Balinese Wedung

marto suwignyo · 27th September 2005, 08:51 PM

Well, Henk, I suppose it is barely possible that all those Balinese people I have spoken to over the years who were using, or who owned one of these knives, were wrong.

Equally, I suppose it is possible that Mr. Stone was right, even though his record demonstrates that he was often, very often, wrong.

VVV · 27th September 2005, 09:36 PM

Marto,

Please correct me if I am wrong but isn't golok originally a local term for a short Javanese(!) sword before it became "bastardized" by us Western collectors?

Michael

Justin · 27th September 2005, 11:23 PM

As far as I have assertained through a few books and people, comments, and questions here on the forum; ' golok ' can described a variety of Indonesian knives/short swords.I didn't mean to say that this was definately anything,I only meant to offer an alternative to 'wedung' which I thought was a distinctly different type of knife.

Rick · 28th September 2005, 12:07 AM

A Wedung is a 'Javanese' cultural artifact .

nechesh · 28th September 2005, 03:40 AM

I know you all know just how much i hate making controversial statements

but if you ask me, books, especially those written by Westerners on the subject of Indonesian weapons, aren't worth squat when it comes to the proper naming of the various weapons in question. Add to that the great variance of names applied to these weapons by the many different groups of people who use(d) them and live in this area of the world and we are left with MUCH confusion. I'm with Marto. I'd call it a Balinese knife.

There are certainly MANY errors in the writings of Stone, Raffles, Tammens and others. This does not make their works useless by far, but i think it is important that we take care not to assume that just because it got written down and published that it must be right.

VANDOO · 28th September 2005, 04:15 AM

AHA!! THE DREADED BOWIE WEDUNG FROM BALI

IT IS INTERESTING TO FIND THAT THIS IS A KNIFE ACTUALLY FOUND AND USED LOCALLY, THE SCABBARD AND HANDLE LOOK AS THEY SHOULD BUT THE BLADE JUST DOSEN'T LOOK RIGHT WITH THE FORM. THE BLADE FORM WE THINK OF AS A BOWIE KNIFE BLADE HERE IN THE USA MAY HAVE BEEN AROUND IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD OR IT MAY HAVE BEEN ADOPTED FOR KNIVES IN OTHER COUNTRYS OF THE WORLD IN MORE RECENT TIMES. I FOR ONE DON'T KNOW WHERE IT ORIGINATED UNLESS IT WAS JIM BOWIE AS LEGEND SAYS. THE FORM WAS USED ON QUITE A FEW PHILIPPINE KNIVES I HAVE SEEN BUT ALL WOULD HAVE BEEN AFTER JIM BOWIES TIME SO I THINK THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED BY AMERICANS.

marto suwignyo · 28th September 2005, 09:59 AM

VVV,

What I understand as a golok is a short , heavy chopping knife, with a blade that has a swelling towards the tip which increases the force of the blow. Something like a khukri would be if it were straight, instead of bent.It is certainly a word that is used in Indonesian, Javanese, and Balinese, but I do not know from which language it originates. I suspect Malay. Personally, I think of a golok more as a tool than as a weapon. However, in Solo we refer to a certain type of scabbard and mated handle that we use for tombak, as "stel golok", that is, "golok dress".

I don`t think that people in the western world have bastardised or misapplied the word golok, I rather feel that golok may have already entered the English language, as I have seen some military forces issue tools and weaponry that I seem to recall were described as "golok form" by an officer who had no knowledge of Indonesian or Malay languages.

27th September 2005, 08:51 PM	#1
marto suwignyo Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 52	Well, Henk, I suppose it is barely possible that all those Balinese people I have spoken to over the years who were using, or who owned one of these knives, were wrong. Equally, I suppose it is possible that Mr. Stone was right, even though his record demonstrates that he was often, very often, wrong.

27th September 2005, 09:36 PM	#2
VVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sweden Posts: 1,637	Marto, Please correct me if I am wrong but isn't golok originally a local term for a short Javanese(!) sword before it became "bastardized" by us Western collectors? Michael

27th September 2005, 11:23 PM	#3
Justin Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 178	As far as I have assertained through a few books and people, comments, and questions here on the forum; ' golok ' can described a variety of Indonesian knives/short swords.I didn't mean to say that this was definately anything,I only meant to offer an alternative to 'wedung' which I thought was a distinctly different type of knife.

28th September 2005, 12:07 AM	#4
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,336	A Wedung is a 'Javanese' cultural artifact .

28th September 2005, 03:40 AM	#5
nechesh Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 940	I know you all know just how much i hate making controversial statements but if you ask me, books, especially those written by Westerners on the subject of Indonesian weapons, aren't worth squat when it comes to the proper naming of the various weapons in question. Add to that the great variance of names applied to these weapons by the many different groups of people who use(d) them and live in this area of the world and we are left with MUCH confusion. I'm with Marto. I'd call it a Balinese knife. There are certainly MANY errors in the writings of Stone, Raffles, Tammens and others. This does not make their works useless by far, but i think it is important that we take care not to assume that just because it got written down and published that it must be right.

28th September 2005, 04:15 AM	#6
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	AHA!! THE DREADED BOWIE WEDUNG FROM BALI IT IS INTERESTING TO FIND THAT THIS IS A KNIFE ACTUALLY FOUND AND USED LOCALLY, THE SCABBARD AND HANDLE LOOK AS THEY SHOULD BUT THE BLADE JUST DOSEN'T LOOK RIGHT WITH THE FORM. THE BLADE FORM WE THINK OF AS A BOWIE KNIFE BLADE HERE IN THE USA MAY HAVE BEEN AROUND IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD OR IT MAY HAVE BEEN ADOPTED FOR KNIVES IN OTHER COUNTRYS OF THE WORLD IN MORE RECENT TIMES. I FOR ONE DON'T KNOW WHERE IT ORIGINATED UNLESS IT WAS JIM BOWIE AS LEGEND SAYS. THE FORM WAS USED ON QUITE A FEW PHILIPPINE KNIVES I HAVE SEEN BUT ALL WOULD HAVE BEEN AFTER JIM BOWIES TIME SO I THINK THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED BY AMERICANS.

28th September 2005, 09:59 AM	#7
marto suwignyo Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 52	VVV, What I understand as a golok is a short , heavy chopping knife, with a blade that has a swelling towards the tip which increases the force of the blow. Something like a khukri would be if it were straight, instead of bent.It is certainly a word that is used in Indonesian, Javanese, and Balinese, but I do not know from which language it originates. I suspect Malay. Personally, I think of a golok more as a tool than as a weapon. However, in Solo we refer to a certain type of scabbard and mated handle that we use for tombak, as "stel golok", that is, "golok dress". I don`t think that people in the western world have bastardised or misapplied the word golok, I rather feel that golok may have already entered the English language, as I have seen some military forces issue tools and weaponry that I seem to recall were described as "golok form" by an officer who had no knowledge of Indonesian or Malay languages.