Tom Hyle wrote: k(e)ris seems to have been in former times a weapon on Java; now it (at least primarily) is not, and this is the situation that has obtained for some time.
In Javanese legend death in which a keris was involved two blades. The first happened whe Aji Saka came from Hindustan and his Javanese servants fought to death over the custody of his keris. The second was the famous keris of Mpu Gandring which was involved with the founding and the deaths of the kings of the Singasari kingdom in the 13'th century. Afterwards a cowardly king of Mataram who sold out to the Dutch East Indies Company (a stupid move which still affects Java to this day) executed the people's rebel and hero Trunajaya using a keris.
In the wayang kulit shadow puppet ceremonies many kerises are found. Arjuna had a straight keris called Pulanggeni. Krisna had a keris of the simple Brojol shape. The demon Buta Cakil always comes out and fights and gets killed by his own keris.
The Javanese keris is a weapon but not in the same meaning as Exalibur was a weapon. A keris is a 'sipat kandel' something to make the bearer more confident and to esoterically protect him/her. It is a weapon that is weilded not by utilizing the sharpness and the strength of the blade. Rather it is weilded by the proper care of the blade which is believed to activate the Mpu's prayer beaten between the hammer and the anvil. Kerises were used in the Independence wars of 1945-1949 but they were not used to stab Dutch people as the war was mostly fought with fire arms. Indonesian guerrillas just felt better bringing their keris with them to battle.
Keris production in Java stopped after the Great Depression and died out during and after the Japanese Occupation. In the 1970-1980's several sons of Mpu families began to make keris again. Now there are several keris makers in Solo, Yogya, and a whole village in Aeng Tong-Tong in Sumenep in Madura. Most tourist keris are now made in Aeng Tong-Tong. The tourist industry also keeps several keris makers occupied in Bali. In the whole of Indonesia there are probably a handfull of keris makers who can still follow the old knowledge of making keris; Pauzan Pusposukadgo in Solo, Jeno Harumbrojo in Yogya, several people in AengTongTong. All keris out of Java are younger than the Majapahit Empire and that all keris used as a weapon in the physical sense are not from Java.
Salam Keris
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