a strange antler gripped sword

Jim McDougall · 10th February 2017, 11:20 PM

Beautifully caught Colin!!!
It seems too seldom that we have references from the venerable Oldman, catalog, which was very much the backbone of Stones monumental work in 1934.
I am so glad to see this most unusual ethnographic piece.

Actually the use of antlers in many ethnic groups seems to be largely ceremonial and status oriented. In the American Indian tribes from the plains, antler knives are well known, and it seems these were often to represent power in the case of the shaman , medicine man or chief.
With many of the ethnic groups of the north which fall loosely into the Eskimo or Northern Indian tribes, various antler use is known in the material culture.

It does seem quite possible for such connotation to be seen here in the ethnic groups in Lapland and Finland. In similar manner, swords in the Ainu people, though not with antlers, are not weapons but deeply imbued with symbolic character.

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10th February 2017, 11:20 PM	#8
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,194	Beautifully caught Colin!!! It seems too seldom that we have references from the venerable Oldman, catalog, which was very much the backbone of Stones monumental work in 1934. I am so glad to see this most unusual ethnographic piece. Actually the use of antlers in many ethnic groups seems to be largely ceremonial and status oriented. In the American Indian tribes from the plains, antler knives are well known, and it seems these were often to represent power in the case of the shaman , medicine man or chief. With many of the ethnic groups of the north which fall loosely into the Eskimo or Northern Indian tribes, various antler use is known in the material culture. It does seem quite possible for such connotation to be seen here in the ethnic groups in Lapland and Finland. In similar manner, swords in the Ainu people, though not with antlers, are not weapons but deeply imbued with symbolic character.