Another curiosity

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Marcus

Would you hazard a guess on how old this one is? I was going with something like 1930.

Hello Marcus:

I believe the presence of a guard on these daggers signifies post WWII manufacture. The guard and stacked hilt have been seen on pieces made for the tourist trade in the second half of the 20th C, sometimes with a nationalistic slogan ("Viva Chile", etc.) inscribed into the blade.

The origin of "corvo" in relation to these blades has been the subject of some discussion. One explanation is that corvo is from the Spanish word for curved or hooked, which describes the shape of the blade.

The alternative view is that it comes from Latin in which corvo means a raven. Apparently there is an ancient Roman reference to corvo in relation to weapons. In this case, the resemblance of the blade of a corvo to the curve of a raven's beak may have some credence.

However, given that the corvo knife comes from a Spanish speaking country, I prefer the simpler explanation that it is a Spanish word describing the shape of the blade.

It is also possible that the Spanish word, corvo, is based originally on the same Latin word for raven, but we need a linguist to adjudicate on that.

There are a few old posts on corvo on this web site and you will find some similar examples to yours.

Ian.