... with earflap cawls and pennants snapping on the ends of their twelve-footers.

[meliss]

Hi. Another enigma from the same author. The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield.

"The hired cav are Phrygians and Cappadocians. You can tell by their pointy caps.... The mercs [idem hired cav] pull out in column of wedges. They seem to know what they’re doing. They’re all lancers, with earflap cawls and pennants snapping on the ends of their twelve-footers."

Earflap what? Cawls - plural of cawl - "soup, potage, broth". Please, help.

 

[emsr2d2]

OK, here's what I think (and I know nothing of military terminology):

cav = cavalry/cavaliers
mercs = mercenaries
column of wedges - this seems odd to me. I'd expect either "a column of wedges" or "columns of wedges". It seems to refer to the shape made by the groups of people as they move.
cawl - I can't find any definition that fits. I'm wondering if it's a typo and should be "cowls". That's a type/part of headwear.
I have no idea what a "twelve-footer" is.

 

[SoothingDave]

Twelve foot-long lances.

 

[probus]

Cawl in this context is a variant spelling of caul, or possibly also cowl. See the second meaning here:

CAWL meaning: Traditional Welsh stew, usually lamb - OneLook

A powerful dictionary, thesaurus, and comprehensive word-finding tool. Search 16 million dictionary entries, find related words, patterns, colors, quotations and more.

www.onelook.com

 

[meliss]

I also supposed a headwear (caul), but just few lines above we read: "You can tell by their pointy caps" (Phrygian caps). Modern headwear could have the shape of Phrygian caps and earflaps, but I am not sure the ancient Phrygians had the same.

 

[PeterCW]

I also supposed a headwear (caul), but just few lines above we read: "You can tell by their pointy caps" (Phrygian caps). Modern headwear could have the shape of Phrygian caps and earflaps, but I am not sure the ancient Phrygians had the same.

It was the design of the point that made a cap "Phrygian". The cap could be made with or without earflaps.

I think that the author was just trying to avoid repeating the word "cap".