How tough guys carry knives!!

[jackreacher]

So, how do tough girls carry their knives?

 

[C.S. Graves]

So, how do tough girls carry their knives?

Similar to how a legendary female keris maker used to quench her blades...

 

[Bill Marsh]

Similar to how a legendary female keris maker used to quench her blades...

I remember that story! Damn! What was her name? She was a traveling empu and made the old sajen kind of keris that was all metal. A little figure for the hilt. She carried all her keris-keris on a belt made of string. About a dozen of them at a time.

They were mostly agricultural talismans.

What was her name? This is going to bug me until I remember.

One of the very few female empus ever! Maybe the only one.

True, the story you refer to is a legend in Java.

She was really a hot mama! I'll be back with her name.

 

[tedwca]

http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000906.html

Quote by: wong desa

The name of the female empu was Sombro--Empu Nyai Sombro.


According to Silsilah Empu Tanah Jawa by Pangeran Wijil of Kartosuro she worked during Pajajaran era.
She was descended from Empu Manca who was son of Marcukunda.
Her descendant was Gede Gunung Tawang and she had niece whose name was Rara Sambaga who was also an empu and was daughter of Empu Kuwung.
Rara Sambaga was mother of Empu Purwasari.

The Sombro line included number of famous empu like Damar Jati and Cublak and it ended with Gede Metaram.

Rara Samboga line ended with Purwatanu.

According to belief Empu Sombro used to make very small wide thin keris .
We now call these type of keris "Keris Sombro".
They have hole in the end of the tang .
People believe that when Empu Sombro had made some of these keris she would string them on thread and tie it around her waist and walk from village to village selling her work.

These were and are talismanic keris and the hole in the end of the tang is ideal to hang the keris.

Kerner calls these keris "brojol with the eye of a needle" and is aware of attribution to Sombro .
In his book called "Origin of Early Kerises" he puts forward some very peculiar and culturally and technically insupportable ideas on these kerises and others.

But he supports his ideas with statistics.

Anybody interested in keris should read Kerners work.

 

[tedwca]

Yay for google!!

 

[Bill Marsh]

Yay for google!!

Thank you Ted! Now I can sleep tonight.

Empu Nyai Sombro!

Dave Henkel tried to say she used her mouth, but Rick had it closer to the legend.

I saw the name of the guy who posted Empu Nyai Sombro in that thread. He is the nephew of one of the greatest Javanese keris experts in the world!

"Wong Desa" was his forum name which means "Village Person." Don't think he was in the music group.

Now Ted, if you can tell me the name of the empu for Sultan Agung in 1600 ad. . . . . . . . . . . seriously. I have a keris, a Mataram Senopaten that may have been made by him.

Somewhere there is a chronolgical list of empus and the sultan / kings they worked for.

I have the books by Martin Kerner that Wong Desa mentions at the end of the quote Ted was so kind to bring us.

Kerner is a very strange guy. I like him. The books are not in print. Small private publishing. His uncle helped me get copies. They are friends --- well, they know each other.

You are going to have me digging again and I just put all my books in boxes so I can build a bookcase and organize them! Well, not going digging tonight. Think I will hustle over to Home Depot tomorrow and get some boards.

 

[tedwca]

These pages may help, I also have a page that is no longer a valid webpage I'll send you. I'm not sure if it will help or not.

http://www.nikhef.nl/~tonvr/keris/keris2/keris08.html

http://old.blades.free.fr/keris/introduction/kingdoms.htm

I think the name you are looking for is Empu Ki Nom, I'm just guessing though.

Found it here, but haven't translated it yet. Good luck!!

http://www.geocities.com/javakeris/seniman.htm

Sigh, now you've done it, I stumbled upon Javanese spears, the Tombaks. I love spears!!!

Fun link also:
http://old.blades.free.fr/spears/spears.htm

 

[Leatherface]

Spears are KEWL!


Chics dig spears!

 

[Bill Marsh]

Sigh, now you've done it, I stumbled upon Javanese spears, the Tombaks. I love spears!!!

I love them also. A little hard to photogograph. Long skinny things. But here are a few spear heads.

#1 Rare hunting spear from the Island of Nias, Indonesia.

#2 Moro (Budiak) Philippines Pamor blade

#3 and 4 Very well made, but I can not find amything like it. Guessing PI, possibly Nias

#5 Strange combination of Talismanic Moro Budiak (Spear head) and Moro Sultan Scepter handle. I bought a large Moro collection and did not ask for this, but the seller included it as a present. I am very glad that he did. Really well-done and has become one of my favorite pieces.

 

[Bill Marsh]

Well, I could not stop there.

1 Kalinga harpoon. Philippines, kalinga are a sub-group of the Ifuago. Harpoons were used on land as well as marine. on land the head was supposed to separate from the shaft and then the dangling shaft would get caught in brush and keep the animal from fleeing.

2 , 3 Igorot Kayyan ceremonial (Philippines)

4, 5 (Central) Iinda Sang all steel spear. This piece came from the New York Opera. It was used as a prop until 1920 when an employee bought it for his personal collection. Originally a cavalry spear for a noble. Possibly from the arsenal at Tanjore.

 

[C.S. Graves]

Empu Nyai Sombro!

Dave Henkel tried to say she used her mouth, but Rick had it closer to the legend.

I first heard the story about ten years ago from Alan Maisey of Tosanaji... his particular phrasing if I recall correctly was "quenched in a very delicate part of her anatomy".

OUCH!

That's one tough cookie!

 

[Bill Marsh]

I first heard the story about ten years ago from Alan Maisey of Tosanaji... his particular phrasing if I recall correctly was "quenched in a very delicate part of her anatomy".

OUCH!

That's one tough cookie!

Alan was my teacher for three years. Most of my Javanese and Balinese kersi came from him. He is an incredible man. Business matters on my end interferred with the depth of studies Alan and I wanted, so I have taken a sabattical. I am close to being aboe to have the time to resume my work with him.