Help identifying a knife -- myArmoury.com

Matt Bessler · Posted: Sat 08 Aug, 2015 2:02 pm Post subject: Help identifying a knife

I found this knife while cleaning out my grandpas workshop, it was his fathers knife. It is relatively old, approx. ~1920s (I think). Was just wondering what kind of knife it was.

Timo Nieminen · Posted: Sat 08 Aug, 2015 3:45 pm Post subject:

Scandinavian knife. A lot of people will call all such knives "puukko", after the Finnish version. I'd guess that this one is Norwegian, since those are often fancy dress knives (and the metal fittings on the sheath make this relatively fancy compared to the typical Finnish and Swedish knives). The Norwegian dress knives are called "bunadskniv" (I think).

Ken Speed · Posted: Sat 08 Aug, 2015 5:17 pm Post subject:

I'm largely in agreement with Timo. I'm about as sure as I can be that this is indeed a Scandinavian knife. Timo could very well be correct in saying that this is a Norwegian knife but I've also looked at photos of early Finnish puukkos that look very similar to this knife.

Mikko Kuusirati · Posted: Sun 09 Aug, 2015 7:39 am Post subject:

Yeah, it's a Fenno-Scandian knife, quite a bit more decorative than the typical all-purpose, every-day-carry tool but of entirely traditional form. Historically, a wealthy man might have worn a fancy thing like this as a piece of functional "bling" (and of course they were popular with knife-wielding thugs-cum-folk-heroes, too, the gangbangers of their day). It could be from anywhere around here, really - Finland, Sweden, Norway, possibly even Denmark.

That said, it looks very much like the ones popularly worn with folk costumes. On the off chance that it actually is such an accessory, with a bit of luck someone familiar with the myriad regional styles might be able to pinpoint the location quite precisely. Happy

Tjarand Matre · Posted: Sun 09 Aug, 2015 1:37 pm Post subject:

I think the oldtimers here in Norway refers to knives with that kind of scabbard chape as "Finnkniv" (Finlanders knife). There were a lot of Finnish immigrants in Norway and I have seen this angeled scabbard design several times in antique shops and at knife shows. Not a very common design for "Bunadskniv" though, they usually don't have an angeled scabbard tip.

Harry Lindfors · Posted: Sun 09 Aug, 2015 9:59 pm Post subject:

It's a traditional Finnish puukko, from the Pohjanmaa- area of Finland, on the western coast of Finland. It even has a name, Kauhavalainen, which is puukko- design for the traditional costume and carry of the men in that area. A bling item.

Here's a link to a puukko-page. It's in Finnish, but just roll down to "KAUHAVALAINEN PUUKKO JA SEN KEHITYS", and you can see numerous knives of similar design:

http://www.puukkoseura.fi/doc/suomalainen_ja_...c255852425