African sword, Unusual Handle, Akokonan? or?

Duccio · 26th February 2021, 09:04 AM

My comment was meant to be a joke, from a poor collector of African blades who would like to get to know that world in depth but who occasionally has to collide with mysterious objects, such as the one you present here.
I was referring to a famous African proverb, quoted by Christopher McDougall:
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.

I assure you that I had no intention of making fun of anyone, much less the African blacksmiths, on the contrary I intended to emphasize the vastness and depth of a world whose understanding, just as Westerners, often eludes us completely.
I repeat, I did not mean to offend anyone; if it did not, I deeply apologize.

JoeCanada42 · 26th February 2021, 01:30 PM

Duccio sorry if I jumped to conclusions. It is not possible to tell if a comment is intended as a joke.. Thank you for clarifying. And for Sharing the Proverb.

Duccio · 26th February 2021, 01:41 PM

No problem, I'm glad that everything is cleared up.
Believe me, I take these objects and those who manufacture them very seriously, but sometimes I feel frustrated, to verify the depth of my ignorance ... and then I cheer myself up with a joke ...
Best wishes.

shayde78 · 26th February 2021, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeCanada42

Duccio sorry if I jumped to conclusions. It is not possible to tell if a comment is intended as a joke.. Thank you for clarifying. And for Sharing the Proverb.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duccio

No problem, I'm glad that everything is cleared up.
Believe me, I take these objects and those who manufacture them very seriously, but sometimes I feel frustrated, to verify the depth of my ignorance ... and then I cheer myself up with a joke ...
Best wishes.

For what it is worth, I wanted to commend you both for taking the time to 1) address a perceived insult (not always easy to do), 2) respond to the person who felt they were being disrespected (also not always easy to do, 3) doing all this in a respectful manner, and 4) being willing to hear the other person's side of things and come to a resolution. It doesn't always happen, and I felt compelled to acknowledge that the two of you did it well. This is the kind of discourse I have come to expect from this forum (and seems increasingly rare elsewhere), but I never want to take it for granted, so well done to both of you.

JoeCanada42 · 27th February 2021, 04:20 PM

shayde 78 thank you for the commendations, this forum has class, I will try not to mess it up too much,

Jim McDougall · 27th February 2021, 10:59 PM

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=dongola

As I had mentioned on the thread linked, the shape of this blade brings to mind Dongola in the Sudan along the Nile. The highly stylized hilt recalls certain anthromorphic swords and weapons to the south, especially in Congo regions. Many of the 'throwing knives' of these areas and into Sudan have these kinds of dramatically stylized shapes, and while many are indeed weapons used as intended, many African weapons are highly symbolic for ceremonial, status and ritual purposes.

With this blade shape, this is clearly not a 'throwing knife', which as noted have these elaborate shapes, its use in status or official bearing seems possible.

Joe, I very much like your ratiocination and thank you for sharing your notes and sketches!!! I knew I had seen this before somewhere, so thanks for bringing it back up, I'd like to get it figured out.

On the 'editoral' notes, guys, nicely handled at keeping the P.C. beast in check. It is hard when we are expressing things anecdotally or in such mediums as in these public venues things can easily be taken wrong.

Jim McDougall · 28th February 2021, 12:11 AM

Just to add more comparative thought, I cannot resist thinking of the so called 'antenna swords' of the late Bronze age Hallstadt culture, these attached are 10th c. BC found near Swiss lake Neuchatel.
Obviously, aside from using von Daniken thinking, it would be beyond tenuous to associate this weapon to these with the chronological and anthropological disparities. However, the similarities are notable.

With my note on the Dongola type blade, here is an example from a collection (c. 1998). Note the crocodile piercing in blade (I have seen another with this feature) and the curious bar across the pommel end of grip. This is mindful of various European forms of baselard from medieval into Renaissance times.

We know that a number of African weapons seem to have evolved atavistically from probably iconographic sources, and it is possible this might be the case, in much the same manner of the baselard type elements.

Jim McDougall · 28th February 2021, 03:46 PM

In continuing reading through resources seeking more information on the possibilities for this sword (orig. post) , the chapter "The Shining Mystery: Throwing Knives of Africa" in "African Arms and Armour" (Christopher Spring, 1993) is most telling.

In this, the nature of these curious and often wildly varying type of weapon is explained, from the often fanciful presumptions described by some Victorian authors, to the more reasonable awareness of their uses in other capacities .

Pitt Rivers, the brilliant anthropologist wrote on these in 1875, and in 1925 Emil Torday wrote on these multibladed 'knives' from the perspectives of the Kuba( Bushong) people.

In 1872, Nachtigal narrated that these types of weapons were largely 'throwing irons' used as a means of exchange, that is currency. This appears to have been the case in numerous tribal societies in these African regions.
In 1925, Thomas prepared a chart trying to classify the various forms.
This seemed to delineate them basically in a northern and southern category with variations in the blade arrangements.

The reason for this foray into the mystery of these 'throwing irons' is that the geometric pattern in this hilt seems quite possibly to be a kind of symmetric arrangement of these weapons, coupled with the type of actual blade used in Dongola.

