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Originally Posted by Henk
In this way and considering the meaning of the word panjang in the meaning of long or tall you're completely right David 
But i refered to my native tongue. When we speak here in Holland about Keris Panjang we don't talk about the size of a keris. For many Dutch keris panjang is equal to excecutioners keris.  |
You will have to explain this a bit further for me Henk because i was completely unaware that in Holland you do not differentiate between keris Panjang, Anak Alang and Bahari. They do all have a similar profile/dhapur, but vary in size. And while there is certainly often debate which category the blade might be when the length falls into the gray zones, keris bahari are usually not confused with panjang or called "executioner keris". As far as i know only the longer keris panjang are the ones that are sometimes referred to as "executioner keris", though i find that name somewhat misleading since i do not believe that execution was the main purpose for this kind of keris. It was more a blade of status AFAIK. Though i had always thought that it was the extra length of these keris panjang that made them suitable to perform execution with the "bloodless" method through the collar bone area. I am not convinced that a 13" blade would be appropriate or effective for that action.
