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Old 12th December 2012, 11:50 PM   #3
ariel
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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Thanks, Jim!
Caucasians, apparently, had several kinds of Gorda ( Gurda is a russian modification), but the appearance and the meaning of those are debatable.
Gorda Majjar likely ( perhaps?) comes from the ancient Khazar/ Golden Horde town Majjar ( any relation to Islamic Central Asian Mazar ,- sanctuary, burial place? Like Mazar-i-Sharif?). Then there is Gorda Assel ( ancient, apparently, but the meaning? "As" or "asil" locally means Large, Noble, or is it coming from the ancient Ases, local tribe?).
Gorda El Murza: after some person?

That's all I learned on the Russian Forum from extremely educated and knowledgeable colleagues.

With time, blades with this mark acquired a life and a reputation of their own: one could say " I have a real Gorda", and everybody knew what he was talking about.

I just wanted to know whether a somewhat similar process and attitude were applicable to the blades with this mark in other cultures. After all, the Arabs referred to their best knives as "Rodgers" irrespective of their manufacturing source.
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