Help with knife & sword ID, please

[RobT]

Dave F,

Carrying a knife without a means of suspension is far easier than carrying a full length sword without same. Both your knife and your sword appear to have been made to be quite lethal, so I would hesitate to categorize either as symbolic. The sword blade appears to have a finely forged lenticular section and, frankly, is of far better quality than my example. I think that, if you examine the issue, you will find that no weapon achieves symbolic status without first being used in the culture as an actual weapon. Furthermore, weapons don’t become symbolic throughout a culture all at the same time. In some more regulated areas where the populations are subject to tighter authority, the weapon carry can become more symbolic than functional but, at the same time in less regulated areas, the same weapons are expected to function primarily as weapons and their symbolic nature is secondary. Given the quality of both your blades, I think it quite likely that they were both fully intended to be weapons.

Sincerely,
RobT