Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

M ELEY · 7th March 2012, 01:57 PM

Hangers were popular weapons not only for the hunt, but also as infantry and naval swords. There are many, many examples of plain, straight and curve-bladed hangers with shell-type guards in the literature (Boarders Away, Naval Swords by Annis, May's Naval Weapons, Vol I & II). If you look up "Roc the Brazillian" and "l'Olonnais", you will see much earlier examples of hunting hangers which went to sea.

That being said, not ALL hangers were battle swords. Examples with highly decorative hilts, figured hilts with hoof finials, blades etched with hunting scenes/stags/powder horns/snared rabbits, etc and those with obvious mottos ("In Treu Feist" comes to mind) were strictly hunting implements.

Naval and infantry examples would have been extremely plain. Naval examples frequently had brass hilts (don't rust with sea air), plain, short blades that allowed for more room to jab/swing on crowded/tight ships decks, and possibly nautical decorations, such as anchors, sea shells, etched ships, fish, etc. Even then, it might be hard to prove they are naval without some provenance. What can be said is that they are "associated" with naval weaponry.

All that being said, yours is a very nice example that is more than likely as stated a hunting example, the kind sometimes found with a trousse of utensils/carving tools. Cool sword...

7th March 2012, 01:57 PM	#7
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,072	Not necessarily... Hangers were popular weapons not only for the hunt, but also as infantry and naval swords. There are many, many examples of plain, straight and curve-bladed hangers with shell-type guards in the literature (Boarders Away, Naval Swords by Annis, May's Naval Weapons, Vol I & II). If you look up "Roc the Brazillian" and "l'Olonnais", you will see much earlier examples of hunting hangers which went to sea. That being said, not ALL hangers were battle swords. Examples with highly decorative hilts, figured hilts with hoof finials, blades etched with hunting scenes/stags/powder horns/snared rabbits, etc and those with obvious mottos ("In Treu Feist" comes to mind) were strictly hunting implements. Naval and infantry examples would have been extremely plain. Naval examples frequently had brass hilts (don't rust with sea air), plain, short blades that allowed for more room to jab/swing on crowded/tight ships decks, and possibly nautical decorations, such as anchors, sea shells, etched ships, fish, etc. Even then, it might be hard to prove they are naval without some provenance. What can be said is that they are "associated" with naval weaponry. All that being said, yours is a very nice example that is more than likely as stated a hunting example, the kind sometimes found with a trousse of utensils/carving tools. Cool sword...