How would you define this kris

[A. G. Maisey]

Ever seen the way women use a knife to cut big bits of meat and vegetables?

They place the cutting edge on the thing to be cut, then they put their other hand on the back of the knife and push down.

Two sharp edges = somebody with less than 10 fingers.

Wimmins don got no rispec fer nifes. Theys jes push the nife at the meat any ole how.

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Ever seen the way women use a knife to cut big bits of meat and vegetables?

They place the cutting edge on the thing to be cut, then they put their other hand on the back of the knife and push down.

Two sharp edges = somebody with less than 10 fingers.

Wimmins don got no rispec fer nifes. Theys jes push the nife at the meat any ole how.

And what do you think about old "pangot"? Some pangot are from "budha" iron...

[A. G. Maisey]

In which way?

Can you phrase the question to address a specific question?

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

In which way?

Can you phrase the question to address a specific question?

You maybe able to cut meat with "pangot" with such way (one hand hold the handle of the blade, and the other hand in the back of the non-edge blade). Pangot is an old form of kind of knife.. And of course, you cannot do it the same way with the kind of "sombro" type, the type of simple "keris" in the pictures...

[A. G. Maisey]

Ganja old mate, you've gone and lost me.

In case it slipped past you, I was being facetious. My fault, and I apologise. I thought my wife was the only person without a sense of humour.

I will now try to be serious, on this most unserious of subjects.

A pangot is a essentially a tool; two hundred years ago it was a carpenters' tool, but it did have other tool applications, and still does. It is enormously unsuitable for the preparation of food, both because of its blade geometry and its ergometric design---but it could be useful for slicing thin strips of beef or fish, if the blade were a little longer. I most sincerely doubt that a pangot, or any knife with the essential features of what we now know as a pangot was ever used by any woman in a kitchen, except in cases of emergency need.

I actually use a pangot quite a lot as a bench knife. There are some things that its design is very well suited to, but there are other things where it is close to useless. It is a specific tool design for specific tasks, and it handles these tasks well, but a general purpose, all angles, all directions design it is not.It most certainly is not suited to kitchen duties, especially in the hands of the average domestic cook, who wants an extension of her index finger that she can turn in all directions as she would her index finger.

In fact, for heavy cutting of food, or anything else where we cannot chop, any blade with a single edge can be used with the left hand forcing the blade down through the material, however, although this method can be used, and is used by many cooks, I think most will prefer a cleaver type blade if such a thing is available.I've seen a bendho used for this in Jawa, and a small machete and a hatchet used for it in Australia. Ultimately people tend to use the tool that will enable them to do a job with the least amount of effort.

Incidentally, a pangot is knife that has a curved profile with the edge on the outside curve; it has a longish handle and the blade comes to a fine point. From memory, I think it mostly shown in western references as a boyo knife, in Bali they call it a piso pemutik. Most pangots have a chisel grind, which severly limits directional use--- as I said, they are great for some things, for some other things they suck.Blade geometry is far from ideal for the type of cut we have been talking about .

[David]

Originally Posted by PenangsangII

In Malay keris culture, keris is a part of a complete dress and a (side) weapon. Having talismanic properties in the keris is a bonus
Also, no Malay would use warangan to stain or bring out the pamor of a keris. The use lime or pine apple juice will do just fine.

Certainly true, but i am having a hard time seeing this blade as having originated on the Peninsula, despite the dress it wears. That is what i have been hinting at with my line of questioning.
Keris with these features are generally not made to complete dress or act as a side arm. They're talismanic properties are not a bonus, they are it's purpose. I am not so sure that placing the blade in Malay dress changes any of that.
Also true about warangan. Though i didn't suggest Michel go this route himself, if this were mine i would choose that treatment. I merely pointed out that warangan could easily reveal the truth about this pamor. However, i would image that even a bit of lime would reveal without question that there is a contrasting pamor here, not pamor sanak.
Alan, your humor here has not gone unappreciated, but it can be a bit subtle at times. If you would make use of the emoticons you would increase your chances of everyone knowing when you are joking or being facetious.

[Michel]

Sorry for being so late in answering but but I had and still have, two grandchildren around and that takes time and attention. There has been a surge of exchange on this thread that is amazing. I will try to answer in the right order

Raden Usman Djogja : I join 4 photos of what I understood you wanted.They cannot be sharp all the way. I do not see luks along that blade but very tiny waviness along the edge of the blade if you look at it with one eye and a very small angle from strait along the edge.
I cannot treat it with warangan, as it not available here. What I could do is a lime/lemon acid treatment, but that is not enough, to my experience, to clearly reveal a pamor even a "pamor udan mas wengkon nguntu walang tumpuk" !
Sorry Usman, but after pamor udan mas, I do not understand. I really have to follow Alan latest advice and purchase the right kind of dictionary !

