Help pls. on 15th-17th C. cutlass & scimitar

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Norman McCormick

European Hunting Cleavers usually part of a Trousse or set. First photo is German 15th Cent. the other two similar. Falchions possibly developed from earlier versions of these type of 'butchering' tools.

Originally Posted by Norman McCormick

Another incarnation of the 'chopping' sword, Dussack, Tesak etc.

Hi Norman,

Those are beautiful examples! Thanks for sharing those pics.

And we can surely get a lot of insights merely by observing them (and marrying those observations to the earlier remarks of Fernando, Gonzalo, Jim, and Manuel).

It appears to me then that in arming the ordinary warrior, whether in the West or in the East, the origin of his sword was that it must have come from a utilitarian civilian blade (a butcher's meat cleaver, a farmer's jungle 'bolo', etc.), that eventually found itself getting employed as a weapon (a falchion, a bracamarte, or in the case of the Igorots, the pinahig).

Thanks again,

Lorenz

PS - Ward, where are those images you promised? [looks at watch]