[A. G. Maisey]

Yes, I did see the other keris, and I am in agreement with the comments already posted. It's a good job, especially so for a first attempt.

In legend the empus of Jawa, the poets of Jawa, and the Kings of Jawa are all descended from the same ancestor, Sang Hyang Nurcahaya.

Empus were regarded as fitting husbands for the daughters of rulers, and the craft of the smith is seen as analogous to death, birth and renewal. The smith is in effect a holy wizard. In a society that has its roots in agriculture it is not at all difficult to understand the relationship of the smith to not only human death, birth, renewal, but the natural death, birth, renewal that is associated with the seasons and agriculture.

Everything goes in cycles and all those cycles are inextricably interwoven. To gain even the most basic understanding of the keris it is necessary to first understand the way in which the people in the society that gave birth to the keris understand the world around them.

In Javanese language and thought the smith is a pande, an empu is an armourer, but an empu can also be a pande, whereas a pande is not necessarily an empu. I do not know exactly when this distinction took root, but I feel it was probably associated with the rise of Islam and the growth and refinement of metal working arts along the North Coast, that was due to the influx of Muslim craftsmen from the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East, and with the refinement of Javanese court arts following the rise of Mataram.

Here I'm talking about Jawa, but much of what we see in Balinese culture and society has come into that culture and society from pre-Islamic Jawa. In Bali I think the place of the pande is still a reflection of what applied in pre-Islamic Jawa.

In Bali it is not possible to become a pande unless you are born one. You may be the most skilled keris artist alive, but that does not entitle you to call yourself either a pande or an empu. Unless you are of the Pande Clan you will never learn the mantras and the correct rituals for the making of a living keris, and unless you can make a living keris, you cannot be an empu. In Jawa you can become an empu if your kraton bestows the title or the common people recognise you as one. But not in Bali.

I suggest that "Iron Working as Spiritual Enquiry", and "Metallurgy and Immortality at Candi Sukuh", both by S.J.O'Connor are worth a read.