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- Feb 15, 2002
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This is a beautiful and interesting commissioned knife commemorating an historical event from medieval times - one of the most famous annual Christian pilgrimages, and it still goes on today. In fact today, July 25, is St. James Day - what a coincidence. 
It is a journey that now has many starting points throughout Europe and they all lead to Saintiago de Compostella, a town in Spain where lie, it is said, some of the remains of the real, martyred in 44CE, Saint James of the New Testament.
I say "some of his remains" (which are considered to be holy relics) because as his martyred body was carried to Santiago de Compostella, stops were made along the way where the faithful gathered and somehow parts of him went missing.
The pilgrimage was first taken up by a charismatic Christian mystic who called himself St. James, after the real one. His story is an interesting one. He often traveled with a charismatic female Christian mystic and together they enthusiastically pursued pure love through silence, and prayer focused on a the ultimate mystical union with God. I'm not sure what to make of that but they definitely had a lot of followers, which helped with the whole pilgrimage thing.
Anyway, not far from Santiago is a very interesting place - Cape Finisterre - the western most point in Spain. The Way of St. James actually followed a more ancient Roman trade route that went all the way to what they thought was the end of all land. The Roman word for the place was Finisterrae which translates as land's end or the end of the world. Apparently the Milky Way visible in the night sky is oriented along the same direction as the route and sort of 'points the way.' It was/is a pretty big deal which is why so much symbology has developed around it.
Jerry's challenge was to build some of those important symbols into the design of this knife. He did and it's beautiful. The mammoth ivory scales are spectacular. This knife is rightly part of Jerry's National Living Treasure series. Per Jerry...
"The knife is to commentate The Way of St. James a pilgrimage that has been traveled since before the middle ages. You can Google it to learn more, there is even a movie about it. The owner of the knife was born and raised on the path.
The gold stars represent the travel at night, the shell means that you reached the end of the trip which ends at the sea. The guard ends with pumpkins or gourds that held the drinking water on the travels, even the shape of the butt cap represents the early hats worn by travelers.
The knife is a dirk style used in that area of the world.
Ladder pattern Ws"
It is a journey that now has many starting points throughout Europe and they all lead to Saintiago de Compostella, a town in Spain where lie, it is said, some of the remains of the real, martyred in 44CE, Saint James of the New Testament.
I say "some of his remains" (which are considered to be holy relics) because as his martyred body was carried to Santiago de Compostella, stops were made along the way where the faithful gathered and somehow parts of him went missing.
The pilgrimage was first taken up by a charismatic Christian mystic who called himself St. James, after the real one. His story is an interesting one. He often traveled with a charismatic female Christian mystic and together they enthusiastically pursued pure love through silence, and prayer focused on a the ultimate mystical union with God. I'm not sure what to make of that but they definitely had a lot of followers, which helped with the whole pilgrimage thing.
Anyway, not far from Santiago is a very interesting place - Cape Finisterre - the western most point in Spain. The Way of St. James actually followed a more ancient Roman trade route that went all the way to what they thought was the end of all land. The Roman word for the place was Finisterrae which translates as land's end or the end of the world. Apparently the Milky Way visible in the night sky is oriented along the same direction as the route and sort of 'points the way.' It was/is a pretty big deal which is why so much symbology has developed around it.
Jerry's challenge was to build some of those important symbols into the design of this knife. He did and it's beautiful. The mammoth ivory scales are spectacular. This knife is rightly part of Jerry's National Living Treasure series. Per Jerry...
"The knife is to commentate The Way of St. James a pilgrimage that has been traveled since before the middle ages. You can Google it to learn more, there is even a movie about it. The owner of the knife was born and raised on the path.
The gold stars represent the travel at night, the shell means that you reached the end of the trip which ends at the sea. The guard ends with pumpkins or gourds that held the drinking water on the travels, even the shape of the butt cap represents the early hats worn by travelers.
The knife is a dirk style used in that area of the world.
Ladder pattern Ws"
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