Was hoping for gorehowl since there is already the licensed Frostmourne, but from previous episodes thick weapons are very tricky to make.
That being said, I think this is the best weapon they have made on the show so far and I think that is because the main guy plays WoW and didn't want this to be bad.
Seriously, the detail in this thing is sick.
I assume the issue with making fantasy axes (or any other blunt force weapons, for that matter) is that they tend to be so significantly different in design from their real world counterparts that making them isn't really possible.
Swords are basically a relatively thin sheet of metal with a cutting edge on either end and were really used in combat in the past. Battle axes, on the other hand, were used much less frequently and not in the form that many people imagine they were. They had thin heads and long cutting edges (more akin to a sword than a traditional ax), and were rarely used as front line weapons.
However, when we look at fantasy representations of axes, many are thick and bulky and often classified as sharp or cutting edge weapons. There are several issues here that make them hard to recreate in the real world, the most notable one being weight. If you take a look at an ax like Gorehowl, which is absolutely massive, you can immediately see that if it was to be recreated by a smith it would be far too large and heavy to wield even by an individual with above average physical strength. Hell, even someone like Hafþór Björnsson (most recent incarnation of Gregor Clegane and strongest man in the world) would likely be unable to effectively wield it. As well, the frequently incorrect classification of axes as sharp or cutting edge weapons gives people the false impression that axes are in some way a realistically usable weapon rather than a crude splitting tool.
To clear up that last sentence, axes are weighted wedges. They do not cut so much as split and tear. True, you can sharpen the business end of an ax to be sharp enough to cut, but conventional axes (fire ax, for example) are too wide to be effectively used as a cutting weapon like a sword. When you swing an ax at something, the narrow edge 'cuts' into whatever you're hitting, and the wedge shape and heavy weight of the rest of the ax head splits and/or tears the object in question apart.
But Everyone forgets.. We need Ashbringer ASAP.
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