Basic Information
The military fork was a piercing polearm consisting of two or more sharp points mounted on a haft, much like a weaponised version of the civilian pitchfork or fishing trident. Unlike the fishing versions, the points of the military fork were not barbed.
Historical examples of this weapon definitely exist but there is some question over its usefulness as a weapon - it seems to add nothing to the function of a single headed spear whilst being less damaging, more fragile and apparently harder to manufacture. If the user simply wished to keep an impaled opponent at a distance, a spear with a crossbar head (like a boar spear) would seem simpler. There is some conjecture that the design had a secondary use for pushing away siege ladders, but the surviving examples seem too narrow in span for that job and somewhat over-engineered.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- Being of doubtful utility seems not to have stopped our ancestors manufacturing these so it needn't stop you having them in your game. Be prepared to admit that, just as in real life, it's a mystery why anyone uses them.
- Maybe they're used as both tools and weapons, by marauder-weary farmers and fishers or conquest-driven merfolk.