Poleaxe

Writing prompt: random word from the dictionary

poleaxe

A poleaxe has both an axe head and a smaller hammer-head-like blade at the end of a shaft. The poleaxe belongs in the family of weapons shaped from metals, which includes swords and sabers, spears, daggers, jousting poles (I think), and bayonets.

As an object that one simply looks at, the poleaxe presents a pleasing balance and exciting "there"-ness. Most poleaxes are close to the height of the average human male, and they look strong and useful immediately. Because the blades extend away from the shaft, they offer almost endless possibilities for ornate design, while not losing any of their characteristic rugged firmness. If I remember correctly, the guards at the Tower of London stand holding a poleaxe. Not by coincidence but by appeal as an image of potency and guardianship did the poleaxe become a mainstay in the visual representation of today's largely ceremonial royalty.

For several millenia, human beings, mostly men, have maimed and dismembered each other with sharpened metal objects like the poleaxe. The imagining of the violent dispatch of fellow human beings begs a question in my mind, however. What brings conscious, rational beings to do this to each other? First I think of the fact that the human mind has a well-developed capacity for dividing other human beings into "like" and "hate" groups. Add to that the tendency of groups of people to feel a collective amplified emotion, plus the tendency of groups of people to act with power, and a human activity is born.

The application of a poleaxe to a human being's torso, arms, legs, head, or feet causes extremely garish wounds accompanied by a very splashy release of blood. The importance of striking the first blow and making it count cannot be overrated. One man's experience of a battle might last only a few minutes if he entered the fray swinging a sword wildly and missed his enemy, after which a poleaxe chopped off his arm and cut through several of his ribs in one swooping blow. He would no doubt scream in a pitch beyond all desperation, a terrifying scream never heard by peaceful, nonviolent mortals, as his lifeblood began to spatter on the ground. In the grip of blind terror he might run around madly, in complete delirium, for a short time until he fell down from shock and loss of blood. The screaming might continue for some seconds until his body could no longer provide the energy and his brain activity slowed down and then stopped. Then he would become a still-life object, a mangled one-armed corpse, the outcome of human body versus poleaxe.

The ceremonial image of the poleaxe surely raises in some observers a subconscious awareness of the consequences of administering the weapon in combat. The ancient castle, guarded by men with a human-sized maiming tool, seems impregnable. That kind of observer recoils from the subconscious sense of gross harm to the body. The beautiful, strong, balanced, impassable poleaxe speaks silent devastation.