The meaning of the tikel alis

[jagabuwana]

I find the tikel alis feature (ricikan) quite intriguing. Here are some questions that I have after pondering this feature.

• The sogokan, for example, is a stylised rendition of functional fullers. Very similar fullers can be seen on old leaf-shaped daggers from various cultures. Applying the same thinking to the tikel alis - does it serve a functional purpose?
• Continuing with the sogokan example again, it has function but also has taken on multiple symbolic meanings e.g. in Javanese culture as Siva's linggam or the gunungan. Does the tikel alis have a meaning?

[David]

Good question Jag.I believe that in most cases, form follows function, though i am not sure what the function of this feature might be. I suspect that there are indeed people out there who believe they know the answer to your question, though as with all things keris, there are likely to be a number of "correct" answers.

[A. G. Maisey]

In Javanese the word "alis" means "eyebrow(s)".

The word "tikel" has a number of meanings depending upon context.

However when these two words are combined into "tikel alis" this becomes a standard phrase that has the meaning of frowning until the eyebrows meet.

At least that is the way I have understood it for some time, and when I asked a native speaker she was unable to explain it clearly, only demonstrate, so she frowned, looked very fierce, and her eyebrows met.

That is the meaning of the phrase, and like just about everything in keris terminology it is a euphemism.

If we look at keris design, it would seem that the tikel alis is cut into the base of the blade to direct blood flowing along the kruwingan away from the hand.

The kruwingan morphs into the gulo milir (flowing sugar) as it enters the sorsoran, the tikel alis provides an exit from the blade for blood flowing down the kruwingan and along the gulo milir.

The purpose of a fuller in a blade is twofold, it lightens a blade and at the same time can provide a wider blade at the same weight than would be the case of a blade without a fuller.

The idea that the fuller(s) in a blade are blood grooves is a myth. A persistent myth. Fullers have absolutely nothing to do with assisting in the withdrawal of a blade from a wound, fullers are present as an element of blade design that makes the blade lighter.

Where a keris blade has fullers present, these fullers are known as "kruwingan".

The sogokan when it is present in a keris blade are not fullers, their presence appears to be purely symbolic. There was a time when I fully endorsed the idea that form followed function in keris blades, but I abandoned that idea years ago as I began to realise that the symbolic elements of the keris began to appear much earlier than I had previously thought.

The principal symbolism of the keris as Meru very probably dates from before Majapahit.

The question remains as to whether or not the tikel alis has a symbolic meaning or intent. I do not know of any symbolic meaning that is associated with the tikel alis, it might well be able to be understood in some symbolic way, but I do not know of this.

[jagabuwana]

Thank you David and Alan, but my apologies to you both as well for the silence after posing the question.

David - yes I did expect there to be many interpretations. Since posting this I have found one blog article which cites an interpretation found in the Serat Centhini of 1813 (III:235.9):

Tikêl-alis ginupita |
nêpsu tri prakara èstu |
Darana ingkang rumuhun |
mila kaping kalihira |
Maklum kaping tiganipun |
yèku nêpsuning kang manah |
Maknawi sukci rahayu ||

I am not able to make much sense of this Javanese passage after running it through Google translate.

Alan - thank you for translating the term "tikel alis" and proposing its function.

The thing that made me think of the sogokan as a fuller (function preceding form) is seeing this leaf shaped dagger at the National Museum of Korea, 2nd Century BC if my memory serves me correctly. Of course I am not suggesting that there is a connection between Korea and Java that would explain this, only that this made me wonder if the sogokan might have a functional precedent in a similar feature. This is an observation rather than an opinion, and in any case I would defer to your knowledge.

[A. G. Maisey]

Yep, that sure looks sogokanish, this sort of thing could perhaps be the forerunner, before it became something else, maybe through Chinese influence.

Is there a date on this thing?


I am not a master of Javanese, I scrape by on understandings but there is no way I can hold a meaningful conversation in Javanese, however, listening to this Javanese passage there are ideas that do come through, putting these ideas into an English form, I wonder if the message might be something like this:-

Thick, knitted eyebrows actually show a high level of anger or a heavy problem, therefore, he who is patient first finds the theme or basic idea and can understand and forgive, yes indeed, one who understands with his heart may be pure and tranquil.

does this fit the context of the rest of the text?

Incidentally, I do not use google translate or any other translator, I gave this passage to a native speaker, but according to her there were a lot of literary forms and alternate meanings and peculiar ways of saying things in it and it was not all that easy to really understand it, so I got her to read it to me a few times --- maybe more than a few. My understanding could be well & truly wrong, but I think the basic idea might be close to the mark.

[jagabuwana]

Thank you Alan and to the native speaker who helped you with the translation.

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

does this fit the context of the rest of the text?

I don't know, sorry. The article I found it from gives an interpretation of 19 ricikan, from the Serat Centhini and it might give you a better idea on this. Should it interest you, here is the link to the article written in Bahasa Indonesia.

DO NOT click on any of the hyperlinks linking out to other pages in the body of the text. It will redirect you to malware.. The link to the article itself is fine but it looks like the hyperlinks got compromised.

