
Originally Posted by
khelvan
Goidilic hammers:
Two-handed hammers have been found in numerous burials; For instance, three two-handed hammers were found in a single burial north of Wexford in Ireland. The most prolific burial was was found in the burial of a Brehon judge/druid south of Sligo, where in were found numerous other objects.
The Ulster Cycles and the Book of the Dun Cow mention the hammer as the favored weapon of the Volunts, Carrants, and Bannats. Feinachas (the Gaelic laws) also make mention of hammers, and who is allowed to use them (only those deemed champions by their chieftains; only cheiftains and higher arras may purchase or order production of hammers). The cycle Toighal mentions the usage of two-handed hammers (modified work hammers, actually) as a common method of countering armor from foreign invaders (usually Britons, with chain or bronze plate).
A few stories about Cu Chullain, including some found in the Tain, have him training with a two-handed hammer as well as a sword. He had trained to fight with it under a female teacher; it was a fairly common Goidilic weapon. The poem 'Dun da nFerg' states plainly that the hammer (both one and two-handed) was the favored weapon of devoted followers of the Dagda (as he used a large hammer). Dun da nFerg is a poem about an attack on a fortress (the fort of Ferg), beset by a number of tribes from Britain, and compares them to Gallic invaders. It mentions what weapons both sides used (and talks briefly about the 'foreigners from the south sea'; Gaul). It mentions both two-handed hammers and two-handed swords, in addition to many other weapons. Every weapon and piece of armor mentioned, we've at least found chunks of in battlefield excavations (particularly one east of Gort, south of Loughrea, near the Burren), so clearly the weapons exist. According to it, while the hammers and swords were rare, they weren't THAT rare.
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