Identification Help Needed

Robert · 16th November 2012, 02:09 AM

Hello Timo, Thank you for your thoughts on this. When I first noticed this I did a search for any agricultural tools like tobacco knives or anything else I thought it could possibly be. The wood of the hilt is not the normal ash, oak or hickory that you would expect to find on most American made cutting tools. I remembered seeing a thread here on the forum that showed a parang bengkok and after a few searches found the one picture above. I put in a minimal bid on it thinking if it turned out to be of no great interest I could use it around the house for cutting brush. Needless to say I was quite surprised when my bid turned out to be the only one. Hopefully it will turn out to be a parang ginah or bengkok and not just an old weed wacker.

Again thank you for your reply and for the link to the other example.

Regards,
Robert

Henk · 16th November 2012, 08:06 PM

Parangh Ginah definitely.

My geographic teacher at high school had some Borneo stuff on the wall. Among that a parang ginah. I recognized it immediately. He lived in Borneo he had told us and when we didn't wanted to have a difficult lesson about geography we asked him where he got that stuff on the wall from.

Bingo!! Of course he started to tell about his childhood and youth in Borneo. It was at the time that the Dayak people where turned into Christians. And a good Christian didn't woreship skulls from enemies. And certainly didn't have a weapon to chop heads off. The priest told them to get rid of these things and the Dayak went to the villages where the Dutch lived and went from door to door selling skulls and weapons.
My teacher wanted to buy some skulls but his mother didn't approve it

Always mothers and wives

He was very disapointed so his mother allowed him to buy some weapons to support the poor Dayak in his new religious believe.

I still remember him and even still know his name. Mr. Meyer, leaning backwards in his chair, smoking his pipe when he told us these stories. Those good old days.

Robert · 16th November 2012, 10:13 PM

Hello Henk, Thank you for the help in identifying this item and for the great story!

Unfortunately the only teacher that I had an interest in anything even remotely like ours collected swords and daggers from a certain German Military faction that I do not feel comfortable in mentioning. While my wife likes to make fun of my collection she does from time to time surprise me by adding a few new additions to it herself. A few years ago I had the chance to acquire a trophy skull but like your teachers mother, that is where she drew the line. I will not go into her line of reasoning for my not purchasing said item but needless to say it was quite convincing.

Thank you again for your help.

Regards,
Robert

Sajen · 17th November 2012, 11:57 AM

Hi Robert,

agree, it is a Parang Ginah. Please clean the blade since there will be a lamination. Good find again!!

Regards,

Detlef

Robert · 17th November 2012, 06:28 PM

Hello Detlef and thank you for your thoughts on this. As soon as it arrives I will clean the blade and might even do a light etch with vinegar to see what shows up before posting new pictures.
By chance does any forum member have an example of a parang ginah like this that they might possibly post for comparison? Again, my thanks to everyone that has helped so far in identifying this piece.

Regards,
Robert

DAHenkel · 20th November 2012, 07:33 AM

More or less you've correctly identified the piece...a brand of parang from the Northeast Malay Peninsula. The name is a bit more tricky though. First off the term "Parang Ginah" (which I think comes from Stone's or some other misguided and rather careless colonial ethnologist) is orthographically way off the mark. The locals have a variety of names for these including "parang Pattani" or "parang jenguk". The latter is probably the term from which the Parang Ginah name is probably derived. It is pronounced more like JERNG_ook...a Malay word which describes the rather curious shape of the blade and which translates more or less along the lines of the verb "to crane" as in ones's neck.

I put up a bunch of pictures of examples of these and there was some inconclusive discussion on them in a thread on the old UBB forum:

http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000598.html

I believe there are probably a variety of specific names for the different forms but I've never gotten around to explore these in more precise detail. I do remember a further discussion in Kelantan where it came out first off that these were multi-purpose fighting weapons that could serve as work knives, with the larger more elaborate ones more likely for show and the simpler heavier examples being of a more practical sort. Its said they were carried and worn unsheathed (thus the complete absence of scabbard examples...aside from the odd modern one off), with the handle tucked into the sarong or waistband and the blade jutting out to the front. It also appears given the large number of these and their relatively uniform age that these were something of a "fad" at some point probably in the mid to late-19th century but that carrying them went out of fashion probably not long after the imposition of British colonial hegemony. You do still see the occasional old codger using the heavy choper types like yours but most rural Malays in the area prefer the usual run of China (or other) made machete type blades which are cheap and plentiful in any local marketplace or hardware shop.

Robert · 21st November 2012, 01:37 AM

Hello DAHenkel, And thank you very much for all of the information on this parang and for the link to all of the great pictures. I am still a little confused on the proper name for this though, would it be "parang Pattani" or "parang jenguk" or does it really make a difference which one to call it? Another question would be if you would be comfortable with dating this piece? As it arrived today I have posted a few poor pictures taken inside of it after a light cleaning. I have not etched the blade as it still retains a lot of the original forge black finish from when it was made and I do not want to remove it. The blade shows very nice lamination that unfortunately does not show very well in the photos. The hilt is of what looks to be Kamagong wood and does have an age crack but none the less is very striking. This is a very heavy made piece and would produce horrendous injury to anyone unfortunate enough to be struck by it cleaving through bone and tissue with little effort. I do apologies for the poor picture quality.