>>https://lsfdiscourse.org/makna-ricikan-keris-dalam-serat-centhini/<<

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Is there a date on this thing?

There was but I didn't take a photo or make a note of it, nor do they have a catalogue online that I can find it in.

In my previous post I mentioned 2nd century BCE off memory, but I'm questioning that now as it might have been from the part of the exhibition that was about the Samhan period, prior to the Three Kingdoms reaching maturity. So that would make it 1st century BCE to 4th Century CE.

[A. G. Maisey]

OK, had a look at it, it is a list of philosophical advice that has been attached to each character of a keris, so the advice attached to the tikel alis is as you have given it.

I think my understanding could be in context.

It would be nice if a really competent native speaker could have a look at it, my usual helper in Solo is not available at the moment

[A. G. Maisey]

Yeah, that blade looks pretty old, hundreds of years distant from the sogokan we know is perhaps stretching things a bit, but anything is possible.

[jagabuwana]

Thank you for looking into that, Alan. Yes there's a lot of text in there regarding the keris that would be interesting to me. I'll see if I can find a BI translation online.

For those interested, the digitised text can be found at the following link (which is safe). The relevant section is under chapter "235. Jurudêmung".

>>https://www.sastra.org/kisah-cerita-dan-kronikal/serat-centhini/962-centhini-kamajaya-1985-91-761-jilid-03-pupuh-224-238<<

[jagabuwana]

Incidentally Alan, this has brought me to a question regarding learning about the keris and the Javanese tangguh system.

Centhini and texts like it list things like tangguh and give brief descriptions about their features. If the keris is a keraton art, and Centhini (if I'm not mistaken) a compilation of texts written under keraton auspices, is it valuable towards a student learning and understanding the keris?

I ask because you have mentioned more than once on this forum that this is not possible without personal tuition from someone qualified to teach, with good keris in hand to examine and refer to. I can see how this would be the best way, maybe the only way to truly learn, so my question is mainly about the role and value of texts like Centhini.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for the Centhini link Jaga, I've copied that and put it on file, but I doubt I'll ever do anything with it.

The problem with Javanese, or at least a problem, there are many, is that it is what linguists call a "non-standardised language".

It was originally written in various non-roman scripts, when it was romanised it was not romanised in a single standard form, but apart from this, when a native speaker uses his own language he alters words and syntax.

Somebody --- it might have been Robson --- once commented that a Javanese person uses his language as if it were his own personal possession, a bit like Humpty Dumpty:-

"it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."

a person who has been born Javanese and who is living in a fully Javanese environment will have not the slightest difficulty in understanding anything that is spoken to him in his own language, but because spoken inflections as well as body language are missing from the written word, he might not as easily understand clearly something in text.

I do have access to people who are native speakers of Javanese, but their competence varies, and although they are native speakers the Javanese dialect they speak might be only one of several in which they can communicate, and they are likely to be fluent in dialects other than Javanese dialects, as well as BI, Dutch, & English.

As for useful writings in Javanese that involve the keris, Centhini or anything else, how useful they might be depends upon the aspect of the keris that is being dealt with. If the writing focuses on philosophical interpretations, or perhaps on using the keris as a method of teaching, or of providing advice, these writings might not be of much use to somebody who is only concerned with the physical aspects of the keris.

[A. G. Maisey]

Jaga, in my opinion the tangguh system is a system of belief that was developed to provide a more or less consistent approach to the classification & appraisal of certain items of value(ie, keris).

However, there is no overall consistency in the structure of the tangguh systems --- there is more than one.

I was taught the system that was the one in use in the Surakarta Karaton, and the Boworoso Tosan Aji Keris Study Society, and in Solo in general during the period from late colonial era until 1995, my teacher passed away in 1995 & I do not know if the system I was taught is still unchanged to today. I think it is still pretty much the same, but all the people who contributed to my understanding have passed away, and I am not a part of the new generation of keris literate people.

I think that perhaps the most useful way to approach the idea of tangguh, for somebody who lives outside Central Jawa, and who is a collector or student of the keris, is to understand how the system is structured and how it is applied, but not to try to apply it.

Again, my opinion, other opinions may vary, Centhini and other similar texts are all valuable foundation information. I have often said that we cannot understand the keris in the absence of having an understanding of the related culture & society. These older traditional texts will assist in gaining that essential Javanese Worldview.

[Amuk Murugul]

Tikêl-alis ginupita |
nêpsu tri prakara èstu |
Darana ingkang rumuhun |
mila kaping kalihira |
Maklum kaping tiganipun |
yèku nêpsuning kang manah |
Maknawi sukci rahayu ||

Hullo jagabuwana!

I had a quick look at the verse.
Here is my light-hearted, loose interpretation:

eyebrow-bend creation
passionately follows three points.
patience, a pre-requisite.
double
even an already-deep understanding.
enthusiastic thoughts;
meaningful, pure and of well-being.

Best,

[jagabuwana]

Alan - thank you, that is useful advice.
Amuk - Hello and thank you for offering your interpretation