19th Century German hunting Sword

neekee · 13th December 2013, 07:05 PM

Couteau, from Old French coutel, from Latin cultellus a little knife.

Couteau really means "knife" in French, not sword or saber. Sword could be "épée", saber would be "sabre". Although it's always hard to know what the old use for these words used to be.

I couldn't find an equivalent to the English term "hanger". The wikipedia page links to the French "sabre d'abordage" page, which would be a boarding sword.

The collector who identified this sword as a "19th century german hunting sword" called it "dague" (dagger) and "couteau" -de chasse in the same email ...

I didn't have time to take a picture of the blade today, but I can assure you again there are sadly no other markings.

Thanks to all for your interest !

Jim McDougall · 14th December 2013, 02:20 PM

Fernando and Neekee thanks so much for the interesting data on the etymology. In the study of arms there has always been such confusion and misnomer and in learning about them sometimes the terms by which they are called are often as the history of the arms themselves. It does sometimes present problems though in researching development of certain forms from contemporary narratives etc. as all you have is a verbal description without visual assistance, and a misplaced term sends you down an entirely different path.

neekee · 16th December 2013, 10:40 AM

Maybe it would be good to update the thread title with the info provided ? I don't have the required authorizations, it seems.

Jim McDougall · 16th December 2013, 08:48 PM

As noted Neekee. Thank you again for presenting this and the other interesting items you have shared.

13th December 2013, 07:05 PM	#1
neekee Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: France Posts: 12	Couteau, from Old French coutel, from Latin cultellus a little knife. Couteau really means "knife" in French, not sword or saber. Sword could be "épée", saber would be "sabre". Although it's always hard to know what the old use for these words used to be. I couldn't find an equivalent to the English term "hanger". The wikipedia page links to the French "sabre d'abordage" page, which would be a boarding sword. The collector who identified this sword as a "19th century german hunting sword" called it "dague" (dagger) and "couteau" -de chasse in the same email ... I didn't have time to take a picture of the blade today, but I can assure you again there are sadly no other markings. Thanks to all for your interest !

14th December 2013, 02:20 PM	#2
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,192	Fernando and Neekee thanks so much for the interesting data on the etymology. In the study of arms there has always been such confusion and misnomer and in learning about them sometimes the terms by which they are called are often as the history of the arms themselves. It does sometimes present problems though in researching development of certain forms from contemporary narratives etc. as all you have is a verbal description without visual assistance, and a misplaced term sends you down an entirely different path.

16th December 2013, 10:40 AM	#3
neekee Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: France Posts: 12	Maybe it would be good to update the thread title with the info provided ? I don't have the required authorizations, it seems.

16th December 2013, 08:48 PM	#4
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,192	As noted Neekee. Thank you again for presenting this and the other interesting items you have shared.