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My reply this Video.....(Warning Epic & Unfinished Post about Slaine!)

Started by ThryllSeekyr, 24 December, 2014, 06:13:07 AM

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ThryllSeekyr

Double - Bitted - Axes

Quote from: Vidstarr (That's me on You-Tube!)
So, I notice from the earlier part of your video that you aware of a character called Slaine.....

He used a one-handed simple flint head axe that had only one blade up until he smashed/shattered it on the head of the Matar (A old Dragon that was terrorising a village by the lake!) and then it was after he travelled to Cythrawl  (Based on the Celtic Word for Hell.) to defend the Fortress of Dinas-Emrys (Found on the Snowdonia mountain range, in Wales!) He had suddenly replaced his axe with a large Iron headed one. (Possibly given to him as part of the reward for defending the Fortress!)  Double - Bitted. Sometimes shaped like a full moon and often nicknamed as such. Other times, it was more like a rectangle with rounded/curved edges. The shaft always had pointed spear tip (Metal-Tipped!) on a shaft of almost three foot of wood. It could be wielded with one or two hands and was capped in metal at the other end. So both ends of the weapon could be used alternatively to bludgeon or poke at opponents. (I will get back to this later...) The blunt end capped in metal also had a loop of leather tassel attached so that he would extra purchase on his weapon if anybody tried to disarm him. He would also carry it around, often dragging it behind him always ready to use. Rather than trying to attached or some how sheath it to his harness (Hero-Harness) or to his back. Sometimes it would be his dwarf companion Ukko who would carry it for him and he would always retrieve it for him after Slaine had thrown it towards the legs or neck of one or a small group of his enemies.  Sometime it might cleave them at which ever end he was aiming for. It was that heavy and he was that strong from arms practice, actual fighting and perhaps some lumber-jacking. He would always call "Dwarf!!!!"and he would go and somehow retrieve it for him while avoiding detection himself until it was safely back in to the hands of Slaine. About the length of the shaft (Again!!!!) there was one occasion when Slaine would perform his famed Salmon-Leap (Jumping higher (or Across) then his own height while standing!) to remove himself from a ever encroaching circle of enemies. Using the long shaft of his axe to help in vaulting past the ones nearest to him. So, The shaft of his previous axe (His first axe...with the stone blade!) had to be long enough for him to do this. There were times when the artist would draw/illustrate his second iron axe (The double-Bitted One) long enough that it could only be wielded with both hands or used as make-shift staff while carrying it.

Because of my huge interest in this character (I have the action figure, computer game, nearly all the comics and two novels!) I purchased this axe, when I found a advertised on Facebook one day......

  http://www.globalgear.com.au/Spears,%20axes,%20polearms/XH1074%20Hero%60s%20Axe%20large.jpg

Is what you looking for when you said you needed a illustration?  Even the person who describes the axe on the Knife Centre Web Page admits to impracticality of the design of this weapon....

http://www.knifecenter.com/item/CIXH1074/hanwei-heros-axe-with-11-inch-blade

Quoted from one Reviewer:

(Pros: Construction, Handle Material, Head Material
Cons: None
Totally nuts
This thing is utterly pointless, ridiculous, and so much fun! The haft is too short to get the appropriate leverage for serious work, and the head is a bit too heavy to wield with much agility using one had. That said, the cutting edges are strong and sharp, the haft is nice and sturdy, and the pattern on the handle portion makes it a lot easier to keep ahold of. When I first got one of these, I ended up using it to "disassemble" some old furniture I needed to throw away. It made short work of a couch, some chairs, a coffee table, and a wooden bed frame. I can assure you, this would make a ferocious weapon if it needed to be, as long as you can get it moving quickly enough. I ended up forgetting about it after a move, and discovered a year later that it had rusted pretty badly; the HC steel needs a rust protectant when stored, despite the leather covers.)

The one I own is very sharp and I nearly a lost finger after just running it it along the blade.

Even I was astounded by this Celtic barbarian's choice of weapon and was soon obsessed with finding out how the how could he use it the way he did in battle. (By collecting his entire saga so far over the last 26 years in his 30 year run!) Aside from the fact that he must have been stronger enough swing the weapon around faster enough to stay upright (He was one of the Sessair ...Warriors that Stand!) and untouched all melee battles, cleaving some of them in half or just their heads or legs. (If I was him, I would aim for their fingers and feet! Yah, try holding your sword now or walking away from that!)     

Often leaping above their head and shield (Sometimes performing the Shield Kick, where he would kick their shield above their heads and leap upon them to deliver blows underneath where they would unprotected.......hmm....hard to realise! Could you figure that one out!)