Regards,
Robert

16th November 2012, 02:09 AM	#1
Robert EAAF Staff Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Centerville, Kansas Posts: 2,196	Hello Timo, Thank you for your thoughts on this. When I first noticed this I did a search for any agricultural tools like tobacco knives or anything else I thought it could possibly be. The wood of the hilt is not the normal ash, oak or hickory that you would expect to find on most American made cutting tools. I remembered seeing a thread here on the forum that showed a parang bengkok and after a few searches found the one picture above. I put in a minimal bid on it thinking if it turned out to be of no great interest I could use it around the house for cutting brush. Needless to say I was quite surprised when my bid turned out to be the only one. Hopefully it will turn out to be a parang ginah or bengkok and not just an old weed wacker. Again thank you for your reply and for the link to the other example. Regards, Robert Last edited by Robert Coleman; 16th November 2012 at 07:09 AM.

21st November 2012, 01:37 AM	#7
Robert EAAF Staff Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Centerville, Kansas Posts: 2,196	Hello DAHenkel, And thank you very much for all of the information on this parang and for the link to all of the great pictures. I am still a little confused on the proper name for this though, would it be "parang Pattani" or "parang jenguk" or does it really make a difference which one to call it? Another question would be if you would be comfortable with dating this piece? As it arrived today I have posted a few poor pictures taken inside of it after a light cleaning. I have not etched the blade as it still retains a lot of the original forge black finish from when it was made and I do not want to remove it. The blade shows very nice lamination that unfortunately does not show very well in the photos. The hilt is of what looks to be Kamagong wood and does have an age crack but none the less is very striking. This is a very heavy made piece and would produce horrendous injury to anyone unfortunate enough to be struck by it cleaving through bone and tissue with little effort. I do apologies for the poor picture quality. Regards, Robert Attached Images

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16th November 2012, 08:06 PM	#2
Henk Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,209	Parangh Ginah definitely. My geographic teacher at high school had some Borneo stuff on the wall. Among that a parang ginah. I recognized it immediately. He lived in Borneo he had told us and when we didn't wanted to have a difficult lesson about geography we asked him where he got that stuff on the wall from. Bingo!! Of course he started to tell about his childhood and youth in Borneo. It was at the time that the Dayak people where turned into Christians. And a good Christian didn't woreship skulls from enemies. And certainly didn't have a weapon to chop heads off. The priest told them to get rid of these things and the Dayak went to the villages where the Dutch lived and went from door to door selling skulls and weapons. My teacher wanted to buy some skulls but his mother didn't approve it Always mothers and wives He was very disapointed so his mother allowed him to buy some weapons to support the poor Dayak in his new religious believe. I still remember him and even still know his name. Mr. Meyer, leaning backwards in his chair, smoking his pipe when he told us these stories. Those good old days.

16th November 2012, 10:13 PM	#3
Robert EAAF Staff Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Centerville, Kansas Posts: 2,196	Hello Henk, Thank you for the help in identifying this item and for the great story! Unfortunately the only teacher that I had an interest in anything even remotely like ours collected swords and daggers from a certain German Military faction that I do not feel comfortable in mentioning. While my wife likes to make fun of my collection she does from time to time surprise me by adding a few new additions to it herself. A few years ago I had the chance to acquire a trophy skull but like your teachers mother, that is where she drew the line. I will not go into her line of reasoning for my not purchasing said item but needless to say it was quite convincing. Thank you again for your help. Regards, Robert

17th November 2012, 11:57 AM	#4
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,165	Hi Robert, agree, it is a Parang Ginah. Please clean the blade since there will be a lamination. Good find again!! Regards, Detlef

17th November 2012, 06:28 PM	#5
Robert EAAF Staff Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Centerville, Kansas Posts: 2,196	Hello Detlef and thank you for your thoughts on this. As soon as it arrives I will clean the blade and might even do a light etch with vinegar to see what shows up before posting new pictures. By chance does any forum member have an example of a parang ginah like this that they might possibly post for comparison? Again, my thanks to everyone that has helped so far in identifying this piece. Regards, Robert

20th November 2012, 07:33 AM	#6
DAHenkel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 125	More or less you've correctly identified the piece...a brand of parang from the Northeast Malay Peninsula. The name is a bit more tricky though. First off the term "Parang Ginah" (which I think comes from Stone's or some other misguided and rather careless colonial ethnologist) is orthographically way off the mark. The locals have a variety of names for these including "parang Pattani" or "parang jenguk". The latter is probably the term from which the Parang Ginah name is probably derived. It is pronounced more like JERNG_ook...a Malay word which describes the rather curious shape of the blade and which translates more or less along the lines of the verb "to crane" as in ones's neck. I put up a bunch of pictures of examples of these and there was some inconclusive discussion on them in a thread on the old UBB forum: http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000598.html I believe there are probably a variety of specific names for the different forms but I've never gotten around to explore these in more precise detail. I do remember a further discussion in Kelantan where it came out first off that these were multi-purpose fighting weapons that could serve as work knives, with the larger more elaborate ones more likely for show and the simpler heavier examples being of a more practical sort. Its said they were carried and worn unsheathed (thus the complete absence of scabbard examples...aside from the odd modern one off), with the handle tucked into the sarong or waistband and the blade jutting out to the front. It also appears given the large number of these and their relatively uniform age that these were something of a "fad" at some point probably in the mid to late-19th century but that carrying them went out of fashion probably not long after the imposition of British colonial hegemony. You do still see the occasional old codger using the heavy choper types like yours but most rural Malays in the area prefer the usual run of China (or other) made machete type blades which are cheap and plentiful in any local marketplace or hardware shop.