FRINGIA

[Jim McDougall]

Beautifully said Samuel !
In material discussing the exporting acumen of Solingen with thier well known blades, it is supposed that certain terms, phrases, markings and spurious adaptions of famed names were applied to appeal to certain markets.
Most well known instance was probably that of ANDREA FERARA which was applied consistantly to blades destined for Scotland, although other names also occurred. The SAHAGUN name occurs on blades, but mostly seems to have focused on Continental swords.

Therefore FRINGIA/FRANCIA and variations deriving from the medieval references to Franks and thier blades does not seem unreasonable. The Frankish blades export is well known through the studies on ULFBERT and related names on many of those blades, whose reputation easily paralleled and often even exceeded the blades of Toledo.

It seems perplexing that earlier writers on arms never saw fit to look into the occurrence of this term on blades further, and in an excellent example of your note on fantastic theories.....the one recounted by Wagner using the contrived acronym ("Cut and Thrust Weapons" p.348-9) serves well

Its great to get a clearer picture of what this term inscribed on blades realistically stands for, and truly gives a broader picture of the importance and complexity of trade blade systems through time.

Thanks very much for the excellent input!!!

All the best,
Jim

[Emanuel]

Great discussion everyone.

Another point to throw in - The French also made their first expeditions to India in the mid-16th and early-17th centuries. While mostly localized on the Malabar coast, they did have connections to the rest of India. Aurangzeb had a French doctor, Francois Bernier. French presence could very well have given rise to the Fringia term in somewhat more recent memory than the crusades .

Emanuel

[Jim McDougall]

Indeed a very good point Emanuel! Hey, its great to see you posting here!!!
Its been a while my friend!!!

All the best,
Jim

[Emanuel]

thesis keeping me busy Jim. I shamefully don't keep in touch but I still follow what goes on the forum.

Drive safe!
Emanuel

[ward]

Fringia is on a lot of saber blades spelled different ways.
I asked Oliver Pinchot about it and he wrote

"You can pretty well shave with Occam's Razor on this one. The appearance of the word FRINGIA, variously spelled though it is, almost certainly refers to Thuringia in Saxony for two reasons:
1) the iron ore mined there during the Middle Ages was reputed to be of very high quality, in fact it is still famous for it; it supplied the major arms-making center at Suhl.
2) it is common for the letters T and TH to shift to an F in many languages and dialects. So for Thuringia to become Fringia was a pretty short walk, orthographically speaking.".

Ward

[Jim McDougall]

Well there ya have it!!!! Excellent Ward, and very well put by Oliver, in his very distinct and wry humor! He has always had a brilliant way of putting things that melds superb scholarship with devious wit, leaving you with a permanent understanding of the subject, that makes you smile every time you remember it. A scholar extraordinaire.

All best regards,
Jim

[TVV]

Personally I really do not believe the word Fringia refers to a specific area in Central or Western Europe. To me, it simply means a sword with a Western European blade (and by Western European, everything West of Vienna is meant).

In Bulgarian folk songs it is mentioned as frengia, pronounced fraen-gee-ya, such as:

Тънка пушка бойлия (Thin rifle boyliya)
Остря сабя френгия (Sharp sword frengia)

In Dr. Elgood's book, on page 49, we find another evidence that for the Ottomans, Frengi was just an adjective denoting European origin:

In a list of arms, dated 1009/1600, from a Vizier's cebe-hane, we find, among 75 tufenkler, the following types: [... ], Frengi (from Western Europe), [...].

So to me the meaning of Fringia, or Frengia is just "from Western Europe", in this case a sabre. Similar to how a "damaskiniya" referred to a sword with a wootz blade.

Regards,
Teodor