weapon name-paddle spear
basically it's a spear point attached to a boat paddle(think missing link between spear & sword)
tell me what you think of it(it sound,to me at least,like something that medeival people would have)
.. .. if they have a spear point.. why don't they just cut off the paddle end and just turn it into a spear? .. most of the reasons for using non proper weapons is because they -don't- have spear points and such ^^
Just carving a pointed end into a staff works just fine for peasants in general I imagine.. or the ever popular pitchfork and torches ^^
There are two objects here that should not be confused- a "paddle", and an "oar".
A paddle is typically smallish, and used in a canoe or small boat, while sitting at the side of the boat. An oar is typically bigger (and possibly MUCH bigger) has an oar lock or pivot-point (like a rowboat, longboat or galley), and is hauled back using the pivot for leverage. Oars can be used singly (galley style) or doubly (rowboat).
A paddle is used with two hands, one grabbing the top of the paddle (where your "spearpoint" would be), so that's no feasible. An oar is pulled backwards with one/two hands, and having a sharp blade on the end (that swings about face level) would be absurdly dangerous.
Add to that the fact that to use the "weapon" end, you have to stop paddling the boat, and risk losing the paddle, and have to hold the paddle end (which is NOT exactly a "handle"), it just won't work.
A paddle or oar is a tool, not a weapon. For "adventurers", putting a blade point on the end of every shovel, pick, hoe, broom, rolling pin, drinking mug and tooth-brush they own means they always have a sharp weapon in their hand. "Real people" don't need this.
OK, I'll bite...
How is a boat paddle with a spear point the missing link between swords and spears?
...it might be the missing link between paddles and spears...
Lets look at the historical record. Heroditus, the famous greek historian, chronicles the sea-faring Persians (who are invading Greece in the movie 300) really never discovered the paddle yet, and they would push their armadas into enemy ships by having hundreds of guys with spears pushing against the water. This was very inefficient, which is why the Athenean Navy was able to clean-up after the Spartans died. Now, the Athenian Navy was FAMOUS for their paddle spears.
The lack of technological development (no paddles) in Persia (modern day Iran) is still a sore point for Persians (Iranians) which is why they are protesting the film (300) and why they are trying to develop nuclear power (parathetical comment), because since they never developed the paddle, they also never developed the propeller and they need nuclear power to spin their spears fast enough to have an effective navy. One wonders why they do not just copy propellers from the west, but the mullahs there have declared propellers to be unclean and western and they just don't want to go there...
Sorry...
Line, hook and sinker... or paddled? 
I was going with what I had read about in a old dragon magazine(when they were trying to be realistic)in that paticular magazine they said it might have been the missing link between sword & spear.
Abe (or Harlen) if doing exact cross-posting and already having a lot of answers elsewhere you might been seen as curtious if you were to link to the other thread.
As a sidenote I think that the dragon magazine might have included it as a half-prank, as 'paddle swords' are mostly known as a tool for spanking. I dont think that a paddle sword is a linking of boat utensils and weapons as much as it is simply just description of the form of the sword rather than its origin or usage. Finally I havent been able to find any 'paddle sword' made for war (rather than spanking 
) besides in references to Australian Aboriginals, in which case it really cant be any sort of missing link, since swords (and spears) have evolved elsewere prior to later times of contact with Australia...
To be serious, some Okinawan Karate schools teach a oar as a weapon. It is basically used as a quarterstaff, but there are a few tricks that take advantage of the flat shape on one end. Not terribly Mythic or European, but there it is.
Some moves involve scooping up dirt with teh end and tossing it at the enemy's eyes, or trying to hit with the narrow edge of the paddle when you swing the weapon.
Paddle Sword...
No. Not a chance as a weapon of the peasant...
To make this weapon, you would need to place/cut the point out of the end of the paddle (not the handle end). This WOULD work as a weapon. It would be essentially a club with a point. The problem lies in the usage as a paddle. Paddles are generally used in shallow draft craft like canoes. Shallow draft craft frequent SHALLOW water....
As you stick the paddle into the water and pull it rearward, the tip of the paddle tends to dig in to the bottom. Mud is a fine thing to dig into, and it would actually help you move along. The problem is with the other things you find at the bottom of a body of water...
Wood: Ooops. The point would tend to stick in...(you did intend on it being SHARP?)
Rocks: OOOOOPPPPS...Guess it isn't sharp anymore.
A note on size: I disagree with the thought that paddles are generally short. MOST paddles are built to reach into the water (bear with me here) to a depth that reaches a few inches above the flat part of the paddle. The flat part is generally about a foot and a half long to two feet... Now, the overall length of the paddle is based on the general length of the persons arms. A person generally paddles by bringing the hand closest to the paddle to a few inches above water level. The off hand generally goes straight above to provide a pivot point. This hand should be fully extended and the arm more or less locked. The hand closest to the paddle end then pulls back. The distance between the hands is generally about two feet. Over all length then would be four to five feet. This would require most people to use both hands... (as a weapon) If you make this sturdy enough to take impacts, you would make it so heavy as to preclude using it to paddle with...
You're better off with a spear/club, and a paddle.
re paddle length- my use of the word "short" was relative compared an oar, which is markedly longer. Typical paddles run about 2-5' long, oars 5-20+ feet (or much longer in extreme cases).
I'm beginning to think that our man Abe read about something that was called a "paddle spear" and took it literally. A polearm with a roughly "paddle shaped" head was, at various times in various cultures, a traditional weapon, aka a spade (sim to a glaive), and could be seen as a spear with an large, exagerated leafblade. Pole arms ran the spectrum of shapes (and effectiveness) at any given time, and were often specialized to respond to the most popular armour and battle tactics of the day. As those variables changed, the "optimal" polearm did likewise, and the effectiveness of any given configuration.
BD-
All I got was a message saying "Die Seite kann nicht aufgerufen werden..." - not 100% sure how that translates, but I know what it means, and it wasn't what ~I~ was looking for. Got a better link?
oops! 
It was there earlier, I swear!
I searched SPEAR-PADDLE instead of paddle-spear and I found one on ebay. It's not medeival or european, but I think it's what Abe is trying to describe. I also found stats for something of that description in a few different comprehensive weapons lists suggesting that Abe is not the first person to think of something like this.
I can't get the link to work properly! 
that was sort of what I was going for.