Games : Purpose of side weapons?

Besides using the steel or silver sword in The Witcher 1 you can also use smaller side weapons such as daggers or axes.

The only benefit I can see in these weapons is that some have an additional effect like having a higher chance of inflicting bleeding on the target. But since the weapon switching takes rather long I prefer not to use those weapons. They also don't deal that much damage.

Is there any other benefit in using the smaller side weapons?