Battleaxes were in fact powerful and versatile weapons, suited to many types of hand-to-hand and ranged combat. A good battleaxe was capable of breaching the shield defenses of opposing forces whether it remained in hand or was used as a thrown weapon, due to the way that the length of the axe shaft acted as a multiplier in increasing damage dealt; once lines were broken, axes were then used to injure and disarm those who fell within their swooping arcs. Additionally, the same armour which is thick enough to withstand a blade can dent and bend under a falling axe, disabling and damaging its wearer. An axe's combination of portability, adaptability, range and potential force of impact produced devastating effects, and in this way was able to enhance the ability (and repute) of a fighting group.

Axes were also valuable tools outside of warfare situations, for example in the felling of timber and associated forest-clearing tasks, the hunting and preparing of food, and other applications in which the presence of a axe is a boon to community life. Axes themselves were hand made using various craftwork and refining processes, the blade inserted into the shaft and attached with glues formed from plant resins or animal fats and lashed fast with plant fibres, bound through both adhesion and friction. They were, of course, decorated, inscribed, and modified with regard to handle curvature and weighting, shape and serration of the head, and sometimes a double-edge was introduced, according to the skill and tastes of the maker and intended / eventual use of the axe.