Spears

“ The man who had brought the spears, and in whom the old spirit lingered more powerfully than in the others, took a spear in either hand, and pranced round the fire, stooping down over the points of the weapons, and chanting, in a subdued voice, a fragment of a war-song. ”

“ Now he conducted her through his armouries where he kept his weapons and weapons for his fighting men and all panoply of war. There he showed her swords and spears, maces and axes and daggers, orfreyed and damascened and inlaid with jewels; byrnies and baldricks and shields; blades so keen, a hair blown against them in a wind should be parted in twain; charmed helms on which no ordinary sword would bite. And Juss said unto the Queen, “Madam, what thinkest thou of these swords and spears? ”

“ Fierce plied our halberds at the spears, that thicker seemed to grow:
The more we struck, more boastfully the banners seemed to blow.
The Austrians, square and close locked up, stood firm with threatening spears,
Only the sterner when our bolts flew thick about their ears ”

“ As he looked upon the bristling points of the Austrian spears, he saw that his comrades had no chance to win unless an opening could be made in that line. He determined to make such an opening even at the cost of his life. Extending his arms as far as he could, he rushed toward the Austrian line and gathered within his arms as many spears as he could grasp. ”

“ With ready spear two of the savages bend over them. The dark faces are grim and pitiless, and the spears descend, but not to be sheathed in their bodies. The tense thongs, severed in more places than one, fly from them. Their limbs are free. ”

“ Their spears were so tough that they break not, and they draw them forth and come together again so strongly that the spears wherewith they smote each other amidst the breast were bended so that they unriveted the holdfasts of their shields, and they lost their stirrups, and the reins fly from their fists, and they stagger against the back saddlebows, and the horses stumbled so as that they all but fell. ”

“ On the cars was a he-lookin female, with a green-cotton umbreller in one hand and a handful of Reform tracks in the other. She sed every woman should have a Spear. Them as didn't demand their Spears, didn't know what was good for them. "What is my Spear?" she axed, addressing the people in the cars. "Is it to stay at home & darn stockins & be the ser-LAVE of a domineerin man? Or is it my Spear to vote & speak & show myself the ekal of a man? Is there a sister in these keers that has her proper Spear?" ”

“ They are expert in throwing spears, which they launch very accurately for distances of thirty or forty yards. Sometimes their spears are a single piece of hard-wood tipped with bone, iron, or sharp stone; other spears have heads of hard-wood, while the shaft is a light reed which grows abundantly on the banks of most of the rivers of Australia. The spears vary from six to eleven feet in length; I have seen spears fifteen feet long, but they were intended for fishing, and not for war, though they were often used for fighting purposes. ”

“ The spear most commonly in use, and the most effective, has merely a head of very hard wood, from a species of acacia, scraped to a very fine sharp point. These are the only spears which can be thrown with any precision to a distance—they are sent with considerable force. ”

“ The elder lads often brought out their thin, well-balanced fighting spears, and having selected a growing plantain with a stalk about 5 inches in diameter, they would stand from 60 to 80 feet away and launch their spears in turn at the stalk. I have seen them pierce the stalk right through again and again. I have tried spear-throwing, and it is not so easy as it looks. There is a knack in holding the spear-haft well down across the palm of the hand, so that the whole force of the arm is conveyed to the spear. ”

“ Mr L upon another occasion took an opportunity of telling us that they heave their Lances with surprizeing dexterity, being able at the distance of 60 feet to strike a mans heart and peirce him through.
How far these dreadfull accounts of their martial prowess might be true I dare not take upon myself to determine: all I shall say is that during our stay we saw no signs either of a warlike disposition or such formidable arms. Spears and Targets indeed there were in the Duch house about 100, the greatest part of which Spears servd to arm the people who came down to intimidate us ”

