[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Emanuel

The bull/demon head maces are basically hollow and are relatively thin sheets of metal - will likely deform on impact, dispersing much of the force

Some info on bull headed maces.

By: Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani:
One of the most effective weapons against armored opponents on the battlefield was the mace. Gorz (mace) is mentioned very often in the Shahname. The Parthian and the Sassanian heavy cavalry made extensive use of maces. This tradition was set forth after the Muslim conquest of Iran. The Khorassanian troops of Abu Moslem Khorassani prided themselves in the usage of maces. In later periods, we also see an extensive use of the maces during the Safavid, and Afsharid periods. Beautiful maces from the Zand and even Qajar period are also extant. Maces had a double function, both as a war instrument and as a symbol of authority and power. Different types of maces were used on the battlefield, but in general Iranian maces can be divided into three different categories: a) maces with round heads, b) flanged/ studded maces, and c) human or animal-head maces (see Moshtagh Khorasani, 2006:in print). The usage of human or animal-headed maces has a very long tradition in Iran, going back to the Bronze Age. Beautiful examples of bronze maceheads with human faces were excavated in Marlik in northern Iran. Other excavated examples of human-headed maces also exist from the Parthian era. The renowned bull-headed face belongs to this category. This mace was originally used on the battlefield and later examples of it were made to symbolize the power and authority. In the Shahname, it is reported that Fereydun used a bull-headed mace to defeat Zahak. The legend has it that Fereydun ordered his smith to make a bull-headed mace since he wanted to revenge the death of the cow, which had fed him as a child, by Zahak. The interesting phenomenon is that the bull-headed mace is still used in the initiation ceremonies of the young Zoroastrians. Ferdowsi uses different terms to refer to the bull-headed mace in the Shahname, such as gorz-e gav-peikar (mace with the shape like a bull) or gorz-e gavsar (bull-headed mace):

Bar avikht ba namdaran be jang/ yeki gorz-e gav-peikar be chang
He started to fight against the renowned [warriors], holding a mace with the shape of a bull in each hand
Taken from the Story “The Kingdom of Zavetahmasp“ (see Yahaghi, 1990/1369:72)

To rafti va shamshir-zan sad hezar/ Zerehdar ba gorz-e gavsar
You went away as if ten thousand swordsmen [went away]
You the armored [one] with a bull-headed mace
Taken from the Story “The End of Keikhosrow“ (see Yahaghi, 1990/1369:347)

Maces from the first and second category are also mentioned in the Shahname and Ferdowsi refers to this type by using the general term gorz (mace). Different adjectives are used in combination with the term gorz, resulting in different collocations. One of the adjectives that occur frequently with the word gorz (mace) is geran (heavy), resulting in the very frequent combination gorz-e geran (heavy mace).

Chegune keshidi be Mazandaran / Kamand kiyani va gorz-e geran?
How did you carry the Kiyanid lasso and the heavy mace to Mazandaran?
Taken from the Story “Keikavus“ (see Yahaghi, 1990/1369:93)

Two other words that are used in the Shahname to refer to mace are gopal and amud. All there terms gorz, gopal, and amud can be used interchangeably to refer to the mace:

Cho divan bedidand gopal uy / Bedarideshan del ze changal-euy
When the demons saw his mace, their hearts were torn by his grasp
Taken from the Story “Keikavus“ (see Yahaghi, 1990/1369:105)

A very interesting collocation is amud-e khamide (literally curved mace). This would only make sense if it described the macehead that is set at 90 degrees to the handle of the mace:

Amudi khamide bezad bar sarash/ ze niru beyoftad targ az sarash
He hit him with a curved mace, making him lose his helmet with the force.
Taken from the Story “The Story of Rostam and Sohrab“ (see Yahaghi, 1990/1369:154)