Wow I didn't expect the discussion to pick up so quickly! Thanks to all for replying/contributing!
Just my 2 cents on the discussion so far, I largely agree with Jim's point about it being in effect a religious-auspicious kind of decoration. From what I recall in both Elgood & the Al Sabah Collection, the topic of one thing or another being an auspicious symbol comes up too many times to count, so it certainly wouldn't surprise me if that is ultimately the case for beaded edges as well. Perhaps someone with more knowledge (and time) than I have could cross-reference the amount of "beads" on these weapons, either in segments or as a whole, and see if they correspond with any important numbers. Without any proof though, I think it would be inappropriate to just call it a day based on any single speculation.
From what I can remember in Elgood (Hindu A&R), there was still mostly a focus on the rituals themselves, the mythology surrounding those rituals, and then some tidbits here and there on how weapons are related to the aforementioned mythology and rituals. This isn't at all meant to downplay how important and useful the text is, but it is meant to say that I can't remember much iconography being explained other than the rather obvious "plants & animals can all be linked to a deity or tale of some sort". That said, I do remember (I think from a later Elgood publication) it being mentioned that beads and bells and so on were tied to the legs of animals in order to drive off evil spirits, something related to Mercenary's first post, so that could be another solid clue. Still though I find it hard to believe that immobile beads or "solid" bells would do as much good as their more lively attached-to-limbs counterparts.
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