Axe

A standard axe's varied components

An axe is a tool for chopping wood and felling trees, based on the wedge. In many Nordic countries, the axe was so common that it also became a weapon, in the form of a battle axe, which could be in the single-edged or double-edged varieties, and would be heaved in large sweeping motions by skilled warriors. In some eastern American Indian cultures, they preferred smaller throwing axes. The word "tomahawk" is an Americanization of an Algonquian word for this small axe.