Weapon or tool?

[fearn]

Originally Posted by Dom

u 've been too fast
when I saw the pic, it's the 1st thought coming to my spirit ...

à +

Dom

We actually had a real druid's sickle show up a couple of years ago, although the picture is long gone. Think fancy European sickle with a horn handle like a fancy carving knife and silver trim. It was probably regalia from a 19th or early 20th century druid's lodge (think Elks Lodge, not neopagan, although there are neopagan druids nowdays).

And some years ago, a modern druid did try cutting down mistletoe with a golden sickle he made (he was also a jeweler), and found out that yes, gold will cut mistletoe, although it's 1-2 branches per golden sickle before the blade breaks.

As for this piece, the decoration looks like Indian or Nepalese.

Best,

F

[Billman]

Not Nepalese, Ceylonese (now Sri Lanka) - a very ornate form of the local billhook (or one of the local shapes) generally known as a "catte"... pronounced kattay - not sure of the spelling as currently in France and my archives are in the UK...

So a tool (CH serpe/gertel/hippe/heppe/haumesser), not a weapon....

In the Stone image above, nos 3 and 4 (possibly also no 5) look to be from Ceylon as well....

Just checked the web - one version called a Ran-kaetta- see: http://books.google.fr/books?id=Nk8x...llhook&f=false

Also cattie, see: http://www.scribd.com/doc/29997802/Old-Ceylon-1877

Also ketta, see: http://www.jstor.org/pss/93135

[chregu]

hello Billman
Thank you for this absolutely great information.
Sincerely Chregu

[Billman]

Very pleased to have been of help - I've just found a few more alternative spellings:

"Catty" we use comes from the Tamil "Katthi" - a knife or billhook - see: http://www.infolanka.com/org/srilanka/cult/38.htm

Also 'ketha' see: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/srilan...s/message/3739

In southern India the local name for a billhook is 'kandali' in the kannada language - which I guess may have the same etymological roots

see: http://books.google.fr/books?id=E1C3...page&q&f=false

Once you start searching the www it is difficult to stop...

[Amuk Murugul]

Hullo everybody,

As there have been much 'cross-pollination' between Sri Lanka and the Archipelago over the centuries, I thought I'd include the Soenda term for this 'billhook': Tjongkrang.

Best,

[Billman]

Originally Posted by Amuk Murugul

Hullo everybody,

As there have been much 'cross-pollination' between Sri Lanka and the Archipelago over the centuries, I thought I'd include the Soenda term for this 'billhook': Tjongkrang.

Many thanks - another word for my billhook lexicon - only a few thousand other languages and dialects to go.....

[Jenny Ida]

Note the resemblance to SEA mak