A Boar Spear is a special type of Spear invented and widely used in Germany and Scandinavia during Roman times. It has two "lugs" or "wings" on the spearsocket behind the blade which act as a barrier to prevent an injured and furious boar from working its way up the shaft of a spear that has already stabbed it to attack the hunter. The boar spear also became popular as a weapon of war, since the lugs can also be used to hook shields out of the way during combat, as well as preventing a spear thrust from going too far into a victim (particularly a charging horse), thus making it easier to quickly withdraw and less likely to break. They remained in use until the early middle ages.