Atgeir

An atgeir was a type of polearm in use in Viking Age Scandinavia and Norse colonies in the British Isles and Iceland.

The word atgeirr is older than the Viking Age, and cognates can be found in Old English and other Germanic dialects (atiger, setgare, aizger), deriving from the Germanic root gar,[1] and is related to the Old Norse geirr, meaning spear.

[4] The word at prefixed to the weapon's name is used in poetry for "collision, clash, fight", thus "In this context, we can understand the word atgeirr as denoting a 'battle spear' – as opposed to a light javelin or a hunting spear, it underlines the man-killing character of the weapon...".

The lifting of impaled opponents also gives a hint about the geometry of the blade, which prevents the body from sliding down the shaft: either the spear must be quite broad, or, even better, it must have wings on the socket".

[citation needed] Later the word was used for typical European halberds, and even later multipurpose staves with spearheads were called atgeirsstafir.