Slaine is of course a fantasy barbarian based on the Celts (Iron Age Celts, would you believe? Even if they never exist during the Iron-Age! The author Pat MiIls has admitted to this fact in one of the forward sections of the latest run of his Graphic Novels!) of Ireland and the rest of Britain before they had those names. Back in days, those islands and that part of Northern Europe they were closest to were all one land mass above the water level and named Tir-Nan-Og (Land of the Young!) when the Celts or the Tribes of the Earth-Goddess occupied those lands before the great flood that finally separated those lands by water. (The English Channel!) and soon became the British Isles of today. (This isn't really a historical fact and it another thing that author of Slaine. Pat Mills admits is another thing he fabricated as nobody was supposed to have occupied those lands before that cataclysm. Of course, I'm not complaining, as Pat Mils made this his story more entertaining to read this way!)

In the beginning, he was drawn as a tall, large boned fellow, full of muscle clothed in nothing, a but loin cloth (Or Waist-Mat!), (Artist - The late Massimo Bellardenelli!)  his famed Hero-harness. (A magical device that would that would help him control his mystical Warp-Spasms and allow what eve r clothing he wore. What little of it he wore to accomdate and not rip with his rapidly expanding body!) and Iron neck and arm Torcs (A snake with two heads at each end facing each other around his neck and the same on his right arm (or sometimes his left!) , but wrapped around it several times!)

Later on in the chronicle he would be drawn as a rather outlandishly proportioned cave man with outlandishly broad shoulders, large fore arms and calves, wearing much the same garb (Artist - Mike MacMahon!) and then amore humanly, yet still tall, well muscled man. His hair always some variation of the mullet ( At first, he had short spiked hair, almost a buzz-cut and then a square cut mullet (Just like Classic Conan!) and sometimes spiked. ( A certain look less glamorise commonly made popular by Glam Rock bands of the late 80's!)  This time, he had pants, often Tartans or just black trews. Sometimes a fur cape (Because it was cold in the north!)  and furred boots that went up to his calves. After the Massimo Bellardinelli run (Where he wore those calf-high strapped!) there were always boots after that!). The Hero-Harness which start off as the type of belt often worn by wrestlers of today was upgraded to leather straps covering most of his torso and  shoulder pad (Similar in design to one of Judge Dredd's!)  and the black garb of something like a Gimp suit in parts, minus the head-gear or a modern day biker suit minus the helmet with piping along the edges.. Also with large shoulder on his left shoulder (During the Mike Collins, David Pugh and Glenn Fabry run of Slaine!) with a symbol of  the Red Branch with three rays of the sun on the front. (I was never sure how he got this suit as I know he doesn't carry much with him and it would be hard to ignore if he was. He started wearing suit when he was forced to fight in one of the arenas of Cythrawl. I kind of doubt the any Druids from the Tribe of Earth Goddess would have been able to smuggle this to him by that stage and this has always left me wondering.  It is the last three artist who name here that illustrate Slaine in their own likeness often modified by their perception of how a barbarian should look. "The Horned God" as it was drawn and painted by Simon Bisley drew his version of Slaine as a heavy weight wrestler or some hairless gorilla  (It was once agreed upon the 2000AD forums that we prefer him at more human proportions like Massimo's, Mike's and Glenn's. where it would be understood that Slaine wasn't so a much oversized clumsy looking brute than he was very just a tall but still very muscular man that rely upon strength born of swiftness and not just his pure strength born of too much muscle and size. (Assuming more size would give him more leverage.)  This fellow could dodge with the best of Harlaquin dancers (Just used for comparison if your confused by that reference!) who were well known for their tumbling skills while delivering swings and blows with his axe that felled many Drunes/Formorians/Cythrons/Vikings!) dress in much the same garb of some previous Slaine's minus the shoulder pad. His axe as large and thick and ungainly as he was currently being drawn. (It was Simon's run of Slaine that also attracted the attention many more fans that managed to push this character to the surface of modern Geek culture and near world recognition! It was the very first colourised Slaine and the best way to describe it was similar to art of Warcraft even though it preceeded it!) Skip over the next few artists of Slaine as they do pale in comparison to the others I want mention durung the lost years of Slaine  continuing to wander the highways and byways of time righting wrongs as they were in the opinion of Danu the Earth Goddess...fast forward thru this to Books of Invasions where Slaine suddenly took on the much more life like appearance of Clint Lanely's head photo shopped onto overly muscled body of a professional middleweight body builder with a typical laying of Celtic styled spiralling tattoos. (You borrowed the cover of his third graphic novel from that very same series for your video above! Not a problem, just pointing that out!) This was the Slaine that got my attention brought me back into the fold of 2000AD after I had found the magazine were not so easily made available an d still wasn't that time. I just found a few issues (Progs) in old comic book store in Sydney. N.S.W. and noticed the new Slaine. Re-kindling my interest and the ever next artist after that...Simon Davis which brings us up to now. "A Simple Killing." A much older looking Slaine sporting a goateed beard for the first time. (Not sure I like that, despite my own beard!)  Both these last versions of Slaine dressed in the garb that could only be many different themes on what was already seen, but still very awesome in it's own way.)

