Morningstar

The Morningstar, also known as a flail, is a chained weapon of the Middle Ages. It was the Special Weapon of the Knight.

Description

The typical Morningstar consisted of a spiked iron ball on a chain hung from a wooden handle. The length of the handle and chain varied from one individual to another, and several heads may have been mounted the handle.

Ball tipped flails could also exist with multiple ends, similar to a cat-o-ninetails.

Stats

• Special Weapon
• Length: 3 feet
• Weight: 8.4 lbs
• Wood, iron and steel

Use

The Morningstar was swung around to gain momentum to striking the target. Highly dangerous, were it not for the Knight's armor, it may have been too dangerous for him to wield, as the unpredictable nature of chained weapons meant there is a chance of accidentally striking oneself.

Ball-and-chain flails were were most likely rare weapons due to these many faults. The intimidating image of a morningstar is probably why it has appeared in modern fiction so frequently.

Trivia

• The morningstar used in the test had a single ball and chain and the metal sphere was spiked. In the simulation the Knight used a different ball morningstar. It had two balls and chains and the balls were not spiked like the one in the tests.
• The one in the test was two-handed. In the simulation it was single-handed.