tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Sep 20 09:50:01 2001
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Re: Klingon WOTD: qutluch (n)
RNButler wrote:
: I think you got your facts wrong. the qutluch was used in Voyager. It is
: used in a ritually blood letting in prepation for becoming a warrior.
You're both right: it was used in both series. I've forgotten the name of the
Voyager episode, but Okrand referred to it in KGT:
qutluch tay
Kut'luch Ceremony KGT
"The {qutluch}...is also used in a ritual to which it gives its name, the
{qutluch tay} ('Kut'luch Ceremony'), during which, as a demonstration of
courage, a young Klingon preparing to be a warrior attacks someone and actually
draws blood for the first time. For Klingons, bloodletting is a usual and
expected part of a warrior's training regimen." (KGT 61f)
... he discusses its role as an assassin's weapon:
"The {qutluch}, or kut'luch in its usual Federation Standard spelling, is a
knife associated with Klingon assassins. It has a serrated blade ({Ho' 'etlh}
[literally, 'tooth blade']), so it is particularly lethal." (KGT 61f)
"The kut'luch...is a hand-held blade described as the ceremonial weapon of an
assassin...The use of the kut'luch by assassins does not mean the weapon is
used by no one else, nor does it mean that assassins never use other weapons.
The way the weapon is used for ritual is utterly obscure..." (TKW 103)
qutluch patlh
kut'luch rank
(the imagery is one of a list, presumably in a specific order, of intended
victims of the kut'luch) [KGT 110]
... and it appears in the proverb:
reH boch qutluch lo'lu'bogh
The used kut'luch is always shiny. TKW
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons