Why don't Co Jang have scabbards?

[thomas hauschild]

Originally Posted by JeffS

Well, there you go. Thank you. Is the scabbard one piece with the open top or two halves? Does the band add a bit of a spring to hold the blade? I've read descriptions of Moro kampilan scabbards that have that feature.

2 halfs of wood without glue. The brass bands hold them together, but not so strong that there will be a springy effect

[Ian]

I think Maurice's observation that the gliwang is never worn, but rather carried in the hand, is consistent with the scabbards we see here. Thomas's example with the slit along the top of the scabbard would make it hard to wear on the body, and keep the sword contained, and these can be reasonably long swords as well. The Moro panabas, another heavy battle weapon, tends not to have a sheath too. The blade edge sometimes had a small strip of wood with a groove that was fastened with a strip of cloth to protect the edge, and the entire weapon was usually wrapped in cloth and carried to its place of use. The edge guard and cloth were discarded when battle was engaged.

First time I've seen a slotted scabbard from Aceh. Gavin, can you show us more examples?

[Gustav]

Well, Maurices description actually was:

"It is remarkable that a gliwang never had been worn with a scabbard. It was always carried in hand and not in the belt. Sometimes the blade had been covered in palmleaf or goatskin."

Which corresponds to the earlier Albert van Zonneveld's publication: "The Co Jang is worn without a scabbard. As protection the blade may be wound in palm-leaf or goat's skin."

The carrying in the hand is already the second line of defense, so to say.

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by Ian

se. The edge guard and cloth were discarded when battle was engaged.

First time I've seen a slotted scabbard from Aceh. Gavin, can you show us more examples?

Not at hand other than other types in close localities in the links I quickly cobbled together... as a side note, here is a Panabas scabbard for you.

[Gustav]

Two swords from Aceh with similar scabbards, one of them collected 1888, and a third one, which could be Batak and perhaps with a different kind of blade, but collected in Aceh, all in Wereldmuseum. It seems, Wereldmuseum (former Tropenmuseum) doesn't diferentiate between Co Jang and Rudus and calls them generally Rudus. These swords appear to have identical blades, as Sajen already noted.

[Ian]

Thanks Gavin. Yes, there were occasional scabbards for panabas, but not commonly. Governor William Taft in the background of the photograph. Went on to become U.S. President after Teddy Roosevelt, and was pretty much a disaster. Later became Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court