[Dan Kary]

Hi everybody,

I'm sure many of us have seen Tod's awesome new skeans and videos about them (check them out if you haven't on the Tod's Workshop and Tod Cutler channels on YouTube!).

I have a question in virtue of learning that little bit more about them. Tod highlights the unusual construction of them. There is, however, at least one skean I know of that didn't have that same construction using wedges. It uses a more or less standard peen with a pommel or pommel cap. It also has a round, non-waisted grip. Tod, as some of us might remember, used to sell one (it is still available at kult of athena: https://www.kultofathena.com/product/tod-cutler-irish-scian-or-skean-medieval-dagger/) and there are others who sell, or sold, very similar ones.

Wulflund sells this: https://www.wulflund.com/weapons/swords/other-swords/irish-skean-xvi-century-battle-ready-replica.html/

An Irish arms one was featured here: https://myArmoury.com/nateb_dagg_ia_skean.html

Apparently this style is based on one from the river Shannon. I'm wondering if this was a weird one-off, or if it is an earlier, or later development (Wulflund says 16th century, which I think makes a contemporary of the wedge constructed ones). Any insights?

Thanks guys!

Dan

[Ryan S.]

I got the impression that Tod discontinued the old version of the scian because he wasn't satisfied with its accuracy, possibly after reading the book on it. The Rambling Kern did a short review on the book and said that most repos weren't that accurate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsSdf_reEuw

I think especially the wedges isn't something that is going to be apparent from art and information about scians is rare. Do you know any information about the Shannon river scian?

[Dan Kary]

Thanks Ryan.

I don't, but I was assuming that it was three makers all basing it on the same skean find. Otherwise, was it one of them just copying the others. I'm making that assumption just to be charitable I guess. I have, in the past, tried to find the original Shannon river skean and I was never able to find it - now I am hoping somebody can shed light on this. I suppose, however, until evidence is produced, skepticism is probably the rational course.

Thanks for the video link. I will for sure check that out. I should really follow the Rambling Kern. I've watched a few of his videos and I enjoyed them.

[Dan Kary]

Another reproduction of the supposed Shannon river skean: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/13799753/

Still looking for the original though...

[Ryan S.]

I have found a possible lead on the skean:
page 45 in the pdf
https://www.limericklocalstudiesdigital.ie/files/original/61c48fd07a08949a218ee4f9302ce797.pdf

and the in the Limerick Museum:

https://museum.limerick.ie/Detail/objects/38753

I think the theory that these are misidentified has a lot of weight.

[Dan Kary]

Thanks for the links!

I'm pretty convinced now that these older river Shannon skean reproductions are fantasy rather than being based on some atypical skean - as I assumed was the case. The question nagging me now is why? Even if somebody made this thing up on the spot and called it a skean, why would everybody just copy that instead of just copying some museum work? Is it because, until recently, there wasn't much available and the only thing people had to go off of was the original fantasy skean? (assuming that it is a fantasy piece - of course absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence, but I think the time to believe something is when there is evidence...).