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Old 9th May 2018, 03:52 AM   #33
Spunjer
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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Tim,
In Sulu folktale or narrative or katakata, there's a creature called Sumayang Galura (the Soaring Garuda), a "giant bird whose lair lies atop a towering tree one meter away from the sky" (per Gerard Rixhon, Sulu Studies). the imaginary Galura is a mythical symbol of the brute or beastly power (Amilbangsa, Ukkil, Visual Arts of the Sulu Archipelago). it doesn't really describe this fantastic beast other than it's half giant and half eagle with the body and limbs of a man..

Ian,
ok, just for the sake of argument, i'll go with this for now:
Quote:
The sword appears to be Sulu in origin but the sarimanok tradition is Maranao--something that would need reconciling
.
you do realize that although the sarimanok is prevalent in the Maranao culture, they don't have a monopoly of this particular legendary creature? again in the book Ukkil, Visual Arts of the Sulu Archipelago, there are pictures of this creature, in ukkil form, on Sunduks, or grave markers, brasswares, blanket, etc. so why not on a kalis?
as far as the kris itself: the problem i'm having with this line of thinking, as in "the sword appears to be Sulu in origin" is this; you're insinuating the origin of this particular blade as Sulu, which is based on Cato's theory. i understand that that's the only reference we can go by in regards to classification, but the bottom line is, it's just a theory. if you use that as a guideline, it becomes stagnant. let's look at the material that's being used on that. it appears to be made out of carabao horn. below are pictures of a kris that have a similar pommel motif: again, a sarimanok. i've handled this in person, and yes, the pommel is carved out of a carabao horn. now there's one tribe that's known for using this material: the Yakans. you can see that on their piras.
a peacock? okay...
so what happened to the cockatoo?
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