Talismanic inscriptions on a Barong
 

I hope some of the Moro experts can help with explaining the signs on this Barong?
As I understand it's a double edged Shandigan?
- The Ring of Solomon I recognise but what's the "cross tongue" below it?
- Is it a dog or something else depicted closest to the tip?
- Is it a naga or a centipede at the other side of the blade?
- And what's the meaning of the symbols?

All comments appreciated.

Michael

Here is a close up of the blade of the Barong from the seller.
One day maybe I will learn how to take better pictures...

Michael

Hey, this barong looks mighty familiar!!!!! :) Fantastic catch!

Thanks!

Michael

With that tag, I guess it's a giveaway from which auction...:D

The second picture, it might be "Dhu'l Faqar", the holy sword of Islam. ;)

Refer to this thread for details on this sword...
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1923

I am not a collector or enthusiast of Moro swords, so please give me a slack.
The undulating snake with transverse lines reminds me of Persian motives.
Going totally on a limb, is it possible that the dog is a local "transcription" of a famous Passau mark? Many local blades from the Caucasus ("ters maimal")to E.Africa carried fake Passau marks as a testament to their quality.
Would it be possible that the maker of this Barong just went overboard and marked his creation with marks from all the best swords he knew: Passau, Persian and Zulfikar just as an equivalent of "Wow, look at it!"
And indeed, it is a very, very well made blade, something to be proud of.

Alam Shah,

Thanks for solving one of the symbols.
And I have removed the tag picture in my post above after "discreet" hints
from the Singapore group ;)

And thanks to Ariel for your comments.
I am not that familiar with weapons from those areas so I have to do
some research on your suggestions.

Michael

Rare find
 

Michael:

Thanks very much for showing this beautiful barung. In my experience it is rare to find extensive inlaid work on the blade of a barung. I have one example of a high end barung with inlaid brass designs -- our fellow Forumite, Battara, did an excellent restoration of that barung and there may still be pictures on this site. Other than my example, I don't recall more than a couple other barung that I have seen with inlaid designs.

Ian.

Here is the link to that thread on the old web site. Pictures are shown before and after restoration.

http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002259.html

Ian,

Thanks for sharing pictures of your great Barong!
And a fantastic work Battara!
A pity the geographical distance between us is so big.
I would love to have some of my weapons restored like that.
Unfortunately I would probably have to pay half of the value
just to bring them in to US and then back to Europe again.
Or spend a week in Customs filling out papers :(


Michael

What a beauty. Congrats!

Thanks Kino,

Isn't there any forum member who recognise the "dog"
and the "naga" symbols from a Moro perspective?

Michael

I am going to sound really outrageous especially as I know little about these things but look hard at the snake and I am sure is has curved pincers at the mouth and the over all look is one of a centipede or millipede insect. I also believe that dogs can be auspicious animals in many parts of the world. These symbols could be saying I can hunt and find you like a dog and ferociously devour you like the millipede. I think we have seen dogs on other S,E,A weapons.

Edit, the so called Naga also has antennae so if I am reading the pictures correctly I am sure it is an insect. These pictures are not of a weapon, a Borneo? smoking pipe, the only S,E,A thing I have that shows the use of the dog as a symbol. Tim

Tim,

I also think the last symbol looks more like a centipede/millipede than a naga.
But I have seen other Moro naga symbols before that resembles this one.
And on the dog (or whatever animal it is?) it could be like you suggest.
But I don't know anything about how a Moro would interpret a dog in a symbolic way?
In Dayak cultures however dogs have a well-documented value as a symbol (aso).
Cato mentions horses as status symbols.
But I don't think it looks like a horse on my Barong?

Michael

nice barung.

the dog could be nothing more than his family pet, that's all ;)

Sure its a dog it has even got the Dogs Bollocks :eek: there I have said it out loud at last :D . It could well be a pet dog but I do not think so. It is a bit girlie for a macho barong swinging warrior :D .

Very nice puppy (the barung I mean :D ). Yes, it is not a centipede but a stylized naga - seen this type on other Moro things (including Ian's barung). the other - horse, aso (though rare on Moro)?

Thank you for the compliments - Ian's piece was a long project but one I'm glad I did.

VVV - you can email me at battara@hotmail.com and we can talk if you'd like.

Look folks how many horses carry their tails like this one, it could almost wag, even young children draw horses with some attempt at a long neck and long rounded head. Is it possible that you have seen Nagas where there is really a centipede? I agree one sees many stylised forms of serpent but go into your garden turn over a stone and one of these with pincers and antennae is likely to be there. It is so clearly drawn in my opinion, almost like a road sign. Tim

Having two kids I must agree with Tim on the dog vs horse issue.

On the naga/centipede I just remembered that when I was in the Visayas and had a couple of (new) blades done for me they asked if I wanted to have them specially prepared. The special preparation was mixing live poisonous spiders and centipides in the steel just before tempering it.
Is that something that is done in the south also?

Battara, thanks for the offer and I will mail you tomorrow.

Michael

Found these pics from a Spanish photography-travelogue book. The caption says objetos de adivinacion indonesia (Indonesia divination objects).

I thought the centipede and the two other critters look familiar ...

And I was also meaning to post these link_1 and link_2, which show these creatures also.

Hello Michael, to my opinion the symbols depict
a Spanish fortress (enemy),
a kampilan as symbol for battle and
a dog, which is also a symbol for alertness (aside from being a pet).
The naga/wormlike symbol is actually a centipede which are feared for their painfull sting (feels like being stung with a blade)! This centipede symbol is actually also used in the north sometimes engraved on Headaxe blades.
:eek:
Best, Wouter