Alan: I will follow your advice ( as usual !) and try to find the Echolls and Shadilly Dictionary . Thanks for this advice.
Yes the pesi has been added after the forging of the blade and for all practical purpose I do not understand why and how they forge the blade without a proper pesi to hold it while hammering it? May be the original holding piece, that was part of the blade, broke and they had to heat weld a new pesi ? Alan, you know much better than most , how would you handle such a blade.

PenangsangII Yes Nik Rashidin was one of a kind, but not all what he said had to be taken for word of gospel, for two reasons, when he spoke English he was not at ease and often could not find the right word and second, what I understood may not have been what he meant to say !


David The sheath has been added later, it is of poor craftsmanship and it does not fit well the blade. in particular where the crescent/star is situated.

PenangsangII You say :"Also, no Malay would use warangan to stain or bring out the pamor of a keris. The use lime or pine apple juice will do just fine." I like that, as I cannot find warangan here. But theses two acids are not sufficient. My special advisor Nik Rashidin, gave me his formula without warangan and it worked on a Madura blade that I though without pamor but that finally had one.

At the end of this long discussion, I am a bit confuse about that keris.
In summary: it is a nice peninsular keris(Terengganu) , ganja iras, dapur brojol, pamor mlumah, forged for its talismanic properties with a little hole at the end of the pesi, (wall hanging or other reasons ')
Michel

[A. G. Maisey]

Michel, when you forge a keris blade, or any other blade for that matter, you do not forge the tang in to hold it whilst you forge the blade to shape.

With this blade, there are many possibilities, and I would prefer not to guess, that which I clearly cannot know.

With a keris you create a forging from which the keris can be be made, essentially by stock removal. The pesi is forged last of all, by various methods, but mostly by making a couple of cuts and then then forging the end of the bakalan down into a square peg that will become the pesi. Sometimes the pesi is not even forged---the end is left as an unformed lump, and the pesi is totally created by stock removal.

David, I'm sorry, but it will be a cold day in Hell before I ever use an emoticon.

The English language is a beautiful and complete language. It is possible to express any idea in the English language, and this is the primary reason why the English language has now become the international language of the world.

If some of the things that I sometimes write are less than obvious, it is because of my own lack of care in choice of phrasing to make those things obvious, or because of the inability of the reader to adequately understand the naunces which can occur in written English.

Because I am a charitable man I prefer to accept the blame for my own inadequacies in phrasing, rather than to point the finger at anybody's inadequacies in understanding.I would prefer to humble myself with an apology, rather than to use those horrible little emoticons.

[PenangsangII]

Wow...you guys are simply amazing, it's around 10.20 am here in Malaysia, and I have already learned so many things .

Thanks guys and cheers.

[ganjawulung]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Ganja old mate, you've gone and lost me.

In case it slipped past you, I was being facetious. My fault, and I apologise. I thought my wife was the only person without a sense of humour.

I will now try to be serious, on this most unserious of subjects..

Thanks a lot, Alan,
In many times, and many occasions, I learned from being fault. From being inadequate. Forgive me too, for that. Of course, I must agree with you on the matter in the last post. Once again, thanks so much for your kind attention...

Ganjawulung

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

David, I'm sorry, but it will be a cold day in Hell before I ever use an emoticon.

Yes Alan, i understand it is not your style. It was merely a suggestion.
I wouldn't be too hard on yourself though. While the language may be beautiful and complete,with communication though just words, without the addition of voice inflection and body gestures that accompany conversion in person, nuances can easily be lost, especially amongst readers that are not native to the English language. Still it is amazing that we communicate at all btween countries, languages and cultures. All and all i'd say we are all doing a pretty good job of it.

[Marcokeris]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

The English language is a beautiful and complete language. It is possible to express any idea in the English language, and this is the primary reason why the English language has now become the international language of the world.

The primary reason

[PenangsangII]

I would say the past imperialism, couple with the fact that more books are written in English. Not to mention other mass media. BTW, English is quite a beautifyl language

[Michel]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Michel, when you forge a keris blade, or any other blade for that matter, you do not forge the tang in to hold it whilst you forge the blade to shape.

With this blade, there are many possibilities, and I would prefer not to guess, that which I clearly cannot know.

With a keris you create a forging from which the keris can be be made, essentially by stock removal. The pesi is forged last of all, by various methods, but mostly by making a couple of cuts and then then forging the end of the bakalan down into a square peg that will become the pesi. Sometimes the pesi is not even forged---the end is left as an unformed lump, and the pesi is totally created by stock removal.

David, I'm sorry, but it will be a cold day in Hell before I ever use an emoticon.

