Weapons & Warriors: The Morning Star of the Europeans

Art by Steven DeVon Jones

Many people have always confused the Morning Star with a mace or flail. Even I used to do it when I was first learning about bludgeoning weapons while playing Dungeons & Dragons as a kid. I knew a mace had a metal shaft with a balled end for crushing things, and I knew the flail had chains. When I ran across the morning star, I was lost. Over the years I’ve stumbled across various people calling a mace a morning star, and sometimes a flail.

In truth, the Morning Star is not the same thing. It isn’t anything like a flail because the Morning Star does not have any chains. It is more closely related to the mace in shape, but that’s where the similarities end. Instead of nubs or angles around the balled end, the Morning Star has a large spike protruding from the top and the ball is covered in smaller spikes or sharpened edges.

There is no uniform version of a Morning Star because it is simply a club-like bludgeoning tool with spikes. They vary in size, from small easily held in one hand types to long heavy two handed shafts with a massive spiked head. While the mace evolved into a steel shaft with a rounded head, the Morning Star retained its wooden shaft. The spikes could be made from virtually anything, but in Europe it was generally steel or iron. 

Fantasy Weapons Lore: Grond of Morgoth

Some of you have heard the name Grond. For those three people left in the world that hasn’t seen the Return of the King, then you have now met one version of the weapons known as Grond. This is the massive flaming wolf headed battering ram that Sauron’s army of orcs used to smash the magic gates once built by an ancient race of men with elven blood and long lives. That’s a mouthful. Throughout the thousands of years of history in Middle-Earth, Grond has taken a few forms that are suspected to be designs of Sauron’s masterful engineering and magic.

During the time of the Return of the King, Grond was a one hundred foot battering ram that stood sixty feet tall. The head was forged from black iron. In the movie, the mouth was filled with fire, but I don’t believe Tolkien envisioned it that way. About the only use fire would have coming from the mouth is intimidation. Tolkien was an experienced military man who served during World War 1, and although the orcs are a flashy raging mass of unthinking hate, they weren’t unorganized when directed by Sauron’s generals like Gothmog. I would assume that just the sheer size would be enough to scare the Gondorians. Hauling fuel for the fire would be an unnecessary additional resource to be carried across rivers and mountains all the way from Mordor. That said, it did add some nice cinematography for the film so it got two thumbs up from me, no matter how impractical it was.

Fantasy Weapons Lore: Mjölnir of Thor Odinson

Marvel Comics wasn’t far off on the magical abilities of this heavy iron hammer. Marvel claimed it’s made from a fictional metal called Uru, but the myths say it is only iron. Thor’s ferocity and pride as the greatest warrior of the Norse deities was also as the legends described. Aside from Norse Myhtology descriptions of him with red hair instead of blond, the character you see watching The Avengers is much the same as the legendary god of thunder.

In the stories told in the Prose Edda, the dwarf, Brokkr, was visiting Asgard, when Loki approached him with a challenge. After showing off several treasures made by the Sons of Ivaldi that were gifts to Asgard, Loki claimed that no other dwarf could ever make anything as beautiful or useful. Brokkr was offended and bet his head for Loki’s head that his brother could make more useful treasures.

Weapons & Warriors: The Liuxing Chui of the Shaolin

There are two variations of the Liuxing Chui, also known as the Meteor Hammer or Dragon Fists. It gets its name from the lightning speed and power at which it strikes an opponent. The Liuxing Chui is one of the many chain weapons used by Shaolin Monks and requires excellent strength, reflexes, and years of and training to use safely. Once mastered, this blindingly fast weapon is virtually impossible to predict. It’s capable of disarming and then crushing a man’s skull in seconds.

The design of the Liuxing Chui is very simple. The chain or rope has a steel ball attached at either one end or both ends. The chain or rope varies in length depending on the version of weapon. Each steel ball weighs over 6 pounds. The ball is swung in circles as fast as possible before striking at opponents. Six pounds at high velocity is enough force to shatter the skull like a watermelon that’s been slammed on the ground, very messy.

Weapons & Warriors: The Kanabō of the Samurai

Art by TL Jeffcoat

Although the Katana and other smaller blades were the most famous and most common weapons a Samurai used, they weren’t the only weapons in his arsenal. The Kanabō was probably the heaviest of the weapons a Samurai trained in. This two handed monster varied in actual length and weight, but there were those made that were the length of a man and were heavy enough that when swung down in a chopping motion they were powerful enough to destroy what they hit.

The thick club-like shaft was usually made with a very strong heavy wood, and sometimes with iron. Then one end was studded with iron spheres. The studs were inserted in rows along the length of each side of the shaft. Once completed it looked like a giant baseball bat with iron balls lined along its length.

There is a saying in Japan that goes “Like giving a Kanabō to an Oni.” What is an Oni you ask? It is basically a mythological Japanese demon that was supposed to be very strong. Strong enough that artistic depictions of them often had them wielding the Kanabō with only one hand. So the saying basically means giving someone an advantage while they already had the best chance; never a good idea.