What I was particularly interested in concerning the swords I initially mentioned was their overall shape and membership in a broadly definable class of Oceanic SEA Asian weapons, often generallized as parang nabur, with narrow thickened bases and wide rounded slashing tips. To me the type is epitomized (and perhaps somewhat originated) by the bat-head-pommeled type. This seems a native sword type to me, with confusion arising when some examples take on more Western/Islamic trappings, like knucklebows or dropped yelmans.
Particularly interesting here is the contrast and in this context unusuallness of the Visayan one, as the type is usually centrally bevelled, but the chisel bevel (in general, not specifically on parangs of this type) seems to be an ancient form for the region, and notable for its early and continued use in Japan.
|