What main weapon did Harold godwinsons' professional soldiers carry?

Answer 1

The professional soldiers were Huskarls (Housecarls) and Thegns (equivalent of a Knight). In the Saxon era, soldiers did not wear uniforms and there was no standardization kit for troops to carry. The Huskarls would have majorly had spears or axes as their primary weapons, with a side arm probably being a smaller axe, seax (long knife), or if they were very wealthy a sword. The spear was the most common weapon at the time, and was most effective in a formation. Many Huskarls would be using their spears, unless the formation was broken, a case in which many of them would switch to their sidearms. The Anglo saxon Huskarls were also most famous for their use of the Dane Axe, a massive two handed axe ussually six feet long. This axe is gripped in the middle, and the blunt end is used for creating an open in combat and for defense, and the axe is then twirled around to deliver a blow from the axe head. A great many huskarls would be armed with dane axes, and would most likely be in the second rank of the shield wall or further back, as one cannot carry a shield when using a Dane Axe. The only other primary weapon that would be common, however less that the other two, was the bearded axe. A small, one handed axe with a sort of hook, or beard, coming down, which could be used to hook and pull away an enemy's sheild, so that the man to your left could spear him.