THE KING'S MIRROR 223 



in defending a castle. It is made of large, heavy beams 

 armed along the ridge with a brush of pointed oak nails ; 

 it is hung outside the parapet to be dropped on anyone 

 who comes too near the wall. Turnpikes made of large 

 heavy logs armed with sharp teeth of hard oak may be 

 raised on end near the battlements and kept ready to 

 be dropped upon those who approach the castle. An- 

 other good device is the " briar," * which is made of 

 good iron and has curved thorns as hard as steel with 

 a barb on every thorn; and the chain, from which it 

 hangs, as high up as a man can reach must be made of 

 spiked links, so that it can be neither held nor hewn; 

 higher up any kind of rope that seems suitable may be 

 used, only, it must be firm and strong. This briar is 

 thrown down among the enemy in the hope of catching 

 one or more of them and then it is pulled up again. A 

 " running wheel " f is also a good weapon for those who 

 defend castles: it is made of two millstones with an 

 axle of tough oak joining them. Planks sloping down- 

 ward are laid out through the openings in the wall; the 

 wheel is rolled out upon these and then down upon the 

 enemy. 



A " shot wagon " {is also a good device. This is made 

 like any other wagon with two or four wheels as one 

 likes and is intended to carry a load of stones, hot or 



* Captain Blom is disposed to look on the brynklungr as an imaginary device 



(Aarboger for nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1867, 106) but Falk finds that some such 



instrument was in use in Italy as early as the tenth century (Altnordische 



Waffenkunde, 199-200). 



t Devices somewhat similar to the " running wheel " seem to have been used 



in medieval warfare, but of this particular form no other mention has been 



found. See Falk, Altnordische Waffenkunde, 200. 



% Ibid. The " shot wagon " is not mentioned elsewhere. 



