The Lucerne hammer is a type of polearm which was popular in Switzerland during the 15th to 17th centuries. It was a combination of the bec de corbin with the blunt war hammer.
The name comes from a discovery of many of these weapons in Lucerne, Switzerland. The 'hammer' was actually a three- to four-pronged head mounted atop a 2m-long (7 foot) polearm stick. It bore a long spike on its reverse, and an even longer spike extending from the very top. It proved effective at puncturing or smashing armor, and much like a man catcher was used for dismounting riders.
Famous quotes containing the word hammer:
“He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in
a lordly dish.
She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s
hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sis’e-ra, she smote off his
head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.”
—Bible: Hebrew Judges (l. V, 25–26)