Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 #1 Share Posted August 14, 2012 (edited) I don't know if this is the right forum to post this. Long ago, like 30 years something, I bought a double bladed axe on some flee market in The Hague. All I remember of the thing is that the guy said he got it from some castle. He obviously didn't consider it very valuable because, when he noticed I kept staring at it, he showed me how strong the blade was, and hacked into an oak beam with full force. I don't have a camera, so I simply put the blade of the axe on my scanner. What I want to know is this: what kind of pattern is this, Celtic, Gothic, Saxon? Where is it from , if it's not fake (or a mere modern copy)? How old (the blade itself is made of steel)? The scans of the sides of the axe are not very sharp, but here they are anyway (they are converted into greyscale, but that's only to save memory space; the original color is almost the same) Edited August 14, 2012 by Abramelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterII Posted August 14, 2012 #2 Share Posted August 14, 2012 $39.99 plus shipping and handling 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterII Posted August 14, 2012 #3 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 Author #4 Share Posted August 14, 2012 That's no answer. I didn't pay much for it, but so did someone else when she bought a dinner plate with an engraving on a flee market in Amsterdam.. It appeared to be a sketch made by Rembrandt, and was worth a 100,000 dollars.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 Author #5 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Ah!! That's better. Well, where did you find it, and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterII Posted August 14, 2012 #6 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Dragon headed horse is a common Chinese motif. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterII Posted August 14, 2012 #7 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Nortstarzone.com Stylized battle axes were quite popular with the D&D crowd of the '80s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 Author #8 Share Posted August 14, 2012 (edited) Dragon headed horse is a common Chinese motif. But the pattern doesn;t look Chinese, and I recognize the eight-legged horse of Odin: Sleipnirr. ========== From the url of the photo you posted: Decorative Medieval Battle Axe Features: Steel axe head Unsharpened Horse design on head Grooved wooden handle Great decor item. Measurements: Head: 8 1/2" Overall: 25" Our Price $39.99 +S&H sm . http://www.freewebs....esspearsetc.htm Edited August 14, 2012 by Abramelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 Author #9 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Nortstarzone.com Stylized battle axes were quite popular with the D&D crowd of the '80s God, it's from Dungeons & Dragons?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterII Posted August 14, 2012 #10 Share Posted August 14, 2012 I didn't count the legs, sleipnirr it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 Author #11 Share Posted August 14, 2012 OK, so very probably it is a modern thing. However, with a bit of luck it is a copy of a real medieval axe, so what do the patterns symbolize? Is it Gothic, Saxon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterII Posted August 14, 2012 #12 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Is that a rabbit behind the horse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 Author #13 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Is that a rabbit behind the horse? Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 Author #14 Share Posted August 14, 2012 (edited) I think the fourth image is Fenrir. And the pattern with the man and woman (second scan), intertwined or whatsitcalled, maybe the Web of Wyrd. If that's true, then the pattern is an Anglo-Saxon one. . Edited August 14, 2012 by Abramelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HunterII Posted August 14, 2012 #15 Share Posted August 14, 2012 I'm thinking Norse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 Author #16 Share Posted August 14, 2012 I'm thinking Norse OK, thanks Hunterll. If you are into these kind of things, please post what you think it all symbolizes if you have some kind of source you can consult. And why do you think it is Norse and not Anglo-Saxon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 Author #17 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Dragon headed horse is a common Chinese motif. I found a couple of better photos here: http://www.darkknigh...battle-axe.aspx And I enlarged these photos: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 14, 2012 Author #18 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Here is the other side (I couldn't attach both photos in one post): It seems you were right after all, bwahaha !! But mine wasn't made in China (can't find "Made in China" anywhere on the blade). OK, but I am still interested in the symbology, assuming it has not all been made up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Spartan Posted August 14, 2012 #19 Share Posted August 14, 2012 So...Abe...Do you always buy stuff like these on the whim.?? Is your house littered with stuff like these? