THE BILL, SCYTHE KNIFE, AND GLAIVE.
This class of weapons is often confounded with the gisarme, because they sometimes have a spur at the base. All have their prototype in the scythe of agriculture.
The bill occurs in the poem of Beowulf as part of the armament of a ship of war, and it is often mentioned in Anglo-Saxon chronicles, but it must be borne in mind that old chronicles used the phrase “bills and bows” in the sense that the former word applies generally to all long-shafted weapons. According to Silver, the bill ought not to exceed six feet in length.
Bills were in general use by footmen in the eleventh century, and indeed continued to be so until the advent of the pike. This class of weapons was largely superseded in the fifteenth century by halbards, partizans, and pikes, but the bill survived long in England. There are some particulars of this weapon in the Brief Discourse on Warre, written by Sir Roger Williams in 1590, in which the proper proportion of bills to pikes in battle-array is set forth as one to five. The length of the bill-shaft should not exceed six feet.
The glaive has a much larger blade than the bill. It has its edge on the outside curve, and has side branches of various sizes. The term “glaive” was often applied to the lance, and in France “le fer de glaive” denoted the sword of chivalry, as well as the headman’s blade.
The pageant glaive is a large, heavy, and usually highly decorated weapon, doubtless greatly used in processions.