origins of the assegai?

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by fernando

In portuguese zagaia or azagaia, a short throwing spear, indeed from the berbere az-zagáyâ; most certainly brought to Southern Africa (and not only) by the Portuguese.
A term used by Luis de Camões in his mid XVI century epic Os Lusíadas (canto I strophe 86), narrating the adventures of Vasco da Gama against the Moors:

" Mas os Mouros que andavam pela praia,
Por lhe defender a água desejada,
Um de escudo embraçado e de azagaia,
Outro de arco encurvado e seta ervada,
Esperam que a guerreira gente saia,
Outros muitos já postos em cilada.
E, porque o caso leve se lhe faça,
Põem uns poucos diante por negaça,"

Fernando

Beautifully placed quote Fernando, and once again well illustrating the profound influence of Portugal in the age of exploration, reflected subtly in so many cultures in many ways.

It has been an interesting aspect of arms study to realize how terms describing botanical components of weapons, in this case the shafts, often lead to the term a weapon becomes known by.

Another case in point regarding this is the 'dudgeon' dagger of Elizebethan times, referring to the boxwood used for the hilts.

All best regards,
Jim