Puukko Question

A. G. Maisey · 2nd July 2018, 11:53 PM

Thank you for your responses gentlemen.

I have maintained an interest in Nordic knives, especially puukko-style knives, for many years, I built a reasonably large collection of them, until I decided that they were just one more distraction from my work with the keris, so I sold off most of them and held on to only a few. In fact, when I was doing custom knife work I even made a few damascus blade puukkos.

This knife that I have asked the question on is most definitely not associated in any way with Jawa or Bali. The silver work is European, not SE Asian, the motifs are European, the style is not SE Asian. This much I can be definite about.

This is an old knife, my estimate is second half, 19th century. The name "Emil Pay" is engraved into a scabbard escutcheon and on the ferrule, I assume it is the original owner rather than the silversmith.

The blade was made by the Gallus workshop, Gallus was a Norwegian maker, it is believed that Gallus blades were sometimes hilted by a well known 19th century Norwegian carver named Bogarson. There is a long tradition of wood carving in Scandinavian countries, many of the puukkos that I sold on to other collectors had very well carved handles.

The identity of the hilt figure is my only question in respect of this knife, of course, all comments are welcome, but all I really need to know is the identity of the hilt figure.

This figure has arms and legs and is in a kneeling position, the arms and hands are clear, the feet can be seen at the rear base. The figure has two tongues, one emerging from each side of its mouth, each of those tongues appears to be forked. Marius has suggested Jormungandr, and this may well be intended to be a humanised, or anthromorphic depiction of Jormungandr, but because Jormungandr is normally depicted and thought of as a serpent, this can only be a hypothetical identification. In any case, although Jormungandr has a forked tongue, it is a single tongue, not two tongues. A fang at either side, back of the mouth, indicates demonic character.

Kronckew suggests that rather than two tongues we may be looking at dragon fire, this is certainly possible.

So gentlemen, does anybody have any suggestions as to identity of the hilt figure?

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2nd July 2018, 11:53 PM	#9
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	Thank you for your responses gentlemen. I have maintained an interest in Nordic knives, especially puukko-style knives, for many years, I built a reasonably large collection of them, until I decided that they were just one more distraction from my work with the keris, so I sold off most of them and held on to only a few. In fact, when I was doing custom knife work I even made a few damascus blade puukkos. This knife that I have asked the question on is most definitely not associated in any way with Jawa or Bali. The silver work is European, not SE Asian, the motifs are European, the style is not SE Asian. This much I can be definite about. This is an old knife, my estimate is second half, 19th century. The name "Emil Pay" is engraved into a scabbard escutcheon and on the ferrule, I assume it is the original owner rather than the silversmith. The blade was made by the Gallus workshop, Gallus was a Norwegian maker, it is believed that Gallus blades were sometimes hilted by a well known 19th century Norwegian carver named Bogarson. There is a long tradition of wood carving in Scandinavian countries, many of the puukkos that I sold on to other collectors had very well carved handles. The identity of the hilt figure is my only question in respect of this knife, of course, all comments are welcome, but all I really need to know is the identity of the hilt figure. This figure has arms and legs and is in a kneeling position, the arms and hands are clear, the feet can be seen at the rear base. The figure has two tongues, one emerging from each side of its mouth, each of those tongues appears to be forked. Marius has suggested Jormungandr, and this may well be intended to be a humanised, or anthromorphic depiction of Jormungandr, but because Jormungandr is normally depicted and thought of as a serpent, this can only be a hypothetical identification. In any case, although Jormungandr has a forked tongue, it is a single tongue, not two tongues. A fang at either side, back of the mouth, indicates demonic character. Kronckew suggests that rather than two tongues we may be looking at dragon fire, this is certainly possible. So gentlemen, does anybody have any suggestions as to identity of the hilt figure?