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 15, 2012 Author #20 Share Posted August 15, 2012 (edited) So...Abe...Do you always buy stuff like these on the whim.?? Is your house littered with stuff like these? Not always, but sometimes I did, yes. And yes again, my house looks like a second-hand shop, a pawn shop, or what's the name? It's a mess. I also had a saber once (and an authentic one), from Pakistan ( I once demonstrated to a friend it was a real saber: I took the thing and stabbed it right through a door; you can still see the hole).. But I lend the saber to an Israeli friend of mine who was a photographer. I guess the Palestinians took the sword from him when he returned to Tel Aviv (or Afula, a village north of Tel Aviv, where he was born), and used it on him. I never again heard a single word from him. And on that same flee market I bought a little black figurine that looked exactly like a chess piece. It was a small raven/crow/rook and on the bottom of the 'pedestal' the rook/raven was perched on there were words written on it, but I still have no idea what it meant or what language it is. The reason I think it is maybe a chess piece is because of the way it looks; some creative mind may have created a real rook (a corvid) because that is what the castle/tower in the chess game is called. ++++++++ EDIT: I scanned it just now: It's about 2 inches high. ++++ That is weird: I tried to attach the scan, but the editor said "there is no file to attach, so I uploaded the scan to my Photobucket account. And then I see the attachment showed up anyway, lol. But I paid 25 guilders for the thing back then. That's 12 euros now. Btw, I tried to make a scan of the underside (with those words inscribed on it), but that failed. . Edited August 15, 2012 by Abramelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules99 Posted August 15, 2012 #21 Share Posted August 15, 2012 But I paid 25 guilders for the thing back then. That's 12 euros now. Btw, I tried to make a scan of the underside (with those words inscribed on it), but that failed. . Hi Abe; Thats interesting; do you know what material its made from, glass, metal, ceramic? and is the corvid separate from or part of the base it sits on? Cheers...just curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted August 15, 2012 Author #22 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Hi Abe; Thats interesting; do you know what material its made from, glass, metal, ceramic? and is the corvid separate from or part of the base it sits on? Cheers...just curious It's made of wood. And the rook is connected to the 'pedestal', or what should I call that thing it is perched on? It looks like it is made from one single piece of wood, and the 'crow' part is blackened. But now you make me doubt.... It is the same size as a regular chess piece. LOL, I even used it as 'King' when I played chess with a Serbian friend of mine. He thought I was nuts, but I won the game anyway, hah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simbi Laveau Posted August 15, 2012 #23 Share Posted August 15, 2012 http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskelion Celtic triskelion is in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simbi Laveau Posted August 15, 2012 #24 Share Posted August 15, 2012 And just because there are modern replicas of it,doesn't mean its not from an ancient original design . That was done all the time,and then mass marketed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simbi Laveau Posted August 15, 2012 #25 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Not always, but sometimes I did, yes. And yes again, my house looks like a second-hand shop, a pawn shop, or what's the name? It's a mess. I also had a saber once (and an authentic one), from Pakistan ( I once demonstrated to a friend it was a real saber: I took the thing and stabbed it right through a door; you can still see the hole).. But I lend the saber to an Israeli friend of mine who was a photographer. I guess the Palestinians took the sword from him when he returned to Tel Aviv (or Afula, a village north of Tel Aviv, where he was born), and used it on him. I never again heard a single word from him. And on that same flee market I bought a little black figurine that looked exactly like a chess piece. It was a small raven/crow/rook and on the bottom of the 'pedestal' the rook/raven was perched on there were words written on it, but I still have no idea what it meant or what language it is. The reason I think it is maybe a chess piece is because of the way it looks; some creative mind may have created a real rook (a corvid) because that is what the castle/tower in the chess game is called. ++++++++ EDIT: I scanned it just now: It's about 2 inches high. ++++ That is weird: I tried to attach the scan, but the editor said "there is no file to attach, so I uploaded the scan to my Photobucket account. And then I see the attachment showed up anyway, lol. But I paid 25 guilders for the thing back then. That's 12 euros now. Btw, I tried to make a scan of the underside (with those words inscribed on it), but that failed. . Ahhh,here I am telling one of the biggest skeptics on here. When items won't photograph well,or always come out blurry,and or won't scan load et ,it usually has *something* attached to it,that isn't so agreeable about it all . One of my cats won't photograph . All his shots look like something blurs his face . Hundreds of shot. Camera works on everyone else. Multiple cameras,won't work on him . I have a few pieces of jewelry like that too . heh .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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