Bollock Dagger: History, Types, and Uses of This Iconic Blade

September 25, 2026

The bollock dagger is a type of dagger with a distinctively shaped grip, featuring two oval thickenings at the grip that resemble male testicles. The dagger first appeared on continental monuments around 1300–1350 and had one of the longest periods of use among the five main types of medieval daggers.

Composition

The blade

The blade styles of the bollock dagger varied greatly. One of the earliest and most common forms was a single-edged blade with a triangular cross-section that tapered evenly from grip to point.

Sometimes the blade was reinforced for penetration, with the end near the point becoming square. These styles remained popular throughout the long lifespan of the dagger. Around 1400, a double-edged, evenly tapering blade became popular, and around 1450 this developed into a slender double-edged blade with a thick diamond-shaped profile that sometimes featured a ricasso.

Although the shape of the blade changed over the centuries, most blade lengths remained fairly consistent.

Generally, the blades were three to four times as long as the haft, making most blades between 25 and 40 centimeters long. Exceptions occurred, such as around the Baltic Sea in the 16th century, where daggers had short, broad single-edged blades that were only slightly longer than the grip

The grip

The wooden grip is often made in one piece and reinforced at the top with a shaped metal ring. This type of dagger was popular in Scandinavia, Flanders, Wales, Scotland and England between the 13th and 18th centuries, particularly during the Tudor period.

In its earliest and simplest form, the testicle-shaped grip consisted of one piece of hardwood, such as ebony, rootwood, briar, heather root or holly, without any metal components. The lobes that formed the guard were large and well-rounded, while the knob ended in a ball-shaped knop.

The grip could taper towards the knob or the guard. Later, other materials were also used, such as horn, ivory, bone and in later designs brass or even agate. Around the beginning of the 15th century, metal plates were added as reinforcement on top of the knob and between the testicle-shaped lobes and the blade, which characterized this form for the rest of the dagger's lifespan.

In the early 15th century, another style of bollock dagger appeared that was used alongside the original form. Although the lobes at the guard remained the same, the handle tapered upwards in the shape of an inverted cone, ending in a flat knob that was usually finished with a metal plate, sometimes engraved with geometric patterns.

By the end of the 15th century, a third form developed, with the grip having straight sides and ending in a flat or slightly rounded knob, with or without a metal plate.

The grip was often smooth, but there were also versions with facets, spiral engravings or protrusions. By the end of the 15th century, not only the grip but also the knob and testicle-shaped lobes had changed. Some daggers had three lobes instead of the traditional two, and the metal plate between the guard and the blade became thicker, longer and curved towards the blade, almost like a guard.

In northern France and Flanders, the lobes were made of metal and protruded. In northern Germany, both the lobes and knobs were disc-shaped.

In the 16th century, both the phallic dagger and the bollock dagger with inverted cone-shaped knobs remained popular, but both forms became longer, slimmer and more refined. The phallic handles became almost columnar. The knobs were still ball-shaped but often conical as well.

A regional exception was formed by bollock daggers around the Baltic Sea, called Poke, Poeke or Poicke, with phallic hilts and conical knobs. The lobes were on stalks and functioned as short quillons with ball-shaped ends.

Used throughout Europe

The bollock dagger was worn throughout Europe and appears to have been used by all social classes. Early monuments and gravestones show that the dagger was initially a knight's weapon, while later more elaborate specimens suggest that emerging merchant and craft classes also used the weapon.

Of course, simple, crude specimens also exist that were probably carried by farmers.

Bollock daggers on the British Isles

In Great Britain, the bollock dagger was widely worn, including by the Border Reivers, as a supplement to the lance and sword. Many of these weapons were recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose. The bollock dagger is the precursor to the Scottish dirk.

On the continent it remained in use until the 16th century, while in England it appeared until the 17th century as the dudgeon dagger. Only in Scotland did this type of dagger remain in use as the Scottish dirk into the 18th century.

This later style remained in use in the 16th century, with the diamond profile becoming so thick that it almost looked four-sided. These four-sided blades are the most common form in 16th-century bollock daggers.

A variant that was probably more defined by the shape of the blade than by the hilt was the dudgeon dagger. These 17th-century daggers usually had heavily etched and gilded blades that tapered evenly from hilt to point with thick diamond-shaped cross-sections. Almost all daggers had flat testicle-shaped guards.

In the Victorian era, weapon historians introduced the term kidney dagger, because of the two lobes at the guard, which could also be seen as kidney-like, to avoid sexual connotations.

Dudgeon daggers

17th-century dudgeon daggers on the British Isles often had a grip made of local boxwood, known as dudgeon, after which the dagger is named. The extended grips were often fluted and/or faceted, with six- or eight-sided cross-sections.

The testicle-shaped lobes were reduced in size and formed more of a half moon around the base of the usually etched and gilded blade with ricasso and reinforced diamond point. From this type of dagger developed the 18th-century Scottish dirk.

The Scottish dirk

The Scottish dirk is the latest and most well-known variant of the bollock dagger. The dirk followed the trend of the dudgeon dagger, including smaller lobes, but these became even flatter and longer.

Most specimens had metal bands between the grip and the blade. Instead of the phallic form, the hilts were finished with a flat knob with metal plate, usually of brass, but tin, silver and gold were also used.

The bollock dagger was more than just a weapon. Of course, this dagger was seen as a self-defense weapon and was used in this way by all classes. Unlike many other weapons, there are no indications that bollock daggers were worn as status symbols, although very ornately decorated and even silver sheaths are known.

Wearing a bollock dagger

Daggers were above all a handy, practical tool. From 1416 into the 16th century, sheaths were often provided with extra pockets where awls and other tools could be inserted. This emphasizes that the knife was also used as a tool.

Throughout the centuries, the bollock dagger was worn in different ways. In the 14th century it was often worn directly on the belt, causing it to hang at the level of the male genitals.

This was a period of sexual liberalism and the name bollock dagger was probably not an issue for people of that time. With civilian clothing, the dagger often hung behind the belt or was attached with a belt loop. In the 15th century, the dagger hung from the right side of the wearer, which made it easier to draw quickly.

Internal links

Sources:

Archaeological Find: Finds from the Thames (Museum of London) and the shipwreck the Mary Rose (1545), which yielded dozens of bollock daggers (bollock daggers) in perfect condition.
Academic Literature: Ward Perkins, London Museum Medieval Catalogue (1940).