

Collection: Baron de Cosson

From the Bayeux needlework

From the Bayeux needlework

The axe was likewise a knightly weapon, but the variations in its form were inconsiderable; we see but one type represented in the Bayeux needlework. The byl of the Saxon, with its long handle and more or less triangular head, is little different from the weapon of the Norman. The axe-head appears seldom to have been subject to surface decoration, for only a few isolated specimens that have been found are inlaid or plated with gold or silver; but that occasionally they were delicately formed we see by the specimen (Fig. 79). It will be noticed that the top of the cutting edge here