Strange Short Sword - Identification Please

U

user24

Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
223
Hi.

Not sure if this belongs in this area of the forum, but it's a sword so...

take a look at the photos here:


I can tell you nothing at all about its origin, beyond that it wasn't expensive.
If anyone's got any info about it I'd appreciate it.

Sorry about the terrible quality of the photos, but I don't have the sword with me here, so I had to patch together what I had.

The blade is thin (<3mm), not sharp (but may have been), and has many scratch marks. The leather hilt and scabbard do not look mass produced to me; on the back the scabbard is sewn up with thonging. As you can see, the blade and leather are both stamped with a design, the leather more intricately so.
The scabbard is (as far as I can tell) 100% leather. The hilt I'm not so sure about. The stamping is on both sides of the blade, only one side of the scabbard.

The iron ring on the hilt confuses the hell out of me, and may have been added later (but may not).

The blade is about 1.5 - 2 feet long by about 4 inches at widest point, and the whole thing is 2 - 2.5 feet. Scabbard is about 1 inch deep.

It's probably a tourist item, but I'd like to know at least which country it comes from, so if you can tell me anything about it at all, I'd really appreciate it!

thanks,
-h.
 
Greetings: While I don't recognize it specifically, your knife appears to me to be a prop for a movie or more likely a theatrical production (play). Either that or it's the world's earliest fantasy knife....Sorry I can't offer more definative info but hopefully someone else can...
FB in VT:confused:
 
My best GUESS is that it 'looks' like it is from (North?) Africa. Is the ring comfortably positioned for a thumb if held 'ice pick' style? Thin blade. Not sharp. Unwieldy as a dagger. Almost useless as a sword or weed cutter. Seems like too much work for a movie prop. Boils down to 'tourist piece' for me.
 
thanks for replying.
I agree with merek that the sheath has too much work to support the 'prop' idea; it's pretty intricate and no-one would be looking at it that closely. Also the use of leather (rather than, say, cardboard) seems to pull away from this idea, but it's has potential.

Merek; why North Africa? It seemed more Turkish to me (but what do I know?). The ring as far as I can tell is totally pointless, and also doesn't seem to 'fit' with the rest of the piece; it's just a solid ring of iron with no decoration whatsoever. Probably added so that people can hang it on their wall...

I realise that there's never going to be a definative answer to this. I think the tourist item theory is the most likely.
 
thanks again for your replies.

I've posted my original message with a link back here to vikingswords so we'll see what happens.

thanks
-h.

EDIT: actually I think I'm awaiting moderator approval. I post a link to the thread at VS when I have one to post.
 
Hi user24.

I have posted a reply and pictures in the Ethnographic Arms and Armor area of Vikingsword: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3613

These are W. African and seem to show a Tuareg influence in the leatherwork. The ring on the end of your sword's hilt might also suggest a Manding influence.

It is indeed a recently made knife with a decorative, nonfunctional blade. As I indicated in my post of EAAF, I have several similar knives that were given to me by a Ghana native.

Regards,

Ian.
 
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