Quote:
|
is its role first and foremost as a weapon of execution or as a symbol of power?
|
From what I understand, it's mainly a sign of power and status - you don't need an extra long blade for this way of execution. If I understand correctly, regular-sized Keris Jawa were used on Java for this purpose. Can our experts in things Jawa verify this, please?
Another hypothesis I came across was that the long blade evolved in response to the European rapiers when Portugese/etc. ships arrived at the scene...
Regards,
Kai