War Scythe
A war scythe is a regular scythe that has been adapted for combat use by re-attaching the blade parallel to the haft, rather than perpendicular to it, so that it looks like a bill. After the German Peasants' War during 1524–1525, a fencing book edited by Paulus Hector Mair described in 1542 techniques how to fence using a scythe. War scythes were widely used by Polish and Lithuanian peasants during revolts in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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Famous quotes containing the words war and/or scythe:
“Not marble nor the gilded monuments
Of princes shall outlive this powerful rime;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmeared with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“A physician can sometimes parry the scythe of death, but has no power over the sand in the hourglass.”
—Hester Lynch Piozzi (1741–1821)