Rencong Grip

[S.Workman]

Hello everyone, I have been very busy and have not hit the forum lately, its nice to get back and look occasionally. I was wondering if anyone knows the function of the wildly curved grips on the Rencong knives. Are they purely ornamental, or are they meant to direct the users grip in a certain fashion? I looked around online but could not even find a photo of one being held. Any ideas?

[David]

I cannot attest to the accuracy of this site, but an explanation of the rencong handhold is given here.
http://atkinson-swords.com/collection-by-region/south-east-asia/the-indonesian-archipelago/sumatra/recong.html