Looking at this old photo of Moro swords

Pitt1999 · 30th July 2022, 08:00 AM

I am assuming that most of the denizens of this forum are familiar with this photo, which if I remember correctly is showing a number of captured Moro swords. When I first saw this photo a few things immediately jumped out at me. The first being the profusely curved sword at the top of the photo which stood out like a sore thumb. It reminded me of some Dayak swords which have a similar blade shape. The other things are these two very small barong, which seem to have blades of around half the length of the more numerous average sized barongs in this photo. Are barongs of this size this uncommon, the ratio of "normal" barongs to these small barongs makes it seem this way. Unless I am unaware of a thread floating around, I haven't seen a barong this small discussed on the forum before.

werecow · 30th July 2022, 05:00 PM

Could the curved sword be a Collins & Co. Legitimus machete maybe? Although it looks somewhat unusually curved.

xasterix · 30th July 2022, 08:58 PM

So far the smallest old barung I've held is 10in blade, which would fit the size of the barungs in that picture.

With regard to modern blades, there are Sulu barungs that go for as small as 5in-blade, called "mini-barung."

Pitt1999 · 30th July 2022, 09:16 PM

The smallest barung I have seen had a 12 inch blade, but if I remember correctly it looked quite recently made. With small old barung, is it possible that they were made for children. The handles of the smaller ones in the photo seem to be noticeably smaller than the grips of the regular sized barung, although that could just be a case of smaller weapons not needing a normal sized handle. As for that curved sword, I know there are Collins machetes with more curved blades, the 376 and the 191 come to mind. The blade form of this sword is very different compared to the aforementioned machetes. I couldn't think of it in my initial post but I now see that, at least the blade, resembles a parang nabur.

Ian · 31st July 2022, 11:05 PM

There are at least three reasons I can think of for small bladed barung. Concealment, scaled down for a boy, or scaled down for a woman (Moro women did fight beside men if needed).

The smallest old barung I have owned had a blade of about 12 inches IIRC. I sold it to our forum owner, Dr Lee Jones, many years ago who may still have it.

CharlesS · 10th August 2022, 10:25 PM

One of the things I find most interesting about the photo is the fact that several of the barongs are etched exactly the way we might see them restored in a collection today, with very clearly visible pattern welded blades. Others seem to have plain, polished blades. Patterns seem harder to recognize on the krisses.

JeffS · 23rd August 2022, 06:20 PM

This one has a 12.5" blade, thick spine.

30th July 2022, 08:00 AM	#1
Pitt1999 Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 105	Looking at this old photo of Moro swords I am assuming that most of the denizens of this forum are familiar with this photo, which if I remember correctly is showing a number of captured Moro swords. When I first saw this photo a few things immediately jumped out at me. The first being the profusely curved sword at the top of the photo which stood out like a sore thumb. It reminded me of some Dayak swords which have a similar blade shape. The other things are these two very small barong, which seem to have blades of around half the length of the more numerous average sized barongs in this photo. Are barongs of this size this uncommon, the ratio of "normal" barongs to these small barongs makes it seem this way. Unless I am unaware of a thread floating around, I haven't seen a barong this small discussed on the forum before. Attached Images

30th July 2022, 05:00 PM	#2
werecow Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Leiden, NL Posts: 498	Could the curved sword be a Collins & Co. Legitimus machete maybe? Although it looks somewhat unusually curved. Attached Images

10th August 2022, 10:25 PM	#6
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,857	One of the things I find most interesting about the photo is the fact that several of the barongs are etched exactly the way we might see them restored in a collection today, with very clearly visible pattern welded blades. Others seem to have plain, polished blades. Patterns seem harder to recognize on the krisses. Last edited by CharlesS; 11th August 2022 at 01:27 PM.

23rd August 2022, 06:20 PM	#7
JeffS Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 343	This one has a 12.5" blade, thick spine. Attached Images

30th July 2022, 08:58 PM	#3
xasterix Member Join Date: Oct 2018 Posts: 653	So far the smallest old barung I've held is 10in blade, which would fit the size of the barungs in that picture. With regard to modern blades, there are Sulu barungs that go for as small as 5in-blade, called "mini-barung."

30th July 2022, 09:16 PM	#4
Pitt1999 Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 105	The smallest barung I have seen had a 12 inch blade, but if I remember correctly it looked quite recently made. With small old barung, is it possible that they were made for children. The handles of the smaller ones in the photo seem to be noticeably smaller than the grips of the regular sized barung, although that could just be a case of smaller weapons not needing a normal sized handle. As for that curved sword, I know there are Collins machetes with more curved blades, the 376 and the 191 come to mind. The blade form of this sword is very different compared to the aforementioned machetes. I couldn't think of it in my initial post but I now see that, at least the blade, resembles a parang nabur.

31st July 2022, 11:05 PM	#5
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,198	There are at least three reasons I can think of for small bladed barung. Concealment, scaled down for a boy, or scaled down for a woman (Moro women did fight beside men if needed). The smallest old barung I have owned had a blade of about 12 inches IIRC. I sold it to our forum owner, Dr Lee Jones, many years ago who may still have it.