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A flail is an agricultural tool used for threshing, separating grains from their husks. Normally it is made from two or more sticks attached by a short chain or leather thong; one stick is held and swung, causing the other to strike a pile of grain, loosening the husks. The precise dimensions and shape of a flail would have been developed by generations of farmers to suit the particular grain they were harvesting. For example, flails used by farmers in Quebec to process wheat were generally made from two pieces of wood, the handle being about 1.5m long by 3cm in diameter, and the second stick being about 1m long by about 3cm in diameter, with a slight taper towards the end. Flails for other grains, such as rice or spelt, would have had different dimensions.
Flails have generally fallen into disuse in many nations because of the availability of technologies such as combine harvesters that require much less manual labour. However, in many jurisdictions, including for example Minnesota, wild rice can only be harvested using manual means—specifically by using a canoe and a flail that is made of smooth, round wood no more than 30 inches long.
As with most agricultural tools, flails were often used as weapons by farmers (for lack of a better weapon); for example, the French revolution was mostly fought with agricultural tools. A short flail used in Japanese martial arts is normally called the nunchaku.
Medieval weapon
A flail is also a medieval weapon made of one or more spiked metal balls attached to a handle with a hinge or chain. A morning star has one large metal ball with no hinge. Known as the therscol, it is similar to, and some would say a type of, the morning star weapon. The flail is more powerful than the mace, because the metal ball is swung in circles, to gain momentum, before bringing it crashing down on an enemy. The flail is more difficult to master, because it requires more control to keep the ball from hitting the wielder. This sort of flail was most used from the 13th century to the 15th century. It is often incorrectly called a mace.
There is also a mace- or flail-like weapon called the chain mace.
It features a long chain usually made of iron with a large ball at the end, commonly covered with spikes to increase damage. It is basically a two-handed flail with a long chain.
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