Just tuned into this thread and saw the two sabre examples in the first few posts on which are etched some unusual characters. I believe these are not a language, per se, but rather what Lhoste and Buigne call "enigmatic symbols" in their book, Armes Blanches (pps 110-113).
The authors describe some theories on the meaning attached to these inscriptions: one is that they are forms of Kabbalistic script, another is that they are astrological or zodiacal in nature. The text includes illustrations of many examples of the script taken from French swords of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and they bear more than a striking resemblance to the etching on the swords posted in this thread.
Just what sort of mystical properties this script imparted to the swords, and/or their owners, seems to be lost to time. If I get some time, I'll do a full translation of the French text and post it here.
|