[Rafngard]

Hello All,

I'm putting this here in this category, rather than Ethnographic Miscellania, though I definitely considered that category. If the admins disagree and move this post, I won't at all get upset

I recently picked up this lovely wooden kris. I think the wood is kamagong, with mother of pearl and maybe copper inlay. I haven't been able to find anything like it online. I was hoping that someone might have information on this sort of thing.

I study Kali/arnis/eskrima and I've long heard that "back in the day" (in this case WWII, + or - a decade or so) eskrimadors fought duels with sticks, but not the rattan we train with, but things that looked more like wooden swords I've seen the word "garotte" used to describe these (or perhaps the more flat sticks, or both). The owner of my gym has one (hopefully he'll let me take pics in the not too distant future) with similar inlay, but it wasn't kamagong (I want to say it was something like bahi) and it was shaped more like a jian. That said, I've only seen it once, and didn't get a good look at it.

So what do people think? Is this a weapon, a training tool, or just "folk art" sold to "those who travel?" Something else entirely?

Any and all opinions welcome.

Thanks,
Leif