I can see how this is confusing though. As a new player, and having played with some power gamers in the past, if I had sufficient strength, I’d just choose Battle Axe (the 1H option) so my base skill was 10, then I could 2H if I wanted with the higher skill or use any of the weapons of the two categories covering battle axe at half my skill. If I read that right, it seems battle axe is a good choice for a lot of options with one skill.
It appears dagger got it right, if you’re skilled with a parrying dagger, it makes sense that you may not be as good at striking or throwing with a dagger, so the half penalty for in category use.