Odd Text on German Hunting Sword?
 

Hi Guys

This German Hunting sword is inscribed with text on both sides. Side one is Ein Jaeger hat stets verlangen mit wenig Muhe viel zu fangen "A Hunter always desires with little effort to catch a lot", however I have no idea what language the text is in on the other side, can anyone help?

Cheers Cathey

Paging Udo ;).

Sorry, but I can't help, this is absolutely unreadable and certainly not German.

My first thoughts were also calling on you Udo!! as you always have the answers to the mysterious markings and cyphers etc. especially in these European blade matters. However this inscription on the one side of the blade is of course not German, but really not of a particular language at all. As it happens I have been just working on some of this esoterica, and can add this suggestion based on what I have been covering.



Howard L. Blackmore ("Hunting Weapons" 1971, p.41) best describes these conventions of inscriptions etc. on German hunting swords blades through 18th century.

"...in hunting the swordsman often needed more than confidence in his blade. It had to possess some mystical quality to spur him on to greater deeds or bring him luck.On many hunting sword blades therefore magical signs or numbers are engraved for this purpose".
He also notes that often a hunting scene or motto may accompany this type motif....in the case of this example, the two are distinctively separated with motto on one side of blade, the 'occult' on the other.

In looking at the 'magical' inscription there does not appear to be any sort of linear contunuity, therefore likely an amalgamation of interpretations of characters perhaps from different alphabets or scripts. There seem to be resemblances to those of Hebrew (with Cabalistic assoc.); Glagolitic (old Slavic); and even the celestial (angelic) script (Agrippa 16th c) further with similar Enochian (Dee & Kelley 16th c.).
It would seem this inscription was likely contrived to add the magical impetus much desired in Germany in these hunting swords.

It is notable that similar thinking brought these kinds of conventions to military swords as well in these times, adding talismanic quality to the blades much valued for similar reasons.

Sources listed by Blackmore;
"Waffen mit Astrologischen und Kabbalischen Zeichen"
Karl Graf Rambaldi, Z.H.W.K. Vol. IX (1921-22) pp.128-138

Cronau(1885) Weyersberg (1926)

The text in the picture above is indeed nonsense but in down it's German and readable. Text in German reads: "Ein Jäger hat stets Verlangen, mit wenig Mühe viel zu fangen"
free translated: A hunter always desires to catch a lot with little effort.

Regards,
Detlef

"Ein Jäger hat stets Verlangen, mit wenig Mühe viel zu fangen" is already known since the first post:D

As previously noted in my earlier post, the inscription on the obverse (?) side of the blade is actually not 'nonsense' but though not readable as far as wording, the letters typically have singular occult meaning. This idea is based on the character of the 'letters' not having alphabetic value but possibly certain occult (=magic) qualification.

Perhaps someone out there might be aware of an alphabet which these characters might belong to, but as I cannot see a linear syntax (Im no linguist!) this assemblage of letters/characters appears to fall into the category of talismanic invocations noted.

Lol, overseen, sorry! :D:D

Sorry Jim, to me it was nonsense, I have no knowledge of this area. I should stick to ethnographic weapons better! :D

Regards,
Detlef

Thank you for the note Detlef. Actually this is a very esoteric area, and as can be seen in most mention as well as in most references, these kinds of markings and inscriptions are seldom discussed, or even noted. These subjects have intrigued me for more years than I can say, and while I have studied such topics deeply, I cannot claim any profound knowledge either. I just know what I have discovered generally.

There are many cases of inscriptions on blades which appear to be just jibberish, such as groups of letters on blades of Caino in 17th-18th c. which appear to be acrostics or some sort of coded sequences.

Your knowledge on ethnographic weapons is impeccable....rock on!