Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

ariel · 23rd April 2008, 04:50 AM

RobT,
Sorry to disagree. We call African blades Tiv or Ngombe or whatever simply because we do not know what the real owners call them in their own societies and languages. Call it ignorance, laziness, condescension, Western imperialism or all of the above. Whenever we encounter new example, we should try to ascertain its native name: and if the Japanese, Dutch or Argentinians ( no particular reason for choosing those) do not want to call Leuku "Leuku", tough luck to them! It is a Leuku, and that's the end of the story. No less confusing than calling a Spanish folding knife " Navaja" or a Scottish sword " Claymore".
As per Eiler Cook, small ( women's) Lapp knife is called Trubnos, a bigger one ( utility) is Brukskniv, and the biggest one ( all-purpose) is a Storkniv in Sweden, Lapinleuku in Finnish and it is a Stournii'pe for the Lapps.

We ( I, for one) would love to know real names for a "Kerala knife", Naga two-handed sword, Afghani pseudo-shashkas, Bukharan " Khyber-like" sabers etc, etc.
It's just like the Rumpelstiltskin tale: you know the right name, you own the power over a thing.

23rd April 2008, 04:50 AM	#15
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	RobT, Sorry to disagree. We call African blades Tiv or Ngombe or whatever simply because we do not know what the real owners call them in their own societies and languages. Call it ignorance, laziness, condescension, Western imperialism or all of the above. Whenever we encounter new example, we should try to ascertain its native name: and if the Japanese, Dutch or Argentinians ( no particular reason for choosing those) do not want to call Leuku "Leuku", tough luck to them! It is a Leuku, and that's the end of the story. No less confusing than calling a Spanish folding knife " Navaja" or a Scottish sword " Claymore". As per Eiler Cook, small ( women's) Lapp knife is called Trubnos, a bigger one ( utility) is Brukskniv, and the biggest one ( all-purpose) is a Storkniv in Sweden, Lapinleuku in Finnish and it is a Stournii'pe for the Lapps. We ( I, for one) would love to know real names for a "Kerala knife", Naga two-handed sword, Afghani pseudo-shashkas, Bukharan " Khyber-like" sabers etc, etc. It's just like the Rumpelstiltskin tale: you know the right name, you own the power over a thing. Last edited by ariel; 23rd April 2008 at 05:24 AM.