The flail is a chained weapon of the Middle Ages. A Morningstar is a spiked ball directly attached to a shaft. 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.
The morningstar depicted in the show is a chained flail. However Morningstars also existed as maces (a single metal club without the chain).
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.
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 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.
- The TV show confused a flail with a Morningstar.