Boar spear



A boar spear is a spear used for boar hunting. It is relatively short and heavy and has two "lugs" or "wings" on the spearsocket behind the blade, which act as a barrier to prevent an injured and furious boar from working its way up the shaft of the spear to attack the hunter.

The boar spear also became popular as a weapon of war, since the lugs can also be used to hook shields out of the way during combat, as well as preventing a spear thrust from going too far into a victim (particularly a charging horse), thus making it easier to quickly withdraw, and less likely to break. Boar spears remained in use as weapons until the early Middle Ages. In the 15th century, a variant with a longer shaft called a chiavarina was in use as a weapon of war.