Obviously, the primary use of most weapons is to kill or injure.
However, a secondary purpose of many weapons is to bestow status or some sort, which is why they are ornamented.
Sometimes this evolves into the main function of the weapon, and the killing function, as can be seen all over the modern Western world with parade and officers' swords, disappears. This can also be seen with maces and other forms that have evolved into strictly ceremonial pieces in all regions of the world. And this includes the very abundant keris, which this forum devotes an entire forum category to.
So the fact that weapons as we know them are often not created to fulfill the function of weapons, even though they could, is a no-brainer.
But a weapon can both be beautiful and deadly and many weapons did and still fall into that category. Others are created with the intent to just look good. Others are just plain nasty functional things designed to hack, impale or bludgeon.
However, if that was the only purpose weapons had, I for one probably wouldn't be interested in them. Killing other people is an uninspiring activity for the most part. (I don't speak from experience, of course).
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