“ I had hardly done so when two young fellows started out from behind a bush with their spears poised, and gave chase. One of them pinned the husband right through the thigh with his spear, almost into the door of my neighbour, whilst the other carried off the woman. But the cries of the man brought up his friends, and the woman was recovered. It is wonderful how little they seemed to think of the matter. The spear was an unbarbed spear, and the act was done merely to prevent him running after the abductor. ”

“ The Yellow Emperor, T‘ang the Completer and Wu Wang all used spears and battle-axes in order to succour their generation. The Ssŭ-ma Fa says: “If one man slay another of set purpose, he himself may rightfully be slain.” ”

“ Homer, Il. xiii., 131.
"This description is not less exact than beautiful. It is manifest, then, that five several spears, differing each from the other in the length of two cubits, are extended before every man in the foremost rank. And when it is considered likewise, that the phalanx is formed by sixteen in depth, it will be easy to conceive, what must be the weight and violence of the entire body, and how great the force of its attack. In the ranks, indeed, that are behind the fifth, the spears cannot reach so far as to be employed against the enemy. ”

“ By spearing.—Various kinds of spears, as figured and described in this work, are used for taking fish of all kinds, both in the sea and in fresh water. The natives are very skilful in all sports, as already stated, but in using the spear in fishing they are astonishingly expert. ”

“ They were caught by my fairy nymphs, for you, as they skimmed the sunlit billows under the shape of sea-birds, and no queen or princess in the world can match their luster with the diamonds won with toil from the caves of earth. As for you, Connla, see here's a helmet of shining gold fit for a king of Erin—and a king of Erin you will be yet; and here's a spear that will pierce any shield, and here's a shield that no spear can pierce and no sword can cleave as long as you fasten your warrior cloak with this brooch of gold. ”

“ This warrior watches the royal canoe along the beach; and as soon as the king lands, and has thrown off his cloak, he darts his spear at him, from a distance of about thirty paces, and the king must either catch the spear in his hand, or suffer from it: there is no jesting in the business. Having caught it, he carries it under his arm, with the sharp end downwards, into the temple or heavoo. On his entrance, the assembled multitude begin their sham-fights, and immediately the air is obscured by clouds of spears, made for the occasion with blunted ends. ”

“ Not being at liberty to shift his position, which was prescribed by a small circle, just sufficient to stand in, nevertheless when a spear threatened his head, he ducked down, and when one threatened his lower extremities, he sprung up, so that the spears, one after the other, fell harmless in his rear, and stuck in the ground. ”

“ Most of the spears have cross-guards, usually wooden, lashed on, to prevent a wounded animal from running up the spear-shaft at the hunter. They made boar-spears like that on Terra a thousand years ago. Maybe they have to fight raiding parties from the hills once in a while, but not often enough for them to develop special fighting weapons or techniques. ”

“ In the justs the combatants most commonly used spears without heads of iron; and the excellency of the performance consisted in striking the opponent upon the front of his helmet, so as to beat him backwards from his horse or break the spear. ”

“ The spears of the first line were splintered against the few who awaited them, but their onset was irresistible. Spahis and Janissaries, [Pg 103] Tartars and Christian allies alike went down before the Polish lances, or turned and fled in headlong confusion. ”

“ The part which is to be pierced by a spear is fixed for all common crimes, and a native who has incurred this penalty sometimes quietly holds out his leg for the injured party to thrust his spear through.
When a native, after having absconded for fear of the consequences of some crime which he has committed, comes in to undergo the ordeal of having spears thrown at him, a large assemblage of his fellows takes place; their bodies are daubed with paint which is put on in the most fantastic forms, their weapons are polished, sharpened, and rendered thoroughly efficient ”

“ These spears in the hands of strong men can be thrown for some distance. If the person on the other side is of great skill he could ward off one or more spears at a time, and in that way avoid being hit. ”

“ There were no theatricals, no lightsomeness of Gallic exclamation, during those few minutes of active preparation for a siege. The old trapper faced a peril too deadly, too imminent, for him to neglect any precaution or to waste a moment in playfulness. ”