The English language is a beautiful and complete language. It is possible to express any idea in the English language, and this is the primary reason why the English language has now become the international language of the world.

Thank you Alan, for this little lesson on keris forging. For the blades I have forged, I have utilized the system you mention: a couple of cut and then forging the end as required. On forging I am not going to dispute any points with you, you know so much more.
But on languages I beg to disagree on your statement: "It is possible to express any idea in the English language, and this is the primary reason why the English language has now become the international language of the world"

Many other languages have the same possibilities and are even better. German is quasi unbeatable in technical matters, French and Italian are very good on love and sentimental matters, Spanish is unbeaten in some special fields as bullfighting ! If you care to learn Inuit, you will discover un unbelievable number of words and expressions for ice, snow, wind and weather. In Mongolian they have created a complete vocabulary for all matters concerning horses and their environment. The local languages are the best in their own environment.
English is a very efficient, useful, versatile and beautiful language but it is not these qualifications that have made English the International Language. PenangsangII has identified one of the main reason: The past presence of the British around the world, but I think the second reason, that you are not going to like very much, is that English is an easy language to learn to speak poorly but that allows you to transmit an idea, a message. Look at all the Pidging English existing. To speak English like you do or other native English speakers do, is difficult for a non native speaker. But to speak Kitchen or Airport English is easy, we all do.
Alan, we all appreciate not only your English but your way of expressing yourself with humor and being facetious ! English was however not the subject of this thread ! But a question of classification to which I should not answer here but on the other thread: The Kigdom
Cheers !
Michel

[David]

Gentlemen, Michel makes a point that is absolutely correct - English is not the subject of this thread. For me it is clear that English has become something like the "international language" (for better or for worse) mostly due to the imperialistic nature of both England in the past and the USA in the present. I don't wish to argue this point nor see it debated here. Let's move on with matters that pertain to keris.

[Michel]

Hi David,
I am surprised by the following :
I just received a message from: ljones@vikingsword.com announcing a message from Karsten Sejr Jensen (the author of Krisdisk):
"You may find a this type of reflection pamor on a kris from Pattani on the Krisdisk chapter10 fig 194 and a kris with a rather similar type of blade with pichit markings in the Krisdisk chapter 8 Fig 118.
Kind regards
Sejr"
and giving the address :
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...7&goto=newpost
When I went to the thread, the last message is yours.
I cannot say "thank you" to Sejr and the rest of the Warung Kopi members cannot enjoy this information.
Do you understand what is happening and can you help resolve the problem ? Or do I have to report it to someone else ?
Thanks
Michel

Kind regards

Sejrdress :

[A. G. Maisey]

David, I have noted your gentle reminder that this thread is not about the English language, and this post is not intended to continue discussion along lines already defined as unacceptable by our most respected Moderator.

However, it would be remiss of me if I did not add that any remarks I may make in respect of the English Language must be regarded as the remarks of one who is unabashedly prejudiced.

[David]

Originally Posted by Michel

When I went to the thread, the last message is yours.
I cannot say "thank you" to Sejr and the rest of the Warung Kopi members cannot enjoy this information.
Do you understand what is happening and can you help resolve the problem ? Or do I have to report it to someone else ?

Michel, i am afraid i do not quite understand what you are asking here. I don't believe Mr. Jensen is a member here so he chose to contact you through the site owner Lee Jones. The link in that message brought you back to this thread because it is the thread Mr. Jensen is referring to. His book on CD, called Krisdisk, has received a bit of discussion on this forum and there is information to order it if you wish to here:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4926
I do not own it yet, so i cannot comment on the information he has passed on to you. Perhaps others who own the disk can. At this point in time i am still of the opinion that your keris blade did not originate in Pattani, though this new information might change that opinion once i actually see it for myself.

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

However, it would be remiss of me if I did not add that any remarks I may make in respect of the English Language must be regarded as the remarks of one who is unabashedly prejudiced.

Thanks Alan. Just for the record i am a bit of a fan of the English language myself and this is, afterall, an English language forum.
Now....onward please!

[Nathaniel]

Hello everyone...this is my first post...I was told by Mark Bowditch and Antonio Cejunior that I might find some answers here...

It's my Grandfather's....at least over 60-70 years old...

My Mom says that this is a dress/ ceremonial knife my grandfather was given to by her brother in Singapore......guessing it's from Malaysia...any comments...or information you might have about it...I took a close up of the emblem/ seal...it's written in Arabic...any translation???

The material seems to be some type of ivory...fittings are gold and the blade is silver...the blade is 19cm...25cm from handle to tip and 28cm when in it's sheath.

[Alam Shah]

An interesting keris, indeed. (see your post).