Question ?

Freddy · 30th December 2005, 06:00 PM

Thanks for the info, guys.

With the identification you gave me, I started a little search on the internet and this is what I found :

In Stone's Glossary there's a picture of a falfeg, but this spear has only two barbs. Mine has 3 pairs of barbs. On the same page, I found a pic of a Ifuago spear with multiple barbs, called 'sinalawatan'.
As Battara said : these spears were used to ward of evil spirits. The more barbs, the better it works (according to Stone's).

Anyway, you can find the pics in Stone's Glossary page 225, fig. 278-3 (falfeg) and fig. 278-1 (sinalawatan).

This is what is written about the second type of spear :

SINALAWATAN. An Igorot spear similar to the falfeg, or ordinary war spear, except that it has several barbs in place of a single pair. It is not used in war or hunting but is valued solely as a protection from anito, or evil spirits. When a man goes alone into the mountains the anito are very apt to trouble him; if, however, he carries one of these spears they will not molest him as they are afraid of the formidable array of barbs. The more barbs, the more effective the spear.
There is one in the American Museum of Natural History with sixteen pairs of barbs. The original owner must have been a most timid person.
(Stone's Glossary, p 565)

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30th December 2005, 06:00 PM	#10
Freddy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sint-Amandsberg (near Ghent, Belgium) Posts: 830	Thanks for the info, guys. With the identification you gave me, I started a little search on the internet and this is what I found : In Stone's Glossary there's a picture of a falfeg, but this spear has only two barbs. Mine has 3 pairs of barbs. On the same page, I found a pic of a Ifuago spear with multiple barbs, called 'sinalawatan'. As Battara said : these spears were used to ward of evil spirits. The more barbs, the better it works (according to Stone's). Anyway, you can find the pics in Stone's Glossary page 225, fig. 278-3 (falfeg) and fig. 278-1 (sinalawatan). This is what is written about the second type of spear : SINALAWATAN. An Igorot spear similar to the falfeg, or ordinary war spear, except that it has several barbs in place of a single pair. It is not used in war or hunting but is valued solely as a protection from anito, or evil spirits. When a man goes alone into the mountains the anito are very apt to trouble him; if, however, he carries one of these spears they will not molest him as they are afraid of the formidable array of barbs. The more barbs, the more effective the spear. There is one in the American Museum of Natural History with sixteen pairs of barbs. The original owner must have been a most timid person. (Stone's Glossary, p 565)