Old Dutch "Hembrug" Klewang

Jim McDougall · 7th October 2007, 11:13 PM

Thanks for the input on that Ben, that makes sense that the term was used. As always when considering terminology it would seem that the klewang term, being a relatively universal term describing various forms throughout Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, was likely adopted colloquially to refer to 'sword'.
While the distinct clipped point on the military version blades associate with European sabre points, the blade root seems to correspond to some of the blade forms in the 'klewang' groups (the Philippine bolo type swords for example). Obviously the basket hilt has absolutely nothing to do with the native weapons.
With that I would imagine my thoughts on trying to establish connection between native sword form and the military examples is moot. Since this particular field of study is a bit foreign

to me, just establishing facts to learn more on them.

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7th October 2007, 11:13 PM	#17
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,929	Thanks for the input on that Ben, that makes sense that the term was used. As always when considering terminology it would seem that the klewang term, being a relatively universal term describing various forms throughout Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, was likely adopted colloquially to refer to 'sword'. While the distinct clipped point on the military version blades associate with European sabre points, the blade root seems to correspond to some of the blade forms in the 'klewang' groups (the Philippine bolo type swords for example). Obviously the basket hilt has absolutely nothing to do with the native weapons. With that I would imagine my thoughts on trying to establish connection between native sword form and the military examples is moot. Since this particular field of study is a bit foreign to me, just establishing facts to learn more on them.