Origin of the term Eisenhauer

qusko · 18th August 2025, 03:53 PM

I am sharing some samples of eisenhauer blades dating 1849 from polish lost items in II world war :
http://dzielautracone.gov.pl/katalog...kt/?obid=50479
http://dzielautracone.gov.pl/katalog...kt/?obid=50881

Additionally pictures of eisenhauer blade mark on one side and M&C on the other side. Can someone tell me who could be a manufacturer? Usually those blades are German, but sometimes also Dutch. I guess some Solingen manufacturer but don't know which one.

Gonzoadler · 19th August 2025, 09:26 PM

Hello,

I want to try to answer the initial question of this thread:
Here in Germany the general explanation for blades marked "Eisenhauer" is, that their quality was tested by cut an iron nail pinned in wood in two pieces without any visual damage on the blade after this test. Some sources say that this is also the origin of the german word "Nagelprobe", but this is uncertain and there are alternative explanations.

Regards
Robin

Jim McDougall · 20th August 2025, 02:01 PM

Robin, thank you for bringing up this old thread. Its funny looking through the entries and one mentions the futility of discussing the ULFBERHT inscriptions on 9th century blades. We've come a long way in the past 11 years

Ironically, we are presently discussing just that on a concurrent thread.

With 'EISENHAUER', just as with the ANDREA FERARA conundrum (whether an actual maker or term 'good steel') and others, it is often hard to get to the bottom of the kinds of thinking that went into these blades.

There were British military swords in the 19th century marked LEAD CUTTER.
I had a Chinese sword with very old blade which was marked in old Manchu script rarely seen, when I finally got the translation, it was simply characters indicating essentially 'good steel', or to that effect.

So while sword blades are often emblazoned with mottos, invocations and magic or talismanic motif, the more mundane character of quality and reduction to simple commercial motivation is often the case.

As Sir Thomas Mallory said in "Le Morte d'Arthur" (1485), "....the name of the sword sayd the lady is EXCALIBUR, that is as muche to say, it cuts stele".
The complex etymological analysis of the word goes to old Welsh, Cornish and Breton terms bringing the Welsh compound 'caled' (=hard) and 'bwich (=breach, cleft), and there are other complex versions to the Welsh author Geoffrey of Monmouth (c,1136) 'caliburnus' deriving from latinized chalybs from the Greek word for steel.
In this maelstrom of linguistic and etymological confusion it seems that literary genesis was keenly at hand in using descriptive and meaningful words for swords very much in the age old convention of naming weapons from the age of the Vikings.

qusko · Yesterday, 10:42 PM

Does anyone know the mark M&C I have mentioned earlier?

18th August 2025, 03:53 PM	#1
qusko Member Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 64	I am sharing some samples of eisenhauer blades dating 1849 from polish lost items in II world war : http://dzielautracone.gov.pl/katalog...kt/?obid=50479 http://dzielautracone.gov.pl/katalog...kt/?obid=50881 Additionally pictures of eisenhauer blade mark on one side and M&C on the other side. Can someone tell me who could be a manufacturer? Usually those blades are German, but sometimes also Dutch. I guess some Solingen manufacturer but don't know which one. Attached Images

20th August 2025, 02:01 PM	#3
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,537	Robin, thank you for bringing up this old thread. Its funny looking through the entries and one mentions the futility of discussing the ULFBERHT inscriptions on 9th century blades. We've come a long way in the past 11 years Ironically, we are presently discussing just that on a concurrent thread. With 'EISENHAUER', just as with the ANDREA FERARA conundrum (whether an actual maker or term 'good steel') and others, it is often hard to get to the bottom of the kinds of thinking that went into these blades. There were British military swords in the 19th century marked LEAD CUTTER. I had a Chinese sword with very old blade which was marked in old Manchu script rarely seen, when I finally got the translation, it was simply characters indicating essentially 'good steel', or to that effect. So while sword blades are often emblazoned with mottos, invocations and magic or talismanic motif, the more mundane character of quality and reduction to simple commercial motivation is often the case. As Sir Thomas Mallory said in "Le Morte d'Arthur" (1485), "....the name of the sword sayd the lady is EXCALIBUR, that is as muche to say, it cuts stele". The complex etymological analysis of the word goes to old Welsh, Cornish and Breton terms bringing the Welsh compound 'caled' (=hard) and 'bwich (=breach, cleft), and there are other complex versions to the Welsh author Geoffrey of Monmouth (c,1136) 'caliburnus' deriving from latinized chalybs from the Greek word for steel. In this maelstrom of linguistic and etymological confusion it seems that literary genesis was keenly at hand in using descriptive and meaningful words for swords very much in the age old convention of naming weapons from the age of the Vikings. Last edited by Jim McDougall; 20th August 2025 at 02:16 PM.

19th August 2025, 09:26 PM	#2
Gonzoadler Member Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: Germany Posts: 272	Hello, I want to try to answer the initial question of this thread: Here in Germany the general explanation for blades marked "Eisenhauer" is, that their quality was tested by cut an iron nail pinned in wood in two pieces without any visual damage on the blade after this test. Some sources say that this is also the origin of the german word "Nagelprobe", but this is uncertain and there are alternative explanations. Regards Robin

Yesterday, 10:42 PM	#4
qusko Member Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 64	Does anyone know the mark M&C I have mentioned earlier?