Flail (weapon)
The flail is a medieval weapon made of one (or more) spiked metal balls attached to a handle with a hinge or chain. There is some disagreement over the names for this weapon; the terms "morning star," and even "mace" are variously applied, though these are used to describe other weapons, which are very different in usage from a weapon with a hinge or chain, commonly used in Europe from the 13th century to the 15th century.
It is generally believed that that the military flail is appreciably more damaging than either the sword or mace, and it is not so heavy that it needs to be swung in circles to gain momentum before striking. That being said the most usual manner of employing the flail was to constantly have the flail in motion before oneself, making the weapon tiring and difficult to use.
The primary benefit of the flail comes from its greater impact (and consequent damage) to a target. It was mainly employed against armored opponents where this greater impact was most useful and other weapons (like swords or spears) would be useless.
Other characteristics of the flail are that:
1. Unlike a sword or mace, it doesn't transfer vibrations from the impact to the wielder.
2. It is difficult to stop, it can curve over and round impediments such as shield or weapons and still strike the target.
3. Contrary to popular opinion it provides an excellent defence whilst in motion.
The term "flail" comes from the motion of the weapon, and was actually given first to a farming implement used to separate wheat from chaff. This was normally a block of wood attached to a handle with either leather or rope. The term "morningstar" actually refers to the head of a weapon (the small round spiked ball) and can be used for either a morningstar mace (on a shaft) or flail (if on a chain). Flails also sometimes had blunt round heads or flanges like a mace. Some written records point to small rings attached to chains on a flail used to inflict greater damage, but no historical examples are known to exist.
A variation of the flail is called a chain mace. It composes of a long chain usually wrapped in leather or another protective material, and has a steel ball at the end of the chain.