Somalian Billao

tom hyle · 14th May 2005, 04:43 PM

I've wondered about that; a vague guess is some odd convenience of old trade routes and international markets; it seems to be industrial sheet metal?
As for the thin-ness of the blades, that is part of a long and widespread African tradition; it's discussed on a fairly recent thread about ceremonial African weapons. There's disagreement, but I feel it comes out of traditional and martial weapon philosophies. It's certainly typical; gilles are thicker AFAIK. The fine, hollow-bevelled forming of these thin blades entirely by handforging amazes me.
I've heard something about the spikes, but don't remember.....The guards and pommels are fitted with an obsessiveness to please any European, and are often the ground for some tiny and sometimes intricate geometric line engraving.
The sheath looks old to me, why not? The unusual feature to my experience it the belt-hanging slots; the one I had had a belt sewn to it.

14th May 2005, 04:43 PM	#9
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	I've wondered about that; a vague guess is some odd convenience of old trade routes and international markets; it seems to be industrial sheet metal? As for the thin-ness of the blades, that is part of a long and widespread African tradition; it's discussed on a fairly recent thread about ceremonial African weapons. There's disagreement, but I feel it comes out of traditional and martial weapon philosophies. It's certainly typical; gilles are thicker AFAIK. The fine, hollow-bevelled forming of these thin blades entirely by handforging amazes me. I've heard something about the spikes, but don't remember.....The guards and pommels are fitted with an obsessiveness to please any European, and are often the ground for some tiny and sometimes intricate geometric line engraving. The sheath looks old to me, why not? The unusual feature to my experience it the belt-hanging slots; the one I had had a belt sewn to it.