Interesting Spanish Canary Islands Punal

[Chris Evans]

Hi Manolo,

Originally Posted by celtan

Hi,

A puñal is virtually any fighting blade that can be held in a fist, not refined, its crossguard being either very small or absent.

Nicely put, though I would add that such a grip emphasizes the use of the point, so it is not really applicable to a knife primarily intended to cut.

The navajas and cuchillas (feminine terms) apply only to folding knives, albeit they can be of herculean dimensions.

I am not sure about current Spanish colloquialisms (the old ones are largely forgotten or of uncertain meaning due to the vide spread illiteracy that persisted until WWII ) but in South America, a "cuchilla" is applied to any broad fixed blade. But the folks who use them are not all that concerned with correct terminology and cuchillo/cuchilla are often used synonimously.

OTOH, I find the shape of the old swiss daggers extremely attractive. I guess that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder...: )

I certainly agree with you on this one. Generally daggers were intended as companion weapons an were often lavishly decorated, but even the simpler ones had a certain gracefulness about them, albeit a deadly one.

Cheers
Chris