Jim and David,
Thank you very much for you comments.
I did not know about the raised cross at the crossguard junction. It is really nice to be able to narrow the origin down to a specific geographic area, in this case Darfur.
There are actually two wrappings, with another layer of leather underneath the goat hide. Most of the fur from the goat hide is gone, aand it mostly remains towards the crossguard. It feels comfortable in the hand. Personally, if it has to be wrapped in some sort of hide/leather, I'd rather have goat hide than lizard or crocodile skin. I find the hilts, mounted with crocodile legs a bit repulsive.
David's observation on one of the markings with cemi-circular shape is interesting, and I was wondering the same thing. However, are there any other instances, in which laf-moon symbols co-exist with "running wolf" symbols on the same blade?
Again, thank you for your replies,
Teodor
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