Encyclopedia of historical weapons - Pollaxe
(The preferred spelling to polaxe or poleaxe). A knightly staff weapon, its head being an axehead, usually balanced by a fluke or hammerhead, and surmounted by a steel spike. The shaft was protected by steel cheeks and the hand by a steel rondel. Used from the fifteenth century for foot combats and for war. The component 'pole' in the name refers not to the staff, but the Old English word 'poll' (head). See also Hache
