medieval finnish swords / saami weapons

Rich · 8th July 2008, 05:05 PM

That Finnish machete is also made by Marttiini of Rovaniemi, Finland.
Same company as mentioned in the previous post.

Rich S

Jim McDougall · 8th July 2008, 05:53 PM

Hi Kronckew and Rich, thank you guys for responding on this. I always find the attention to some of these more esoteric topics really interesting, especially the puukko discussions. I cannot recall offhand, but how early did the puukko develop?

Rich · 8th July 2008, 08:07 PM

Jim -

The basic puukko and leuku designs have been around for several
hundred, maybe a thousand years dating back to Viking times. Of
course you never see anything that old outside of a museum. My
earliest puukko that I can date with accuracy is the late 1800's.
Although I really doubt that the Sami peoples ever used the
Marttiini machete. They certainly did use long (10-12 inch) leuku.

Here's some pics of some of my collection of Scandinavian knives.

http://home.earthlink.net/~rsblade/nordic.htm

Rich S

Jim McDougall · 9th July 2008, 04:46 AM

Thank you so much Rich for sharing those! What magnificent knives, and its easy to see how the Finns so personally treasured these, and how formidable they were in its use.

All the best,
Jim

Rich · 9th July 2008, 11:54 AM

Jim -

Thanks, I don't post much about them on this site as the puukko and leuku are
primarily tools, not weapons. Although the Finnish troops certainly used
them quite lethally during the Continuation, Winter and Second World wars.

Rich S

8th July 2008, 05:05 PM	#1
Rich Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: comfortably at home, USA Posts: 432	That Finnish machete is also made by Marttiini of Rovaniemi, Finland. Same company as mentioned in the previous post. Rich S

8th July 2008, 05:53 PM	#2
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,281	Hi Kronckew and Rich, thank you guys for responding on this. I always find the attention to some of these more esoteric topics really interesting, especially the puukko discussions. I cannot recall offhand, but how early did the puukko develop?

8th July 2008, 08:07 PM	#3
Rich Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: comfortably at home, USA Posts: 432	Jim - The basic puukko and leuku designs have been around for several hundred, maybe a thousand years dating back to Viking times. Of course you never see anything that old outside of a museum. My earliest puukko that I can date with accuracy is the late 1800's. Although I really doubt that the Sami peoples ever used the Marttiini machete. They certainly did use long (10-12 inch) leuku. Here's some pics of some of my collection of Scandinavian knives. http://home.earthlink.net/~rsblade/nordic.htm Rich S

9th July 2008, 04:46 AM	#4
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,281	Thank you so much Rich for sharing those! What magnificent knives, and its easy to see how the Finns so personally treasured these, and how formidable they were in its use. All the best, Jim

9th July 2008, 11:54 AM	#5
Rich Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: comfortably at home, USA Posts: 432	Jim - Thanks, I don't post much about them on this site as the puukko and leuku are primarily tools, not weapons. Although the Finnish troops certainly used them quite lethally during the Continuation, Winter and Second World wars. Rich S