{{short description|Axe with a wide cutting edge, particularly on the lower side of the head}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2014}} [[Image:Axe of iron from Swedish Iron Age, found at Gotland, Sweden.jpg|thumb|upright|Iron Age bearded axe head from Gotland.]]
A '''bearded axe''' (Old Norse ''Skeggøx'', [''Skegg'', "beard", and ''øx'', "axe"], Polish ''topór brodaty'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kostrzewski |first=Józef |title=Kultura prapolska |date=1949 |publisher=Poznań: Instytut Zachodni}}</ref> Slovak/Czech ''bradatice''<ref>{{Cite book |title=Slovenská archeológia: Eisnerov sborník : ročník IX |publisher=Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej akadémie vied |year=1961 |pages=404–450}}</ref>), is any of various axes, used as a tool and weapon, as early as the 6th century AD. This axe was typically used across the entire medieval Europe. The hook or "beard", i.e. the lower portion of the axe bit extending the cutting edge below the width of axe’s butt, provides a wide cutting surface while keeping the overall mass of the axe low. The "beard" of the axe would also have been useful in battle, for example to pull a weapon or shield out of the grasp of an enemy.
Through the Scandinavian mercenaries fighting in the Varangian Guard, the design entered the Byzantine Empire. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, the Sultan's guard adopted axes of similar design to underline their continuity with the Byzantine Empire. In the 15th century, these axes would evolve into single-handed bearded axes with a hammerhead on the head. Through Ottoman influence, these axes would spread to Poland and Hungary.
thumb|Polish Bearded axe (right) from the 17th century as depicted in Wendelin Boeheim's ''Handbook of Weaponry'' thumb|Ornamented Turkisch Bearded-Axe (Czekan) of one of Sultan Mohamed III bodyguards
There are a number of variants in its design.<ref>Jan Petersen, [https://archive.org/stream/DeNorskeVikingesverdEnTypologisk-kronologiskStudieOverVikingetidens_105/DeNorskeVikingesverd-JanPetersen#page/n41/mode/2up "De Norske Vikingesverd"], ''Internet Archive Org Page 38'', 1919</ref>
==See also== {{commons category|Bearded axes}} *Viking Age arms and armor *[https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Early_Middle_Ages_Europe_Slavic_Artifacts_(28140992803).jpg Early Middle Ages Europe Slavic Artifacts] *Dane axe
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Viking}}
Category:Axes Category:Medieval edged and bladed weapons Category:Viking warfare Category:Germanic weapons
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