I would argue that having an axe in your offhand if your shield is taken from you somehow would be better than nothing as you could still use it to parry and hook at an opponent's shield or weapon. Is it optimal? No. Is it better than nothing? Probably.

@@dredlord47 I think that works better in theory than in practice.

The dane axe is too big to be used for dual wielding anyway so i don't think that counts

@@nicodemoboccia5090 yes, I know. The minigun is to big wield too, my point is that the Saga's, much like todays movies is primarly a story. As such, we should not take it literally, as the storytellers probably added a lot stuff "for effect", like when Rambo shoots down an attackhelicopter with a bow.

@@johan.ohgren or like when lancelot crosses a bladed bridge barefoot, yes

Very cool, thanks a lot!

I am pretty sure he says, that the ax shall be both shield and maille,* just my two cents :)

@@Cleanpea that is probably right, i have no idea why google translates "brynja" as "arm". but my main point still stands. there is some saga evidence for using an axe instead of a shield (and perhaps even maille) :)

@@luissengl8436 Well, there we go!

Or axe and seax.

@Soul Chicken as Maximys Black said: 4gate works against Zerg, because no one does it, because it doesn't work...

@@jakubfabisiak9810 Just make lots of roaches vs 4 gate.

@@Tazdingo01 yeah, but the rationale here is that 4gate is not a good strategy against zerg, because zerg has the tools to easily counter it. But "having the tools" does not render the s trategy automatically ineffective, and if the zerg player just assumes no one will try to use it against him, and isn't actually prepared to defend, they might be caught off-guard. Same principle applies here - Roland enters the fight with the intention to claim the center, knowing that his opponent has to contest it, or be at a huge disadvantage. But what if, instead of Roland, we have Shmoland, who enters a fight this way but doesn't actually know why he is doing it like that? What if his opponent doesn't know he\s "supposed" to contest the center, or is enough of a pro to realise that Shmoland doesn't actually know what he is doing, and has no idea how to use the advantage if the center is not contested.

@@jakubfabisiak9810 Then it's a very short battle LOL. The pro should very quickly know the caliber of his opponent at contact, and therefore adjust his strategy/position to take full advantage of his expertise. Am I getting you correctly?

@@Tazdingo01 in a game like this, the pro SHOULD win. When you play for keeps? Sometimes the pro doesn't survive the mistake of thinking that no one would do X. Special forces members are often taken out by vastly inferior troops even today. Stupidity is a dangerous thing, not just to your own side.

I have tried it but found it more efficient to use the longer weapon in my right. That is why with sword and spear, i use the spear in my dominant hand. This latter is also mentioned in Njål's Saga, by the way.

@@swordandshield when you say efficient, do you just mean taking advantage of the reach, or something else? (Typically I would assume that if something was more efficient, it uses less energy, so I am curious if you find the axe uses less energy than the sword in your non dominant hand?)

A number of axe sheaths survived: www.patreon.com/posts/20697979

It could be. It can also be held near the axehead and used as a boss, for defense if a shield or buckler is unavailable. There is also the aspect of the axe being in a constant state of being able to be thrown at any second, which is significant imo.

Only if you're a dirty Frank

Its just light sparring training and no heavy hits involved,but still i worry more about their hands since getting hand hits with a steel blunt sword edge or a blunt axe still hurts and can cause injury by not using padded gloves.

Ah we are talking here about skirmishes and duels I believe, spear wall or shield wall would have been used instead

Why would anyone in their right minds use duelling techniques in warfare: That's right, they would not. Peace

Something to consider: Maybe the dual wielding was indeed thought of as more of a "battle-field" style thant for dueling. If I remember correctly, Miyamoto Musashi, who was famous for his school of dual wieldinig katana and wakizashi, always considered this to be a style for the battlefield and still prefered the use of a single, longer katana for dueling.

@@pawelpippovitch2836 That is a super-interesting point of view! I would still, then, see 'dual-weilding' as the back-up to a pole- or missile weapon. The fact that shields weren't really a thing in Japan, could explain why he would have that opinion. I am definitely not an expert or scholar on this subject, so don't quote me on that :)

Amazing fatshaming comment... A lot of not that fit people fight well. A bit of respect would be great

Dear sjw's 'fought well' is respect