Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - The wooden fighting sword-sticks of Crete

fearn · 5th October 2009, 05:16 PM

That helps Marc. The english-language web references to Guanche weapons are confused (unsurprising), and it's nice to know what those weapons are.

As for the makila/magado thing, I'm pretty sure you were right. I was speculating based on three grounds:

1. If one believes Wikipedia, the mejido wooden swords were inspired by European swords.

2. G and K (hard G as in english) are closely related letters. A great example is my Korean partner's name. Her name is spelled with a K in English and a G equivalent in Hangul. L to D seems to be an occasional shift in Berber languages, which include Guanche It's a muddled argument (and I'm NOT a linguist), but I could see someone introducing a sword-like stick called a Makila, and the name being blurred by translation and use.

3. The Basques started hunting Right Whales in the Bay of Biscay in the 1200s, and were sailing to Newfoundland by 1530, and they pioneered whaling. Right whales were found in small numbers around the Canaries. The Spanish started conquering the Canary Islands in 1402. That leaves about a 200 year window when Basque whaleboats could have been visiting the Canary Islands. What I don't know is when the Basques stopped shore whaling and started deep-sea hunting. However, they were Atlantic ocean pioneers, and I'd expect them to be among the first to visit the Canary Islands in Medieval times.

As I said, speculation, and unless there's good linguistic or historical evidence, it's idle speculation, although it makes for fun reading.

As for Peek? Must be annoying to hear that story over and over again.

Best,

F

5th October 2009, 05:16 PM	#12
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	That helps Marc. The english-language web references to Guanche weapons are confused (unsurprising), and it's nice to know what those weapons are. As for the makila/magado thing, I'm pretty sure you were right. I was speculating based on three grounds: 1. If one believes Wikipedia, the mejido wooden swords were inspired by European swords. 2. G and K (hard G as in english) are closely related letters. A great example is my Korean partner's name. Her name is spelled with a K in English and a G equivalent in Hangul. L to D seems to be an occasional shift in Berber languages, which include Guanche It's a muddled argument (and I'm NOT a linguist), but I could see someone introducing a sword-like stick called a Makila, and the name being blurred by translation and use. 3. The Basques started hunting Right Whales in the Bay of Biscay in the 1200s, and were sailing to Newfoundland by 1530, and they pioneered whaling. Right whales were found in small numbers around the Canaries. The Spanish started conquering the Canary Islands in 1402. That leaves about a 200 year window when Basque whaleboats could have been visiting the Canary Islands. What I don't know is when the Basques stopped shore whaling and started deep-sea hunting. However, they were Atlantic ocean pioneers, and I'd expect them to be among the first to visit the Canary Islands in Medieval times. As I said, speculation, and unless there's good linguistic or historical evidence, it's idle speculation, although it makes for fun reading. As for Peek? Must be annoying to hear that story over and over again. Best, F Last edited by fearn; 5th October 2009 at 05:28 PM.