Jarnfjǫðrin - The Iron Feather - Complete!

[Alveprins 359]

Hi all!

 

First - some lore! 

 

Disguised as the wanderer "Grimnir" - the god Odin once told the young Agnarr - son of King Hraudung about the god's two companions.

He told the young prince about the two ravens - Hugin and Munin; which every single day flies all over the earth and brings news and tidings back with them.

 

Grimnir (Odin) said the following:

 

Old norse:

Huginn ok Munin
fljúga hverjan dag
Jörmungrund yfir;
óumc ek of Hugin
at hann aftr né comiþ,
þó siámc meir um Munin.

 

Modern English:
Hugin and Munin
fly each day
over the spacious earth.
I fear for Hugin,
that he come not back,
yet more anxious am I for Munin.

 

An interesting thing to take in here, is that the name Hugin means "thought" while Munin means "memory". 

 

Design:

As I was - a while back - asked to create a knife based on Hugin and Munin, I came up with the concept of an "Iron Feather" as I thought it fitting.

I formed the blade edge to curve more or less identical to that of the upper beak of a common raven, and gave the tip a bit of a broken back as to give it a bit more of an aggressive point as well as a slight reference back to the more traditional seaxes.

I forged the pattern welded steel in a very high layer count in order to crate something similar to fine lines as seen in feathers. When observed in sunlight - the blade displays a shimmering almost 3d-effect.

 

The blade is in two bars 1056 layers of folded and twisted farrier's rasps and 15n20 steel, engraved and inlaid with copper and 24kt gold.

The handle is in stabilized black Hornbeam, with a bolster in Inconel 718 -engraved in a relief w. inlaid copper and gold - as well as the names of Hugin and Munin on each side.

 

The sheath is in 4 layers of 2mm thick leather with a frame of hand cut and brightly polished brass.

 

Knife stats:

Blade length: 13cm 
Blade width: 2,8cm
Blade thickness: 3,8mm
Handle length: 13cm
Weigh W/O Sheath: 153 grams
Hardness at edge: 58 HRC

 

And then there is, of course.. a few pics.. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that's about it!

 

Alright, gonna sharpen this baby up and get a certificate going. Delivering this one in person tomorrow. 

 

Have a wonderful .. week? I suppose...

 

Sincerely,

Alveprins.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Alveprins

[Doug Webster 110]

Gorgeously perfect.   I wonder if Hugin and Munin are one and the same just living in different periods of time.   

As thoughts take to flight they quickly become memories.  Thanks for sharing. 

[Alan Longmire 3,678]

Always excellent to see new work from you!  Functional art at its best. 

[Ron Benson 100]

Absolutely gorgeous!

[Doug Lester 400]

WOW!

 

Doug

[Alex Middleton 831]

Knocked it out of the park again!

[Brian Dougherty 1,376]

Wow   Most impressive!

 

Your hilts/handles are always full of features, but you stretched your wings on the shaping of that one.

 

 

 

[Alveprins 359]

Thank you all for your kind words!

 

On 9/13/2021 at 2:22 PM, Brian Dougherty said:

... Your hilts/handles are always full of features, but you stretched your wings on the shaping of that one.

 

I stared at so many raven-pictures online I thought I'd go crazy, but inspiration eventually prevailed... 

 

I had budget limitations on this one as it was a commission - and I had to restrict myself. Actually, I would have liked to layer rows of feathers into each of those contours - but that would be way too costly. I would have loved to put a kind of butt-cap on the back of the handle as well, in pattern welded steel, engraved etc. etc. - but again - not in the budget. Which is why I hate working on commissions... 

 

I feel it ended up ok though, although sanding those tight corners is a bit of a pain... 

 

Delivered it to the customer the other day, and he seemed happy - so all is well! 

[Don Abbott 335]

It was well worth the work you put into it.

 

Very nice indeed.

[Al Massey 75]

The fear of losing memories is well understood as you get older.