The staff is a common enough weapon in the WoT, used by Mat, by Ba'alzamon, by Loial and Juilin, and at least in practice by Tam al'Thor and Abell Cauthon. Indeed, Mat believes those two are better with the staff than he is himself <TDR: 24, 287, Scouting and Discoveries>. Jordan's staves are likely based on the quarterstaff formerly used in Western Europe, and possibly on the Japanese bo. Both were held with one hand at mid-shaft, the second hand partway between the first hand and the staff tip, and were likely used in a very similar fashion.

Mat, in Tar Valon, selects a "... staff, nearly 2 inches thick and almost a foot taller than he was." <TDR: 24, 284, Scouting and Discoveries> Elsewhere, Mat's staff is repeatedly referred to as a quarterstaff <TDR: 24, 284, Scouting and Discoveries, and numerous other mentions>. Since Jordan estimates Mat's height as 5'11", the staff would be some 6'10" long, not unlike the 6 to 8' of the European quarterstaff, and probably also resembling the Japanese bo.

Presumably, Mat's is a plain wooden staff, and unlike some quarterstaves, not capped or bound with steel. No reference is made of either, even when the tip of the staff is mentioned <TDR: 24, 286, Scouting and Discoveries>. Similarly, no mention of any adornment is made, at any time. Eventually, he abandons it in favor for the ashandarei.

Ba'alzamon, too, makes use of a 'black-charred' staff in his encounters with Rand <TGH: 47, 663, The Grave Is No Bar to My Call; TDR: 15, 236, Kinslayer>. His "... tall staff ... was black, too, as if the wood had been charred, yet smooth and shining like water by moonlight.<TDR: 15, 236, Kinslayer>

Grown by Ogier treesong, Loial's first quarterstaff derives from a trunk of giantsbroom: "... a staff as tall as he was and as thick as Rand's forearm, smooth and polished." <TDR: 15, 236, Kinslayer> With Loial a little under 10' in height (see measurements), a 10' by 4" diameter staff is probable. Though he abandons it soon after, he later again "... wields a quarterstaff the size of a fence rail ..." <TDR: 5, 78, Nightmares Walking>, before eventually switching to the twin axes he uses at the defense of Emond's Field.

bamboo Juilin carries "... a staff exactly as tall as he was, but not much thicker than his thumb and made of that pale wood, like ridged joints, that the ox-drivers used for their goads <TDR: 49, 567, A Storm in Tear>. The description itself suggests bamboo, but it isn't until ACoS and LoC that Jordan identifies it as such: "... a slender bamboo staff as tall as himself ..." <ACoS: 14, 273, White Plumes; see also ACoS: 39, 616, Promises to Keep>

For such a slender staff, Juilin's staff was remarkably strong, standing up to the swords of the Defenders of the Stone <TDR: 54, 637, Into the Stone>, and easily supports his weight as he leans on it <TDR: 54, 632, Into the Stone; ACoS: 44, 559, The Color of Trust>.

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Costuming of the Wheel of Time

** staves **

staves