A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural

tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...

used to pitch loose material, such as hay,

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry wikt:stalk, stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the crop yield, yield by weight of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, ry ...

, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to the garden fork. While similar in appearance, the garden fork is shorter and stockier than the pitchfork, with three or four thicker tines intended for turning or loosening the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

of gardens.

Alternative terms

In some parts of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, a pitchfork is known as a ''prong''. In parts of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the term ''sprong'' is used to refer specifically to a four-pronged pitchfork.

Description

The typical pitchfork consists of a wooden shaft bearing two to five slightly curved metal tines fixed to one end of a handle. These are typically made of

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

, wrought iron, or some other

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metal, metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have prop ...

, though historically wood or bamboo were used. Unlike a garden fork, a pitchfork lacks a grab at the end of its handle. Pitchforks with few tines set far apart are typically used for bulky material such as hay or

; those with more and more closely spaced are used for looser materials such as silage, manure, leaves, or compost.

History

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, the pitchfork was first used in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, at about the same time as the harrow. These were made entirely of wood. In the Middle Ages, pitchforks might on occasion be employed as an improvised weapon in battle by peasants unable to obtain a proper weapon. The visual idiom of a mob of peasants staging a revolt while armed with just torches and pitchforks is well-known, if not necessarily historical, and seen or parodied in several works.

In popular culture

Artwork

Grant Wood - American Gothic - Google Art Project

Paintings by various artists depict a wide variety of pitchforks in use and at rest. A notable American work is '' American Gothic'' (1930) by Grant Wood, which features a three-pronged tool.

Politics

Because of its association with peasantry and farming, the pitchfork has been used as a populist symbol and appended as a nickname for certain leading populist figures, such as "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman and "Pitchfork" Pat Buchanan. The Gangster Disciples, a street gang in the Midwestern United States, use a three-pointed pitchfork as one of their symbols. The New Order, a Venezuelan far-right political party, used a three-pointed pitchfork as their symbol.

Religious symbolism

The pitchfork is often used in lieu of the visually similar weapon, the trident, in popular portrayals and satire of Christian demonology. Many humorous cartoons, both animated and otherwise, feature a

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

of a

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

ostensibly wielding a "pitchfork" (often actually a trident) sitting on one shoulder of a protagonist, opposite an angel on the other. The Hellenistic deity

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

wields a bident, a two-pronged weapon similar in form to a pitchfork but actually related to the trident in design and purpose.

References

{{Garden tools Gardening tools Farming tools Edged and bladed weapons Early Middle Ages Populism