“ The body is always in hand, always in motion, that it may respond instantly to every necessity. Spears are thrown with greatest accuracy and fatality up to 30 feet, and after the spears are discharged the contest, if continued, is at arms’ length with the battle-axes. ”

“ They are accustomed to spears from their childhood, and can throw them very accurately for a distance of thirty or forty yards. I once saw a considerable number of blacks together, and several white men of us got up a competition in spear throwing. ”

“ Their Weapons are Spears made of hard wood and pointed at both ends, sometimes headed with human bones; of these some are 14 or 15 feet long; they are graspd by the middle so that the end which hangs behind, serving as a balance to keep steady that which is before, makes it much more dificult to parry a push from one of them than it would be from one of a spear only half as long which was held by the end. ”

“ Their spears, their shields, their cuirasses, the bridles and trappings of their horses, have either the substance or the appearance of gold; and the large splendid boss in the midst of their shield is encircled with smaller bosses, which represent the shape of the human eye. ”

“ Then he thought him to make him ready (so the venture doth tell I ween) 5
With many a blazoned spear-shaft, and many a sendal green;
For each spear it bare a pennon, with the anchor in ermine white,
And well was it wrought, the symbol, and costly in all men's sight.
And long and broad were the pennons, and e'en to the hand hung low
When men on the spear-blade bound them, a span-breadth the point below.10
And a hundred spears were ready for that true and gallant knight,
And his cousin's folk they bare them, and with him went forth to fight ”

“ The spears are thrust through in this manner until the criminal expires, but his sufferings are prolonged as much as possible. Shinano told me that a few years ago a very strong man lived until the eleventh spear had been thrust through him. ”

“ They have made their escape. Nine spears have been found stuck in the body of one of the white men near York, and seven spears in the other. As large a force as can be mustered has been set in motion against them. ”

“ and there encountered with him all at once Sir Bors, Sir Ector, and Sir Lionel, and all they three smote him at once with their spears. And with force of themself they smote Sir Launcelot’s horse to the earth; and by misfortune Sir Bors smote Sir Launcelot through the shield into the side, and the spear brake, and the head left still in his side. ”

“ After that others took the sleeping man and placed him on the spears in such fashion that one of the spears supported his head, another his loins, and the third his feet.
The man was as stiff as wood. Then the old man made motions above him with his hands, and drew out the spear supporting his feet. ”

“ He hath served from the beginning of the Band [ [Pg 94] founded in December, 1539, as the Band of Spears. It consisted of a Captain, Lieutenant, Standard bearer, Clerk of the Cheque, and Gentleman Harbinger, and fifty Gentlemen; chosen out of the best and most ancient families of England. Some of them sons to Earls, Barons, Knights, and Esquires: men thereunto specially recommended for their worthiness and sufficiency; without any stain or taint of dishonour, or disparagement in blood] , and was as forward as any to serve the Queen, in the time of Wyatt's rebellion. ”

“ Its force, while it is compact and bristling with extended spears, is irresistible; but if, by attacking them separately, you force them to turn about their spears, which, on account of their length and weight, are unwieldy, they are mingled in a confused mass; and, if any disorder arises on the flank or rear, they fall into irretrievable disorder. ”

“ If one party get the advantage, and throw their spears first, and any take effect in the opposite ranks, those that have received the spears make great haste to get out of the way. These battles seldom last long, though a great deal of time is spent in manœuvring, and great preparations are made, but the contest is soon decided. ”

“ Spite o’ them “mopokes” I’ve got a bit o’ stuff left yet.
‘Well, mates,’ went on Wilson, as the party resumed their seats, ‘the darkies throwed their spears, an’ slings their bommerangs, but it weren’t no use, I was too high up for ’em, and the nighest spear as come out of a couple o’ dozen, sticks in a good six foot below my limb. ”