Interesting Spanish Canary Islands Punal

[Chris Evans]

Hi Gene,

Originally Posted by Atlantia

G'day Chris
Isn't punal the generic term for these? Not that 'me Espaniole' is very good, but it's 'dagger' isn't it?
What are your thoughts on the ridges?
Regards
gene

The Argentineans call Criollo (Creole) knives with a similar blade shape `Puñal', with the qualifier that the blade must have a false edge near the tip, not necessarily sharp, otherwise it becomes a mere `Cuchillo' (knife), or if deeply bellied, a `Cuchilla' (feminine gender). `Puño' in Spanish means fist or a clenched hand and generally the term is used to describe an edged knife used mainly for the thrust, held with an "ice pick" grip. How they came to assign this name to what is predominantly a working cutting knife is unknown to me. I should add that the strict usage of these terms is a relatively modern phenomena, introduced by historians and curators, as in the past the mostly illiterate population and even renowned literati, both in the Latin Americas and Spain, named their bladeware very loosely. To this day, the terms `facon', `puñal', `daga', `cuchillo/a' are used interchangeably by most who are not collectors.

From an utilitarian perspective, at least my own, the handle of naifes leave a lot to be desired on account of being round and thus reducing the feel for the edge, but I suppose that one can get use to it. As for purchase, I think that the changing cross section, reaching a maximum diameter near the centre affords a secure grip. I am inclined to believe that the spacers are purely decorative, though no doubt, as the softer ones wear down the harder ones will become more prominent further improving the grip.

Cheers
Chris