British hilted sword with Indian(?) blade

tom hyle · 24th January 2005, 01:11 PM

Is that blank area on the bolsters (? gotta call 'em something) where a (tulwar?) lagnet once was?
I think the feature may be more a familial mark of cultural relation to yatagan than a directly utilitous feature, although it does stiffen the blade, of course, and should help with shock absorbtion, and one might speculate that the breakable solder joint provides something that can "give" while sparing the actual sword; again, a-la "crumple zones" on cars. Mainly I think its purpose is to express a relation to/visually "cash in on"yatagan, khanda, pata, firengi, etc. with their overlays at blade base and spine. As for why not forge them right in originally, I guess there's two answers to that; A/ I often seen pieces where the cutler/hilter seems to have been having an argument with the bladesmith, as it were, re-arranging his intent on tang angle, etc.; and B/ "That's the way we do." having descended from a seperate feature (yatagan bolster or khanda reinforcers) it remains a seperate feature. What is interesting is to see it persist when any continuation into a bolster or guard seems to have been eliminated.

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24th January 2005, 01:11 PM	#5
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	Is that blank area on the bolsters (? gotta call 'em something) where a (tulwar?) lagnet once was? I think the feature may be more a familial mark of cultural relation to yatagan than a directly utilitous feature, although it does stiffen the blade, of course, and should help with shock absorbtion, and one might speculate that the breakable solder joint provides something that can "give" while sparing the actual sword; again, a-la "crumple zones" on cars. Mainly I think its purpose is to express a relation to/visually "cash in on"yatagan, khanda, pata, firengi, etc. with their overlays at blade base and spine. As for why not forge them right in originally, I guess there's two answers to that; A/ I often seen pieces where the cutler/hilter seems to have been having an argument with the bladesmith, as it were, re-arranging his intent on tang angle, etc.; and B/ "That's the way we do." having descended from a seperate feature (yatagan bolster or khanda reinforcers) it remains a seperate feature. What is interesting is to see it persist when any continuation into a bolster or guard seems to have been eliminated.