Ring dagger

Typical West African ring dagger

Archer with ring dagger (top center)

The ring dagger (also tension dagger , tension knife , bow tension knife ) is a dagger from West Africa .

The characteristic is a ring or loop-shaped handle that takes up the palm of the hand. The handle and the blade consist of one piece. If a ring dagger was made to order, the blacksmith would adjust the ring so that the knife was snug on the palm of the hand.

Sture Lagercrantz distinguishes the main distribution areas west in Ghana , Togo and Benin as well as east in Nigeria and Cameroon . With the western type the blade is rather bent back while with the eastern type it is straight. The ring daggers are found in a variety of ethnic groups, including Gouin , Lobi , Mossi , Grusi , Konkomba , Somba , Kabiyé , Bassari , Bariba , Edo , Bassa , Nupe , Tiv , Tikar , Wute . But the ethnic groups who use it are not always the manufacturer.

The daggers had a double function: on the one hand, they were a cocking aid for the bow ; the fingers were relieved of the pressure of the bowstring by the metal handle. On the other hand, a melee weapon was always ready, even if the archer had two hands on the bow. In traditional African dance , they are used both in their sharp form and as harmless dummies.

Most ring daggers have the handle oriented in the same direction as the blade. In another type, the handle is arranged across the blade. Manfred A. Zirngibl suspects that these objects are purely close combat weapons, as a cocking aid is difficult to imagine.

The origins of the ring dagger lie in the dark of history. It is unclear whether there is a connection to the Indian dagger Bichwa , which is basically the same . The existence of the ring dagger is documented by images on carved beakers from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the heyday of the Kingdom of Benin . There he probably influenced the development of the ceremonial sword Eben , which has a characteristic ring on an ordinary handle. Ring daggers have also been archaeologically proven. In Kissi in the north of Burkina Faso, ring daggers were found in the graves of the 5th century AD in direct connection with archery equipment.

The systematic research into ring daggers took place mainly at the beginning of the 20th century, among others by Bernhard Ankermann , Arthur Haberlandt , Leo Frobenius , Hermann Baumann , Carl Gunnar Feilberg and Sture Lagercrantz . In 1937, Lagercrantz carried out the most extensive and detailed study to date. Nevertheless, there are so far little reliable findings on the function and use.

literature

• CJ Longman : On Methods of Drawing and Loosing the Arrow , in: The Badminton Library: Archery , Longmans, Green & Co , London, 1894 [1]
• Felix von Luschan : The Antiquities of Benin , 1919, pp. 483, 544 (Fig. 826, 828) [2]
• Sture Lagercrantz : ring daggers, arm daggers and brass knuckles in Africa. In: Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 69th year, issue 6 (1937), pp. 389–443 ( JSTOR 25839679 )
• Christopher Spring : African arms and armor. British Museum Press, 1993, ISBN 0-7141-2508-3 , p. 43 (illustration of a Tiv dagger), p. 52
• Christopher Spring : Swords and hilt weapons , Barnes & Noble , 1989, ISBN 1566192498 , p. 209 (illustration of a Tiv dagger)
• Manfred A. Zirngibl , Alexander Kubetz: panga na visu. Handguns, forged cult objects and shields from Africa. HePeLo-Verlag, Riedlhütte 2009, ISBN 978-3-9811254-2-9 , p. 49 (illustration of a ring dagger or bow-tensioning knife from Tiv and Jukun from Nigeria), p. 274 (explanation)
• Johanna Agthe , Karin Strauss: Arms from Central Africa. Museum für Völkerkunde, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-88270-354-7 , p. 28
• Hendrik Wiethase: Āta épe: the bows and arrows of Africa , Verlag Wiethase, 2007, ISBN 9783937632414 (p. 65 How to carry the bows [3] )

Web links

• Objects at Oriental Arms: [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14]

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Zirngibl, Kubetz: panga na visu. 2009, p. 274
2. ↑ Luschan: The Antiquities of Benin , 1919, p. 483
3. ↑ Lagercrantz: Ring daggers, arm daggers and brass knuckles in Africa. 1937, p. 421
4. ↑ Lagercrantz: Ring daggers, arm daggers and brass knuckles in Africa. 1937, p. 395
5. ↑ Lagercrantz: Ring daggers, arm daggers and brass knuckles in Africa. 1937, pp. 392, 420
6. ↑ Lagercrantz: Ring daggers, arm daggers and brass knuckles in Africa. 1937, p. 422
7. ↑ Lagercrantz: Ring daggers, arm daggers and brass knuckles in Africa. 1937, pp. 389-395
8. ↑ Agthe, Karin: Arms from Central Africa. 1985, p. 28
9. ↑ Lagercrantz: Ring daggers, arm daggers and brass knuckles in Africa. 1937, p. 391
10. ↑ Zirngibl, Kubetz: panga na visu. 2009, p. 275
11. ↑ Lagercrantz: Ring daggers, arm daggers and brass knuckles in Africa. 1937, pp. 421-422
12. ↑ Lagercrantz: Ring daggers, arm daggers and brass knuckles in Africa. 1937, p. 422
13. ↑ Spring: African arms and armor. 1993, p. 52
14. ↑ Sonja Magna Vita, Lassina Kote, Peter Breunig, Oumarou A. Idé: Crossroads / Carrefour Sahel: Cultural and technological Developments in first millennium BC / AD West Africa . Africa Magna Verlag, Frankfurt 2009, ISBN 978-3-937248-17-2 , pp. 89 ( google.de [accessed on August 8, 2016]).
15. ↑ Lagercrantz: Ring daggers, arm daggers and brass knuckles in Africa. 1937, pp. 389-443
16. ↑ Zirngibl, Kubetz: panga na visu. 2009, pp. 274-275