Talk:Bill (weapon)

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Halbard, Pollaxe, Billhook[edit]

What is the diffrence between the "Halberd", "Pollaxe" and the "Bill hook"? Philip Baird Shearer 14:05, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I believe the difference is that a halberd has a hook on the back unlike a poleaxe, as for a bill hook I have no idea. Cameron Nedland 03:28, 30 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The blade of halberd generally is wider than of pollaxe and also it has a bigger spike on top for thrusting attacks. To be able to compare the two weapons better this is a good image: [1]

Pollaxe can have a hook on the back, or another thing, as a small head of hammer.

About the billhook, I believe that a wrong image was placed, because all bills that I know are different. Have a look at these images of Bills: [[2]] [3]

In this one appears some polearms, and among these a billhook [4]

About this last one, i think it is a less-developed type. Deep rain 21:23, 22 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Picture[edit]

I would question what does the picture of 2 halbards and a lockhaber axe have to do with a billhook? Tirronan 15:47, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, this is a poor picture. It is showing us what "kind" of weapon the bill is but not the weapon itself.

I am removing the picture of the halberds for now, until I have found a picture of a proper bill. It is too confusing to have picture of a comparison without an original! Thefuguestate 17:25, 10 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, done. The article has a picture of a plain bill and the halberd comparisions, but it could do with some pictures of bill variants. Thefuguestate 17:45, 10 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If it helps, the photo they've currently got on the guisarme page looks like that which I would consider a military bill (plus or minus the back-spike) - the current photo on this page would seem representative of a civilian bill. Hell, you could probably buy something virtually identical from most hardware stores today if you cared to... 62.196.17.197 (talk) 10:42, 28 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Chinese weapon[edit]

I remember there was a Chinese weapon that looks very much like this, but with a greater angle of the hook. Anyone knows it as well? Mallerd (talk) 17:46, 15 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You might be talking about the dagger-axe or even the ji. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.173.11.133 (talk) 00:24, 9 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If it looks like an upside down L, it's probably a dagger-axe or Ji. Theblindsage (talk) 03:29, 19 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Richard III[edit]

Surely there should be a mention here about him as he may have been killed by a bill - the leading expert seems to consider this a possibility: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history%20%26%20heritage/war%20%26%20conflict/pre-20th%20century%20conflict/art418695 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.190.194.228 (talk) 21:07, 7 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"The bill is similar in size, function and appearance to the halberd"[edit]

uhm...if i compare the image of a Bill to a Halbard i see no relation in how they look other than they are both a polearm. also i can't imagine they have the same function that they don't share with any other pole-arm (anti-cavalry), as the Halbard is specialised in countering mounted knights in heavy armor, while the Bill seems more of an all-rounded weapon or at least better against medium armor, and in fact much closer in look and presumably function to a Glaive. also the whole article reads like an advertisement: "it had the stopping power of a spear and the power of an axe, it also had the addition of a pronounced hook" sounds like a fanboy talking. in fact, isn't a bill simply a type of glaive-guisarme? · Lygophile has spoken 17:39, 10 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I had a similar concern about the passage you quoted. For one thing, bills tend to range shorter than halberds, with the former typically 5 to 8 feet in length and the latter 6 to 12 feet (despite what the halberd article states, some halberds were two-thirds the length of a long pike, which could be up to 18 feet in length). In addition, the bill was more of a personal combat weapon used by infantry while the halberd was used by ordered infantry in formation, although that's an oversimplification (they both could be used with either technique). But both were used by infantry to counter heavy cavalry. If you refer to the guisarme article, you'll see that scholars do not agree what exactly a guisarme was, and the proliferation of terms like "glaive-guisarme" and even "bill-guisarme" just add to the confusion; the same Victorians who confused the term "halberd" with so many other arms described any weapon with a hook on or even behind the blade as a something-guisarme. (Oakeshott believed that the guisarme was in fact a double-socketed broad axe, rather similar to a bardiche.) Regardless, if the guisarme was actually a hooked weapon, it shares more in common with the falx and war scythe than with the bill; the former is a hook with a concave edge, while the latter is an axe with an edged hook. Either weapon could appear with or without a tapering top spike like a halberd. The glaive is a completely different animal, with a cut-and-thrust sword-like head. 12.233.147.42 (talk) 21:09, 2 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Current lead picture[edit]

Is the picture currently used in the lead actually a bill? Because it looks much more like a modern brush axe. — Bardbom (talk) 09:52, 20 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]