A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of  wood, with a pointed head. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the spear and shield continued to be used by almost all Western European cultures. Since a medieval spear required only a small amount of  steel along the sharpened edges (most of the spear-tip was wrought iron), it was an economical weapon. Quick to manufacture, and needing less smithing skill than a sword, it remained the main weapon of the common soldier. The Vikings, for instance, although often portrayed with axe or  sword in hand, were armed mostly with spears, as were their Anglo-Saxon, Irish  or continental contemporaries.