A hurlbat (or whirlbat, whorlbat) is a weapon of unclear original definition.
Modern usage appears to refer to a type of throwing-axe.
Thus, in the Middle Ages, the term referred to an aklys-type spiked club attached to a string, used for throwing and perhaps as target in swordsmanship training.
After 1700, however, this meaning became quickly obscure, and eventually the "hurlbat" was imagined as a bludgeoning weapon that was swung, not thrown.
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