This is a Cretan knife. This kind of knifes started as form sometime in 18th or early 19th century and they were part of daily dress of men of the island. In some villages women used to wear it too. At least in one village it was tradition to offer a knife like this to a girl in her engagement as symbol of protection. There is a lot symbolism on this knife so it was (and it still is) an important gift between friends.
The art of knife making was so good in late 19th century and early 20th that some pieces were really jewels. Rich and important people had knifes with ivory hilts and full silver scabbards. On these scabbards sometimes we see symbols of faith (Christian or Islamic) so we can guess the ethnicity of the owner. A lot of these pieces were given as presents to foreigners.
The good old blades have T cross sections and if the have engravings they are only symbols and maybe a date in Christian or Islamic calendar.
Words on a blade almost sure indicate 20th century. Names of places like Chania indicate 1950 and on. The special word “Enthimion” (memento – remembrance), like on this blade, indicates that it is made for tourist market. This is an old piece so maybe it is not far from the original ones. Today’s tourist pieces are junk.
Till 1980 in Chania there were few famous bladesmiths who were doing fine handforged blades for customers who knew the difference between hand made and industrial pieces. Today there are some bladesmiths who make good knifes for use but they don’t care about decoration and few new bladesmiths who try to revive the tradition of the fine pieces, but it is hard.
About the use of the Cretan knife. The real ones are very good to kill and flay an animal. I have seen shepherds up on the mountains to do it amazing fast, approximately 2 minutes for a goat. I suppose it is also good in a fight. In Crete as in Corsica there is a tradition of vendetta, still alive in our days, sporadically. But they use fire weapons. The island is heavy armed with illegal pistols and automatic rifles. Almost every family has at least one, some they have big collections. If you ask them why, they reply “We have fight so many enemies in the past that we cannot allow ourselves to be unarmed if they come again”.
On this particular blade we see a poem on. It is the kind of sort poem called “Mantinada” that is only in Crete and it has to be smart. These poems could be serious as death or funny as a joke but they have to be smart, unpredictable. The good poets of this kind of poetry still receive good social status on the island and they are hundreds of them in all genders and classes.
Now the translation, maybe with few small mistakes because the writing on this blade has erroneous spelling.
“If you are alone go away and if you are ten come here
my knife fears nobody”
“Memento Chania Crete 1952”
Brave words for such small knife!
By the way in Crete and other places of Greece they still use the word “Machaira” for the knife. But the more common word is “machairi”.