Mystery Sword Bag, Continued
Added 2024-10-07 09:50:37 +0000 UTCThree bayonets and a maybe-German katana? I don't even know :D
Comments
The two longer bayonets look like French Bayonets from 1866. They were referred to as “Sword Bayonets” so are more appropriate than you may have thought. http://arms2armor.com/Bayonets/fren1866.htm
Archie George
2024-10-13 18:21:00 +0000 UTCTurns out I was wrong to think it was a wakizashi due to the short-looking handle, but the blade is fairly long, as we can see here. Still, I'll double down on saying that the handle IS quite short for a katana: when you hold it with both hands, there should be some space between them. Pausing the video at 1:44, it just doesn't look like that... Regarding the task of taking the katana apart: in traditional ones, there is a bamboo pin holding the tang and the handle together. You should be able to separate them easily - however, if it is really from Germany, it may not be assembled traditionally at all :D
David M
2024-10-10 21:11:55 +0000 UTCKatana usually had a single fixture for a cord (I'd look up all the Japanese names for these parts, but... naaah) on the scabbard, which seems to be the case here. Also, generally speaking, tachi handles had a tendency to be longer than those on katana.
David M
2024-10-10 20:58:39 +0000 UTCYes, Japanese hardly do grammatical pluralization at all, it's all about the context. Therefore, the plural of Katana is Katana, the plural of Ninja is Ninja, the plural of Samurai is Samurai and so forth. Standard English pluralization does work here, I'll admit that - but with quite a bit of stomach ache.
David M
2024-10-10 20:49:16 +0000 UTCConsidering the number of different ways they found to ask me "do you have any metal in your body" when I had my recent MRI, I suspect that an MRI is not the correct thing for a large metal object :D
Scott Ellis
2024-10-08 13:42:25 +0000 UTCTo my limited understanding, Japanese doesn't do pluralization at all the same way English does, so using katana as the plural of katana is about right. Elsewise, the standard English pluralization gives us katanas, which is also correct.
Liz Endreson
2024-10-07 22:27:35 +0000 UTCIf you want a professional appraisal, then you could make an appointment with one of the conservators at the Royal Armories Museum in Leeds.
Alexander
2024-10-07 19:55:20 +0000 UTCWell! 3 bayonets, 2 officers swords, and a mystery katana! This does sound a bit like WWII battlefield swag. And you'll probably have to get them all cleaned up before you'll be able to identify anything.
Ann Brookens
2024-10-07 17:52:00 +0000 UTCI like mysteries, but I particularly like mysteries that come with answers, so I hope you find some!
Cassandra
2024-10-07 14:36:27 +0000 UTCReminds me of a very meaningful comment from Prince Talleyrand, Napoleon's foreign minister, “You can do many things with bayonets except sit on them.” That's more a comment on empire-building, nationalism, and geopolitics in general than the literal blades, but I think it still fits.
Shaun Abdelkerim
2024-10-07 13:44:50 +0000 UTCnote of minor interest: that might actually be a tachi, instead of a katana. I can't tell from the video, but it looks like the saya (scabbard) might be made to hang from the belt? If so, you've got a tachi.
Robert Calhoun
2024-10-07 11:31:31 +0000 UTCYou always brighten my day.
shift shift
2024-10-07 11:10:44 +0000 UTCCan you 'look' at the tang *without* taking it apart? Do you know anyone with a medical scanner? X-ray or MRI (probably not an ultrasound) pop to mind. There are companies that offer to scan the inside of 'industrial' objects but it's typically rather expensive. (Medical scanners are also typically expensive to use but someone might scan your Katana as part of training or something?)
Ekij
2024-10-07 11:03:32 +0000 UTC
