The Keris in Early Javanese Literature

fearn · 7th July 2008, 02:42 AM

Thank you Mr. Maisey, that clarifies it substantially for me. The "kalis" idea came from (I believe) someone talking about the martial art kali, so it is good to know that kalis doesn't exist in sanscrit (I think kali does, but that's another story).

Although this is off topic for this thread, there's a similar linguistic problem with the Wiccan athame magic dagger, which many claim was inspired by the keris (Gerald Gardner, founder of Wicca, was based in Malaysia, and I believe he collected some keris). The word "athame" has been claimed to derive from "adhdhame" (supposedly "dagger" in Arabic, with the hypothesis that Wicca is debased sufism), or alternatively from "atamer," old French for "to cut" (see Wikipedia). Since I read neither arabic nor old French, I can't comment on whether either of these words exist. The point of this ramble is that, if the linguistic origin of the term "keris" isn't crystal clear (despite Mr. Maisey's explication), it is amusing that the athame it inspired has a similarly muddled linguistic background--and it's much more recent in origin.

Thanks again for the clarification.

F

7th July 2008, 02:42 AM	#20
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Thank you Mr. Maisey, that clarifies it substantially for me. The "kalis" idea came from (I believe) someone talking about the martial art kali, so it is good to know that kalis doesn't exist in sanscrit (I think kali does, but that's another story). Although this is off topic for this thread, there's a similar linguistic problem with the Wiccan athame magic dagger, which many claim was inspired by the keris (Gerald Gardner, founder of Wicca, was based in Malaysia, and I believe he collected some keris). The word "athame" has been claimed to derive from "adhdhame" (supposedly "dagger" in Arabic, with the hypothesis that Wicca is debased sufism), or alternatively from "atamer," old French for "to cut" (see Wikipedia). Since I read neither arabic nor old French, I can't comment on whether either of these words exist. The point of this ramble is that, if the linguistic origin of the term "keris" isn't crystal clear (despite Mr. Maisey's explication), it is amusing that the athame it inspired has a similarly muddled linguistic background--and it's much more recent in origin. Thanks again for the clarification. F