As we know 'throwing knives' were used in Darfur and Kordofan, mostly in the status and official sense symbolically, it seems this might be some sort of diplomatic example, combining both weapon and the currency or exchange character of the 'shongo' to the south. Here I would note that the Darfur regions were highly active in slaving, which would possibly use this kind of 'exchange' currency, although it would not explain the 'Dongola' type blade, unless such activity incorporated those regions as well.

Just thoughts on the possibilities of 'throwing knife' characteristics as seen on this sword and why they might have been applied to a blade of possible Dongola style.

27th February 2021, 10:59 PM	#6
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,190	Link to previous discussion on this sword http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=dongola As I had mentioned on the thread linked, the shape of this blade brings to mind Dongola in the Sudan along the Nile. The highly stylized hilt recalls certain anthromorphic swords and weapons to the south, especially in Congo regions. Many of the 'throwing knives' of these areas and into Sudan have these kinds of dramatically stylized shapes, and while many are indeed weapons used as intended, many African weapons are highly symbolic for ceremonial, status and ritual purposes. With this blade shape, this is clearly not a 'throwing knife', which as noted have these elaborate shapes, its use in status or official bearing seems possible. Joe, I very much like your ratiocination and thank you for sharing your notes and sketches!!! I knew I had seen this before somewhere, so thanks for bringing it back up, I'd like to get it figured out. On the 'editoral' notes, guys, nicely handled at keeping the P.C. beast in check. It is hard when we are expressing things anecdotally or in such mediums as in these public venues things can easily be taken wrong. Last edited by Jim McDougall; 27th February 2021 at 11:14 PM.

28th February 2021, 12:11 AM	#7
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,190	Just to add more comparative thought, I cannot resist thinking of the so called 'antenna swords' of the late Bronze age Hallstadt culture, these attached are 10th c. BC found near Swiss lake Neuchatel. Obviously, aside from using von Daniken thinking, it would be beyond tenuous to associate this weapon to these with the chronological and anthropological disparities. However, the similarities are notable. With my note on the Dongola type blade, here is an example from a collection (c. 1998). Note the crocodile piercing in blade (I have seen another with this feature) and the curious bar across the pommel end of grip. This is mindful of various European forms of baselard from medieval into Renaissance times. We know that a number of African weapons seem to have evolved atavistically from probably iconographic sources, and it is possible this might be the case, in much the same manner of the baselard type elements. Attached Images

28th February 2021, 03:46 PM	#8
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,190	Further thoughts on the design of the hilt on this sword In continuing reading through resources seeking more information on the possibilities for this sword (orig. post) , the chapter "The Shining Mystery: Throwing Knives of Africa" in "African Arms and Armour" (Christopher Spring, 1993) is most telling. In this, the nature of these curious and often wildly varying type of weapon is explained, from the often fanciful presumptions described by some Victorian authors, to the more reasonable awareness of their uses in other capacities . Pitt Rivers, the brilliant anthropologist wrote on these in 1875, and in 1925 Emil Torday wrote on these multibladed 'knives' from the perspectives of the Kuba( Bushong) people. In 1872, Nachtigal narrated that these types of weapons were largely 'throwing irons' used as a means of exchange, that is currency. This appears to have been the case in numerous tribal societies in these African regions. In 1925, Thomas prepared a chart trying to classify the various forms. This seemed to delineate them basically in a northern and southern category with variations in the blade arrangements. The reason for this foray into the mystery of these 'throwing irons' is that the geometric pattern in this hilt seems quite possibly to be a kind of symmetric arrangement of these weapons, coupled with the type of actual blade used in Dongola. As we know 'throwing knives' were used in Darfur and Kordofan, mostly in the status and official sense symbolically, it seems this might be some sort of diplomatic example, combining both weapon and the currency or exchange character of the 'shongo' to the south. Here I would note that the Darfur regions were highly active in slaving, which would possibly use this kind of 'exchange' currency, although it would not explain the 'Dongola' type blade, unless such activity incorporated those regions as well. Just thoughts on the possibilities of 'throwing knife' characteristics as seen on this sword and why they might have been applied to a blade of possible Dongola style.

26th February 2021, 09:04 AM	#1
Duccio Member Join Date: May 2020 Location: Florence, Italy Posts: 64	My comment was meant to be a joke, from a poor collector of African blades who would like to get to know that world in depth but who occasionally has to collide with mysterious objects, such as the one you present here. I was referring to a famous African proverb, quoted by Christopher McDougall: “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running. I assure you that I had no intention of making fun of anyone, much less the African blacksmiths, on the contrary I intended to emphasize the vastness and depth of a world whose understanding, just as Westerners, often eludes us completely. I repeat, I did not mean to offend anyone; if it did not, I deeply apologize.

26th February 2021, 01:30 PM	#2
JoeCanada42 Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: Canada Posts: 259	Duccio sorry if I jumped to conclusions. It is not possible to tell if a comment is intended as a joke.. Thank you for clarifying. And for Sharing the Proverb.

26th February 2021, 01:41 PM	#3
Duccio Member Join Date: May 2020 Location: Florence, Italy Posts: 64	No problem, I'm glad that everything is cleared up. Believe me, I take these objects and those who manufacture them very seriously, but sometimes I feel frustrated, to verify the depth of my ignorance ... and then I cheer myself up with a joke ... Best wishes.

27th February 2021, 04:20 PM	#5
JoeCanada42 Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: Canada Posts: 259	shayde 78 thank you for the commendations, this forum has class, I will try not to mess it up too much,