Originally posted by firkin
To me, and I think most others in the US, "Scandanavian" means orginating (or intended to resemble item) from the geographic area that includes Norway, Finland and Sweden, and culterally related directly adjacent areas.
Geographically speaking Scandinavia is Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Finland is outside Scandinavia but belongs to "Norden" or The Nordic Countries where also Iceland falls into.
Originally posted by firkin
The Saami people would be, perhaps incorrectly (at least in ethographic terms), thought to be a subset of "Scandinavians". So while certainly imprecise, Scandinavian would not be an incorrect description.
Right, geographically speaking it makes sense.
Originally posted by firkin
When available here, items like the one in the link above are usually called "Leuko", or perhaps "Lapp knife". "Lapp knife" seems to be as imprecise as "Saami", since it merely seems to convey that it is in the style of one of the knives made by Lapps, which as far as I know includes, but may not be limited to the Saami. Smaller knives like that illustrated below are often called "Saami knives" by importers to the US.
That hunting knife in the picture on top is the hallmark of the Saamis. Maybe the Finns use it too and call it leuko, I don't know. I think leuko and puukko are Finnish words but I don't know how the Finns use those words, maybe they mean Saami by one of them, I don't know. I am rather confused on this subject you see.
When it comes to the leukos and puukkos and all that then I don't feel that I can say what is the correct terminology for what type of knife. Those knives are unfamiliar to me and besides, the problem with the Finns and the Saamis is that they have had a lot of coexistence and exchange of language and culture and genes. Categorizing into Finnish and Saami (Lapp) is then very difficult I think. Probably you have to be Finnish or Saami to know. With my knowledge so limited on Finnish and Saami style knives I cannot do it.
In Norway I think the knowledge of the existence of smaller Finnish and Saami (Lapp) working knives like the one in your picture are totally unfamiliar. We have our own producers of traditional Norwegian knives and anything else is never found on the Norwegian market. So your knife market is probably more diverse on knives from the Nordic countries than inside any of the Nordic countries themselves.
The only knife of Saami origin that is familiar to me and other Norwegians is this one:
http://hjem.get2net.dk/vofl/Lilbaek/Finnmarken/kniv.html
And we just call it Saami Knife (samekniv). That was why I had the quick knee jerk reaction when someone called it a Scandinavian.
Originally posted by firkin
Can you clarify? Perhaps "Scandinavian" has a more precise meaning to you. I guess you ought to know
I only use the term Scandinavian on blade type.
But that picture you put up screams Saami. It reminds me of their hats where something always swings out from them like on that peculiar ending of the sheath there. I suppose it could have some old religious meaning. But the blade looks Scandinavian. They adopted our blade style maybe. I would call that knife a Saami handyknife.
PS: Never say Lapp to a Saami. He might get offended. It is not their own name on themselves. The Swedes have called them Lapps, but I think the Swedish PCs have deemed that word racist now.
