Unknown wooden daggers - believed to be of African origin

[intrathemist]

Hi there,

I collect weapons as a bit of a hobby, and through a set of rather fortunate events, have found myself in possession of the three wooden daggers seen in the pictures attached.

While I freely admit these could just be wooden toys, they feel and look reasonably authentic - which is to say, they feel like that to me, someone who knows his weapons, but definitely not his antiques. I've not seen this particular type of dagger before, though I've encountered a similar wooden style from Africa before. Anyone have any ideas about these?

Many thanks.

[bigwull]

What length are they,...although they may look daggerish, i,m more inclined to say they resemble the head of an assegai...as for being weapons,...I don,t think so, more like for the tourist trade,or perhaps ceremonial,

[intrathemist]

The entire item is 24", the blade portion measures 12.5"

I agree it's perfectly possible these are just tourist items of some sort; though normally tourist items wont be properly balanced, and to my knowledge they feel reasonably balanced.

As for being assegai - it may not appear that way in the pictures, but they have a very obvious grip area where they should be held, and no obvious connection to attach to a shaft.

[bigwull]

I knew i,d seen similar things to this before,..Its a Short Stabbing Spear,called an  "Iklwa"..which was credited to Shaka, as he was dissatisfied with the assegai...see pic...of Zulu with Iklwa...
definition of Iklwa...short stabbing spear with a long sword-like spearhead

[Rauville]

Iklwa...said to be named after the sound it made upon piercing your enemy.

[bigwull]

Iklwa...said to be named after the sound it made upon piercing your enemy.

I would have thought...Ouch!!...Aargh!!....would have been more appropriate... ..

[mart]

Seeing that these two that I can see have the same face and are pretty much identical,, that would say that they were for selling instead of using !!  That's likely what could be done the quickest !!

[bigwull]

i think he, knows that,...nobody...in their right mind would use one of these to stab his enemy....unless of course...he was Bela Lugosi...the poster wanted to know what they were...and now he knows...or will do when he reappears...

[mart]

I think he was questioning that because of the balance they have !!  But some of the African crafts people are very good at their work !! Would not surprise me that they would have a nice balance and feel in the hand !!

[intrathemist]

Wow, thanks - the ..."Iklwa" seems to be a good fit. I hadn't heard of such a thing before - time for research!