The polearm family was quite varied.
Because of their size, they were used almost exclusively by infantry.
Some could deliver heavy cutting attacks to bring the toughest enemy down,
others were used to drag cavalrymen from their horses or to hold enemies off.
Because of their variety, classification of polearms is somewhat difficult.
For example many polearms that are called halberds are not halberds at all.
Also, many long and heavy weapons like great clubs and axes, or two-handed swords,
are often mistakenly classified as polearms.
Nonetheless the group can be roughly divided into a few categories.
- Winged (a.k.a. lugged or barred) spears are spears with with small blades on the side to catch enemy weapons and hold them off, deflect them or even disarm the opponent. These blades can also be used to hook enemies or hit them sideways. Examples are the Medieval partisan, ranseur, spetum and Renaissance corseque.
- Pole axes are basically very long axes. They have more reach than a normal axe and because of the long length some can be swung with more power, though less speed. Pole axes with heavy blades are shorter than most spears, though still longer than most hand weapons; those with small blades can be as long as spears. Examples are the Medieval bardiche and pole axe.
- Sword-staffs have a knife- or sword-blade on top. They are mainly used for slashing attacks, but can also be used for stabbing. Examples are the Chinese yanyue dao, viking atgeir, Medieval glaive, the Swedish sword-staff, the Russian sovnya and the Japanese naginata.
- More extreme than sword-staffs are the pole cleavers. These use large, heavy blades that are used purely to make chopping attacks. Examples are the Medieval voulge and lochaber axe.
- Pole picks are polearms with pick-like heads, designed to punch through heavy armor. Examples are the Medieval lucerne hammer, which is not a hammer at all, and bec-de-corbin a.k.a bec-de-faucon.
- Pole scythes mount a sickle or scythe, i.e. a concave blade, on top of the pole. Examples are the Dacian falx from classical times and the Medieval fauchard.
- Hooking polearms are primarily hooks mounted on poles. By themselves, they have limited use, but hooks were often combined with other weapons. Examples of pure hooking polearms are the Medieval guisarme and bill.
- Most military forks are martial variants of the peasant's hay-forks, sturdier and often with two instead of three points. An example of a spear with three points is of course the trident, the weapon of choice of the ancient Greek god Poseidon. Forks, like modified spears, are useful in keeping enemies off or disarming them.
- Combination polearms have a head that can perform several functions, for instance stabbing with a sharp point, cleaving with an ax-blade and hooking or punching with a second tip. Examples are the Chinese ji, Medieval fauchard-fork, bill-hook or bill-guisarme, glaive-guisarme, guisarme-voulge, bill-guisarme and the famous Swiss halberd.