Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Help needed

ariel · 4th July 2008, 01:42 PM

Fringia is a marking seen very often on European trade blades. The problem is that the place does not exist.
Trade blades from Styria and Italy were exported in great amounts to the Orient, where they were highly valued and called Firangi ( foreign , western). To ease the marketing process, these blades were labeled Fringia by the manufacturers: then there was no doubt in the buyer's mind that the blade indeed came from the West and was true Firangi.
The modern MBAs had nothing on their wily ancestors!

4th July 2008, 01:42 PM	#7
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Fringia is a marking seen very often on European trade blades. The problem is that the place does not exist. Trade blades from Styria and Italy were exported in great amounts to the Orient, where they were highly valued and called Firangi ( foreign , western). To ease the marketing process, these blades were labeled Fringia by the manufacturers: then there was no doubt in the buyer's mind that the blade indeed came from the West and was true Firangi. The modern MBAs had nothing on their wily ancestors!