Shepherd's axe

The shepherd's axe is a long thin light axe of Eurasian origin used in past centuries by shepherds in the Carpathian Mountains and in other territories which comprise today Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Hungary.

[7] Besides the common Eastern steppe varieties, Avar influence too can be felt on the Hungarian shepherd's axes.

[8] In the 9th century, Magyar warriors used light axes on long shafts, called fokos, in their military arsenal during their invasion of Central Europe.

In the Slovak culture, the shepherd's axe was popularized by local historical legend Juraj Jánošík.

In Hungary, modified axes were also used as martial weapons by Hungarian warriors in the early modern period, used, for example, in the 18th century in Rákóczi's War for Independence against Austrian soldiers.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Hungarian Kuruc leader Imre Thököly and his soldiers used shepherd's axes as weapons.

Many people of the Halychyna region were depicted holding bartka, particularly members of the local peasant resistance of the 19th century known as opryshky, often being associated with their more prominent leader Oleksa Dovbush.