A different Pamor which is not folded but pasted

[A. G. Maisey]

HughChen, nearly all old keris words in Jawa are Javanese, not Indonesian.

Bahasa Indonesia is actually a Malay dialect, or maybe "Malay based" might be more correct. When we find Malay terms used with Javanese keris, usually those terms are a recent addition to the keris vocabulary.

However, the words used for keris are not set in stone. Terms & understandings vary from place to place & from time to time. To understand all the terms we probably need a good understanding of Javanese & Bahasa Indonesia, & the ability to work with half a dozen other languages or dialects.

Javanese itself is not a standardised language & it has three major levels of language, and more than 8 other levels that are only used in certain places and for certain occasions.


1、mlumah --- laying down, face up

2、Miring --- slanting, at an angle

3、Puntiran --- twisted

4、Odo-Odo --- central rib of a blade

5、wos wutah (beras wutah, wosing/wusing wutah) --- beras(wos)uncooked rice, wutah= spilled, scattered

6、wusing wutah gedhegan--- wusing wutah= Balinese term for wos wutah, gedhegan= like a panel of woven bambu (root word is gedeg/gedheg)

7、nginden = i do not know a dictionary translation for this word, nor if it has any other use apart from being a keris related word I understand it as "reflective" or "chatoyant", "chatoyant" is from the French, it means "like the eye of a cat"

8、woven = English word, bambu = bamboo, wos wutah= as above

9、Batik = traditional Javanese cloth, motif "nam gedheg" = name of a batik motif that resembles woven bambu --- it actually does not, but if you use your artistic imagination you can see the resemblance. Many different ways to interpret this motif, some do look like woven bambu, most do not.

This might be useful:-
http://www.kerisattosanaji.com/keris-glossary

[HughChen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

HughChen, nearly all old keris words in Jawa are Javanese, not Indonesian.

Bahasa Indonesia is actually a Malay dialect, or maybe "Malay based" might be more correct. When we find Malay terms used with Javanese keris, usually those terms are a recent addition to the keris vocabulary.

However, the words used for keris are not set in stone. Terms & understandings vary from place to place & from time to time. To understand all the terms we probably need a good understanding of Javanese & Bahasa Indonesia, & the ability to work with half a dozen other languages or dialects.

Javanese itself is not a standardised language & it has three major levels of language, and more than 8 other levels that are only used in certain places and for certain occasions.


1、mlumah --- laying down, face up

2、Miring --- slanting, at an angle

3、Puntiran --- twisted

4、Odo-Odo --- central rib of a blade

5、wos wutah (beras wutah, wosing/wusing wutah) --- beras(wos)uncooked rice, wutah= spilled, scattered

6、wusing wutah gedhegan--- wusing wutah= Balinese term for wos wutah, gedhegan= like a panel of woven bambu (root word is gedeg/gedheg)

7、nginden = i do not know a dictionary translation for this word, nor if it has any other use apart from being a keris related word I understand it as "reflective" or "chatoyant", "chatoyant" is from the French, it means "like the eye of a cat"

8、woven = English word, bambu = bamboo, wos wutah= as above

9、Batik = traditional Javanese cloth, motif "nam gedheg" = name of a batik motif that resembles woven bambu --- it actually does not, but if you use your artistic imagination you can see the resemblance. Many different ways to interpret this motif, some do look like woven bambu, most do not.

This might be useful:-
http://www.kerisattosanaji.com/keris-glossary

Thank you, Alan, it's very helpful!

[HughChen]

One more question about this Bali sword. We can observe some damaged dents on this Keris, which may have resulted from later use and collisions. However, it's intriguing that the damaged areas of the sword still remian the same black color as the surface. It is known that the black surface of Keris comes from a soaking process after forging, so the black color on the surface should not penetrate into the interior. Then why is the interior of the scratch still black after the surface has been damaged? Does it has any relationship with the material?

[A. G. Maisey]

I cannot see any actual dents in the blade. There are a few irregularities a few areas where rust has caused some blade erosion, but dents I cannot find.

Dents can appear because of the loss of a piece of lamination, or because of a large area of untreated rust. Prior to staining Balinese blades are polished, and this polish & then stain process occurs pretty regularly, for some keris it might occur every year.

In respect of staining, the usual commercial blade stain is normally done by soaking, but the staining process for single blades is a hands on process, & the stain process for valuable or highly esteemed blades is different again. I do not like the usual result from the soak method of staining, & it seems to not last as long as the other more labour intensive ways of staining a blade.

[HughChen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I cannot see any actual dents in the blade. There are a few irregularities a few areas where rust has caused some blade erosion, but dents I cannot find.

Dents can appear because of the loss of a piece of lamination, or because of a large area of untreated rust. Prior to staining Balinese blades are polished, and this polish & then stain process occurs pretty regularly, for some keris it might occur every year.

In respect of staining, the usual commercial blade stain is normally done by soaking, but the staining process for single blades is a hands on process, & the stain process for valuable or highly esteemed blades is different again. I do not like the usual result from the soak method of staining, & it seems to not last as long as the other more labour intensive ways of staining a blade.

Hello， Alan. Why do they need to do the polish & then stain process so frequently? Isn't that after stain the Keris become stainless?

[HughChen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I cannot see any actual dents in the blade. There are a few irregularities a few areas where rust has caused some blade erosion, but dents I cannot find.

Dents can appear because of the loss of a piece of lamination, or because of a large area of untreated rust. Prior to staining Balinese blades are polished, and this polish & then stain process occurs pretty regularly, for some keris it might occur every year.

In respect of staining, the usual commercial blade stain is normally done by soaking, but the staining process for single blades is a hands on process, & the stain process for valuable or highly esteemed blades is different again. I do not like the usual result from the soak method of staining, & it seems to not last as long as the other more labour intensive ways of staining a blade.

How to identify if a Keris is stained by soaking or hands-on? And, most foreign owners outside of local place don't have the ability to do the stain work annually. So, is it necessary to do something to protect our Keris? Or do we have to learn how to stain? What shall we do?

[HughChen]

Hello everyone, I think I may have found a Keris of the same Parmer type, and this Keris's Parmor type is introduced elaborately. It's called Beras Wutah.
Do you think this keris is of the same type as the #1?

[David]

Originally Posted by HughChen

Hello everyone, I think I may have found a Keris of the same Parmer type, and this Keris's Parmor type is introduced elaborately. It's called Beras Wutah.
Do you think this keris is of the same type as the #1?

Sorry Hugh, but i had to delete your photos as they seem to be from an active auction, which is forbidden by our rules. If you google Beras Wutah you should be able to find images of the pamor that are not attached to an auction. Beras Wutah, or some variation of it, is probably the most common pamor found on Balinese keris.

[HughChen]

Originally Posted by David

Sorry Hugh, but i had to delete your photos as they seem to be from an active auction, which is forbidden by our rules. If you google Beras Wutah you should be able to find images of the pamor that are not attached to an auction. Beras Wutah, or some variation of it, is probably the most common pamor found on Balinese keris.

Hello, David

Excuse me, for any confusion caused. The kris I mentioned was indeed offered for sale in an Indonesian kris shop that I have been keeping an eye on. But it was sold a few days ago. Therefore, I believe it is no longer available for purchase at this time.