Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Pukka Bundook · 25th November 2012, 03:51 PM

Interesting topics, gentlemen!

The listing and pics of the converted sythe blade has been removed now, so can't comment on it, but!.....when I was a lad in Yorkshire, a lot of hard up old farmers used a piece of cut-down sythe blade to make turnip snaggers.
The blade being shortened and a handle fitted.
The blade being thin, it kept nice and sharp for the job.
I remember our neighbour on the next farm cut his hand pretty badly with one of these, and it was quiter common as well!
We always had 'proper' turnip snaggers of various designs, from curved like mini sickles, to straight wide blades, to a narrow straight blade with a spike on the back at the tip, to help pull up an unwilling turnip!
So.....The item in question may have been one of these.

Druids;
I've not much patience with the 'new' druids. The old druids weren't even a religious order, more 'keepers of knowlege'
Pusaka hit the nail on the head re. this.
The 'new' ones may have been around a couple of hundred years now, but are still walking by the light of their own sparks.
Re worshipping at Stonehenge;
It is of some interest, that we are as far removed in time from the original Druids,(say 2,000 years) as the Druids were from the time when stonenhenge was built. (2700 BC)
It's possible Druids did use Stonehenge, but it was a couple of thousand years old when they got there!
Going back and re-reading what I've just writ, I think I must be an opinionated old Crabbit!

Sax;
We have a local Viking group here, who insist the "Broke-Back Sax" is the only right one.
It seems the broke back style was used more in Saxon and Anglo-Saxon knives (A-S being where the term Seax comes from)...and a bit later than some Scandanavian examples.
Very nice example you show, Kronckew!
Most Nordic saxes I have seen tend to be with a more symetrical tip.
On another forum there are some fantastic photos of original Saxes/Seaxes, and you are quite right Andi,
Most are straight handled and guardless. (Unless we get into 'Saxes" in the sagas, when it would Appear, a sax Could mean a single edged sword.

Now, to find this topic in the future, do we search for Sax, Seax, Druid, or Sythe?

All the best,
Richard.

25th November 2012, 03:51 PM	#18
Pukka Bundook Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 803	Interesting topics, gentlemen! The listing and pics of the converted sythe blade has been removed now, so can't comment on it, but!.....when I was a lad in Yorkshire, a lot of hard up old farmers used a piece of cut-down sythe blade to make turnip snaggers. The blade being shortened and a handle fitted. The blade being thin, it kept nice and sharp for the job. I remember our neighbour on the next farm cut his hand pretty badly with one of these, and it was quiter common as well! We always had 'proper' turnip snaggers of various designs, from curved like mini sickles, to straight wide blades, to a narrow straight blade with a spike on the back at the tip, to help pull up an unwilling turnip! So.....The item in question may have been one of these. Druids; I've not much patience with the 'new' druids. The old druids weren't even a religious order, more 'keepers of knowlege' Pusaka hit the nail on the head re. this. The 'new' ones may have been around a couple of hundred years now, but are still walking by the light of their own sparks. Re worshipping at Stonehenge; It is of some interest, that we are as far removed in time from the original Druids,(say 2,000 years) as the Druids were from the time when stonenhenge was built. (2700 BC) It's possible Druids did use Stonehenge, but it was a couple of thousand years old when they got there! Going back and re-reading what I've just writ, I think I must be an opinionated old Crabbit! Sax; We have a local Viking group here, who insist the "Broke-Back Sax" is the only right one. It seems the broke back style was used more in Saxon and Anglo-Saxon knives (A-S being where the term Seax comes from)...and a bit later than some Scandanavian examples. Very nice example you show, Kronckew! Most Nordic saxes I have seen tend to be with a more symetrical tip. On another forum there are some fantastic photos of original Saxes/Seaxes, and you are quite right Andi, Most are straight handled and guardless. (Unless we get into 'Saxes" in the sagas, when it would Appear, a sax Could mean a single edged sword. Now, to find this topic in the future, do we search for Sax, Seax, Druid, or Sythe? All the best, Richard.