Kampilan
A Filipino single-edged sword 90-100 cm long with a blade widening toward the point, wielded mainly with both hands; the pommel decorated with a bakunawa, a hornbill or a cockatoo.
Quick Facts
PhilippinesAbout the weapon
The kampilan is a single-edged sword traditionally used by various ethnic groups of the Philippine Archipelago, among others the Kapampangan, Ilocano, Tagalog, Bicolano, Visayan and Moro peoples. It appears in the old epics Hinilawod and Biag ni Lam-ang. We have not been able to establish its time of origin in the sources. The kampilan measures 90 to 100 centimetres and weighs 0.85 to 1.3 kilograms. The blade is narrow at the hilt and widens trapezoidally toward the point, sometimes with a protruding spike; it was forged from layered steel using the welded-damascus technique. The hilt is of hardwood, and almost all kampilan originally had large protruding metal clasps on the guard. The pommel varies by ethnicity: the Visayan and Luzon peoples carved on it a bakunawa, a horned dragon-like creature, while the Moro peoples preferred a hornbill or a cockatoo. The kampilan was wielded mainly with both hands, though it could be held with one, and served for warfare and headhunting, which distinguishes it from bolo derived from farming tools. Antonio Pigafetta described how Ferdinand Magellan was wounded in the left leg at the Battle of Mactan by a warrior carrying a "large cutlass resembling a scimitar". Who that warrior was, we have not found in the sources.
Parts of the weapon
- Guard
- Pommel