He had small sword or dagger sheathed to his waist. Possibly a Celtic Short Sword. Aside from his Stone-Axe. He was also trained by the Red-Branch Military School at Alba in how to throw and otherwise fight with Spears.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A1e_Bulg

This spear had serrated point with thirty barbs on each side, doing further damage when with drawn from what ever portion of the body it was thrown or poked into and then there feat of throwing this spear with his foot while lying on his back. Based on th fact that the leg was stronger than the arm  and could deliver this weapon with more potency.  Otherwise, I never saw the practicality of this feat and was thus informed that while lying on his back. He could often trick the enemy into thinking he was injured and they might drop their guard while he would lift his spear between his toes and draw back his leg to fling right at the unsuspecting fool. I see the point, but it still seems in practical.  The closest I have seen this practiced  in real life is Amazon tribes folk, firing very large arrows with really large, hefty bows braced against their feet while lying on their backs. Pulling back on the string with both arms. 

(You should find the link I made to the video I found of them doing this some where on these pages......BTW I post on the 2000AD (Where Slaine, first Salmon-Leaped from!) Online Message-Boards under the pseudonym  of ThryllSeekyr!)

The Tathlum which a was rod of very hard wood encased in dark, leather attached to chain or up to three of them with a ball made from lime at the other end of each chain. The Slaine variation of this weapon has human or human like skulls filed with lime at the end of each chain. I guess they were otherwise processed to be nearly unbreakable.

Although, Slaine wasn't formely trained in such weapons by this school he was often seen to be using daggers, shorts swords, broad swords, long swords and Great swords (The Latter, the Sword of the Moon,( It would ignore armour a one of the sacred four treasures of the Earth Goddess given to each tribe.(The other three, the Cauldron of Blood or Cauldron of Plenty (Which would reward any brave warrior with a large portion of cooked meat on the end of their eating implement whenever they plunged it into the artefact while it had been placed over hot coals and filled with cooking liquid, raise the dead warriors as the Half-Dead (Cooler than Zombies, but otherwise just like them!) and any hero just like Slaine would be restored to life just as they were before death, and gateway to the "L" worlds.) The duel wielding both at a time (Just check out the Massimo Bellardanelli version of the Battle of Clontarf where Slaine was sent forward in time to help the then Christian Celts against a Viking invasion and assassinate the Evil Changeling Sorcerer (known as Elfric Serpent-Eye (This is Pat Mills answer to Michael Morcock's "Elric of Menibone" A hero, who was a albino Sorcerer, known to be very weak and subsist on special herbs, wielding a great sword called Death-Bringer! (You know, that song by Deep Purple!) who had swapped places with the regular leader of the Vikings. Often blue skinned but, able to take any form he wished to, yet it was always the mystical eye that was always seen on his forehead that gave him away. Stronger than most men, often bearing the weight of many spears/swords/daggers  lunged harmlessly into his torso as he fought many Celts atop their many lifeless fallen carcass's  (As did Slaine when he was warped by the power of the Earth Serpent!) Immune to any weapon, but those made from iron and the noise it made when it stuck other objects made from similar hardness. Although Slaine could defeat him, causing his body to melt in bubbling puddle of goo. He would always self resurrect in Elswhere, among the four L worlds (Just imagine our, or it's interior bisected by two line equally dividing it into four equal quarters, The Realm of the Dead, The Realm of Elves and Goblins, The Realm of the Dark Gods, The Realm of the Earth-Goddess. The edge of each realm forming the shape of the letter "L" at their apposing and bottom sides. Cythrawl, Which is the Celtic version of Hell and abode to the Cythrons (Alien Demons who were advanced enough to use Leyser and something like U.F.O. technology!) who made it their home after being imprisoned there by the Archons (Possibly a fancy name for the angels of Heaven or some type of advanced alien or who were mistaken for such beings. Maybe they had space ships or maybe they were just like the Cythrons in the same manner of Light/Good Jedi were likened to Dark/Evil Jedi in Star Wars!) who they fought in a war many eons ago and were beaten. It was their punishment for being defeated. This supposed to be at the dawn of this world in time when it was first made inhabitable and assuming that as time passes the past becomes more buried beneath the surface of the present until it's reached the centre of it!) was found to be at he very centre and Elswhere must be somewhere in between!)     

Continued some other time.......

I stopped writing this when I couldn't find a suitable description for the Silver sword of the Moon!.......I even had to retrieve one of my many copies of the Horned God from the shelves.