Conquest — Season 1, Episode 5: The Axman Cometh
Documentary • 30 min • 2 seasons, 28 episodes • ★ 7.0/10
Episode synopsis
Actor and fight master Peter Woodward guides viewers back to a time when knowing how to swing an ax meant the difference in life and death. Our experts practice with the Viking single- and double-headed types and learn that in the right hands these difficult and exhausting weapons had no equal. We also examine the berserker, an ax-wielding Viking warrior who worked himself into a state of concentrated fury. Finally, we look at the double-headed Saxon ax that was nearly the size of a man. TV PG
About Conquest
Conquest is a TV show on the History Channel hosted by Peter Woodward. In each 30 minute episode, Woodward teaches his small group of assistants a particular type of weapon, or a set of weapons from a particular time period, while demonstrating their function, describing their comparative advantages and disadvantages, and discussing their history. Episodes have ranged widely across history, from "Stone-Age Weapons" to "Air Combat" and even including "Unarmed Combat". As examples of the broad spectrum, Roman weapons and tactics, SWAT tactics and ninjutsu have all featured.