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Pedro Paulo Gaião
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 Posted: Tue 25 Mar, 2025 8:14 am Post subject: Poniard: sources that pre-date Silver |
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I used to assume only Portuguese language distinguish between an adaga (dagger) and a punhal (piercing type of dagger, like a stiletto, whose name refer to punho/wrist), but George Silver mentions "poniard" in his Paradoxes of Defense in late 16th century England, the term obviously borrowed from the French language ...
A couple of early 15th century Portuguese written sources mentions the punhal/poniard as a weapon (even in war and siege context), which makes me wonder if Medieval English sources, or any romance source, also refers to this word at all.
And your thought on what makes a difference between a medieval dagger and a poniard, for that sake.
| Quote: | O that men for their defence would but give their mind to practice the true fight indeed and learn to bear true British wards for their defence, which if they had it in perfect practice, I speak it of my own knowledge that those imperfect Italian devices with rapier and poniard would be clean cast aside and of no account of all such as blind affections do not lead beyond the bounds of reason. Therefore for the very zealous and unfeigned love that I bear unto your high and royal person my countrymen pitying their causes that so may brave men should be daily murdered and spoiled for want of true knowledge of this noble science and as some imagine to be, only the excellence of the rapier fight, and where as my paradoxes of defence is to the most sort as a dark riddle in many things therein set down, therefore I have now this second time taken pains to write these few brief instructions there upon where by they may better attain to the truth of this science and laying open here all such things as was something intricate for them to understand in my paradoxes and therefore yet I have the full perfection and knowledge of the perfect use of all manner of weapons, it does embolden me here to write for the better instruction of the unskillful.
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https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/George_Silver
“Burn old wood, read old books, drink old wines, have old friends.”
Alfonso X, King of Castile (1221-84)
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Anthony Clipsom
Location: YORKSHIRE, UK Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 347
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| Posted: Tue 25 Mar, 2025 10:54 am Post subject: |
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The OED lists the first use of the word in English as 1533, deriving from the French
For further non-French variants on the theme, OED offers
Compare Old Occitan ponhal dagger (14th cent.; earlier as adjective in senses ‘which one holds in the hand’, ‘(of weapons, missiles) which one operates with the fist’ (13th or 14th cent.)), Catalan punyal dagger (early 14th cent.), Spanish puñal dagger (probably 13th cent.; also as adjective in senses ‘as large as a fist’ (c1250), ‘which one holds in the fist’ (1261 in cuchillo puñal dagger, literally ‘fist knife’)), Italian pugnale dagger (14th or 15th cent.)."
Anthony Clipsom
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