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Originally Posted by David
Asymetric, certainly. Did they all have gonjo? Not always a separate gonjo. Whether the very earliest of keris buda had a separate gonjo or just an indication of one is unclear to me.
But we are not really discussing these very early Jawa keris. We discussing kris that developed centuries later in the Philippines. I am sure that the earliest of these sword length kris did in fact have both a gonjo (almost always separate up until the early 20th century) and were in fact always asymmetrical. This is not according to my "liking". It is just the way it is.
I believe you when you say that there are people in Mindanao today who will call any snaky blade a kris. There are also people in the USA who will call any cream filled sponge cake a twinky.
You say a kris is a kris because of it's function. What is that function? How does it differ from the function of a barong or kamplian?
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I know we talked about krises in Mindanao, but i showed you some reasons why krises in mindanao vary in designs, materials, symbolism, etc.
you have to take into account the geography, resources, community development, etc of each muslim group.
Samals for instance who are known as sea people incorporate cultural geography in their weaponry-- they use shells and pearls as ornaments on handles and sheaths.
The krises of the kalagans are primitive compared to the ones found in lanao, sulu, and maguindanao. Why is it the case?
kalagans were originally lumads before they became muslims. krises are recent in their culture, hence, the simplicity of their krises compared to the well-established and developed ones.