Knobkerrie/Iwisa |
Dawn
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Having handled one, I can tell you that the knobkerrie is made out of a single piece of wood, and very lethal in the right (or wrong, if you're on the receiving end) hands.
Dawn |
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Edward Bear
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The two terms are increasingly used as if interchangeable, and are referred to in that way in the 2002 'new' Coat of Arms of the Republic of South Africa. See http://aolsearch.aol.co.uk/web?query=Iwisa&first=111&last=120&ov=1 and also http://www.saembassy.org/coatofarms.htm
Whereas an iWisa/Iwisa is undoubtedly a type of knobkerrie: KNOBKERRIE (from the Taal or South African Dutch, knop-kirie, derived from Du. knop, a knob or button, and kerrie, a Bushman or Hottentot word for stick), a strong, short stick with a rounded knob or head used by the natives of South Africa in warfare and the chase. It is employed at close quarters, or as a missile, and in time of peace serves as a walking-stick. Not all 'knobkerries' are made to the fairly wide range of traditional Zulu designs for an Iwisa. An elaborate example is shown at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/10/sfs/hod_1993.381.6-7.htm The type routinely carried and bundled together with fighting sticks and the main types of spear would normally have a proportionally longer shaft and possibly a more compact head - the proportions designed to meet the user's needs. If the head is disproportinately heavy and the materials not well enough shaped from the bare would, then it might brake at the neck if a sufficiently sharp blow were struck. There are also examples made by cutting through the joint of a small tree, the thicker part forming the striking head and the thinner the longer shaft handle. Zulu chiefs may nowadays also routinely carry a stylised version of the design, usually with a fairly shortened staff, to signify their status as they go about their business. Peacetime traditional designs have evolved slightly differently to those likely to be used as war weapons. A richer man might also carry one of better materials and construction. Peacetime designs might well be made in two parts, and ingeniously joined. Edward Bear |
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Knobkerrie/Iwisa |
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