A flail is an

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

tool used for

threshing Threshing, or thrashing, is the process of loosening the edible part of grain (or other crop) from the straw to which it is attached. It is the step in grain preparation after reaping. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain. History ...

, the process of separating

grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

from their

husk Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protecti ...

s. It is usually made from two or more large sticks attached by a short chain; one stick is held and swung, causing the other (the swipple) to strike a pile of grain, loosening the husks. The precise dimensions and shape of flails were determined by generations of farmers to suit the particular grain they were harvesting. For example, flails used by farmers in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen ...

to process

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologica ...

were generally made from two pieces of wood, the handle being about long by in diameter, and the second stick being about long by about in diameter, with a slight taper towards the end. Flails for other grains, such as

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domesticate ...

spelt Spelt (''Triticum spelta''), also known as dinkel wheat or hulled wheat, is a species of wheat that has been cultivated since approximately 5000 BC. Spelt was an important staple food in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times. ...

, would have had different dimensions. Flails have generally fallen into disuse in many nations because of the availability of technologies such as

combine harvester The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining four separate harvesting operations— reaping, threshing, gathering, and winn ...

s that require much less manual labour. But in many places, such as

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

wild rice Wild rice, also called manoomin, Canada rice, Indian rice, or water oats, is any of four species of grasses that form the genus ''Zizania'', and the grain that can be harvested from them. The grain was historically gathered and eaten in both ...

can only be harvested legally using manual means, specifically through the use of a

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

and a flail that is made of smooth, round wood no more than 30 inches long. File:Dreschflegel.jpg, An example of a grain flail File:Threshing Flail.jpg, Flail being used for threshing File:Threshing-with-flail-RSJ.jpg, Flails used in Britain File:Battage à Fléau.jpg, French peasants threshing with flails c. 1270. File:Teuva.vaakuna.svg, Two flails pictured in the coat of arms of

Teuva Teuva ( sv, Östermark) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The population of Teuva is () and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water (). The population density is . The municipal ...

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Non-agricultural uses

As with most agricultural tools, flails were often used as weapons by farmers lacking better weapons. The flail is proposed as one of the origins of the two-piece baton known in the

Okinawan kobudō , literally "old martial way of Okinawa", is the weapon systems of Okinawan martial arts. Etymology and definition Okinawan Kobudō is a Japanese term that can be translated as "''old martial way of Okinawa''". It is a generic term coined in th ...

weapon system as the

nunchaku is a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks (traditionally made of wood), connected to each other at their ends by a short metal chain or a rope. It is approximately 30 cm (sticks) and 1 inch (rope). A person wh ...

. The first recorded use of a flail as a weapon was at the siege of Damietta in 1218 during the

Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al-Adil, brother of ...

, as depicted in the chronicle by Matthew Paris; tradition has it the man was the Frisian Hayo of Wolvega who bashed the standard bearer of the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

defenders with it and captured the flag. Flails were also used as weapons by farmers under the leadership of

Jan Žižka Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha ( en, John Zizka of Trocnov and the Chalice; 1360 – 11 October 1424) was a Czech general – a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus and a Radical Hussite who led the Taborites. Žižka was a successful mil ...

during the 15th-century

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Ca ...

in Bohemia. In ancient Egypt the flail was a symbol associated with the pharaoh, symbolizing the monarch's ability to provide for the people.

References

External links

{{Wiktionary, Flail
Antique Farm Tools

Agriculture in Victorian Times

Picture of one kind of rice flail
Egyptian artefact types Threshing tools Mechanical hand tools Wands Ritual weapons Honorary weapons Ceremonial weapons

Non-agricultural uses

See also

References

External links