Changes: Morningstar

Revision as of 19:30, 25 October 2019

The Morning star was the Special Weapon of the Knight, a heavy ball of brutality swung by a chain for maximum impact.

Description

The typical Morningstar is a mace with spikes on it and was more effective than any weapon. The length of the handle and chain varied from one individual to another.

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

The morningstar depicted in the show is a chained flail. However Morningstars also existed as maces (a single metal club without the chain).

It is rare for a one-handed flail to have a chain at a similar or longer length than its handle. This is because it would have been easy for the flail head to bash into the user's hand by accident. Pole flails are able to have relatively longer chains, but still need to be short enough to not cause accidental self-harm.

Stats

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

Use

The Morningstar flail 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.

European Medieval maces and flails initially were designed to be rounded to prevent the spilling of blood. This idea of a 'bloodless' weapon made maces and flails made it popular among the most religious Christian warriors. Some Morning Stars were dubbed Holy Water Sprinklers as a result. As armor technology improved, the brutal design of the mace and flail evolved to compensate.

As Muskets evolved, the use of plate armor decreased and maces became unnecessary.

Similar maces were created during WWI: with soldiers covering sticks with barbed wire or inserting long nails to mimic the concept of a morning star. Trenches were so narrow and confined that close combat was effective when raiding a trench.

Trivia

The Japanese had a similar morning-star flail called a Chigiriki.
Ironically, this weapon as the same name as one of the names of Satan is Lucifer Morningstar, whom the Knights claimed to be against.
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.
It is currently unclear how common the mornignstar design was. Flanged Maces and flails were the more common designs of blunt weapons during medieval times.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:Morgenstern.jpg|thumb|300px|right]] The Morningstar, also known as a flail, is a chained weapon of the Middle Ages. It was the Special Weapon of the Knight.
+[[File:Morgenstern.jpg|thumb|300px|right]]
+The '''Morning star''' was the Special Weapon of the [[Knight]], a heavy ball of brutality swung by a chain for maximum impact.
 ==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.
+The typical Morningstar is a mace with spikes on it and was more effective than any weapon.  The length of the handle and chain varied from one individual to another.
 Ball tipped flails could also exist with multiple ends, similar to a cat-o-ninetails.
 The morningstar depicted in the show is a chained flail. However Morningstars also existed as maces (a single metal club without the chain).
+It is rare for a one-handed flail to have a chain at a similar or longer length than its handle. This is because it would have been easy for the flail head to bash into the user's hand by accident. Pole flails are able to have relatively longer chains, but still need to be short enough to not cause accidental self-harm.
 ===Stats===
@@ Line 14: / Line 17: @@
 ==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.
+The Morningstar flail 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.
+European Medieval maces and flails initially were designed to be rounded to prevent the spilling of blood. This idea of a 'bloodless' weapon made maces and flails made it popular among the most religious Christian warriors. Some Morning Stars were dubbed '''Holy Water Sprinklers''' as a result. As armor technology improved, the brutal design of the mace and flail evolved to compensate.
+As Muskets evolved, the use of plate armor decreased and maces became unnecessary.
-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.
+Similar maces were created during WWI: with soldiers covering sticks with barbed wire or inserting long nails to mimic the concept of a morning star. Trenches were so narrow and confined that close combat was effective when raiding a trench.
-European Medieval maces and flails initially were designed to be rounded to prevent the spilling of blood. This idea of a 'bloodless' weapon made maces and flails made it popular among the most religious Christian warriors. However as armor technology improved, the brutal design of the mace and flail evolved to compensate.
 ==Trivia==
+*The Japanese had a similar morning-star flail called a Chigiriki.
-*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.
+*Ironically, this weapon as the same name as one of the names of Satan is Lucifer Morningstar, whom the Knights claimed to be against.
-*The one in the test was two-handed. In the simulation it was single-handed.
+*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.
+*It is currently unclear how common the mornignstar design was. [[Flanged Mace]]s and flails were the more common designs of blunt weapons during medieval times.
 [[Category:Weapons]]
 [[Category:Ancient Weapons]]