Úlenklawe wiärd báren (Owl´s claw is getting born;-))

 Okay, here they come.. some progress shots of my Sica, now aptly named Úlenklawe. In my local vicinity there was a special language spoken (some elderly people still speak it). It is called Nether German and has close affinity to Dutch and even English. I am lucky to have been one of the last people to learn some of it and to deepen my knowledge at the university. I find the sinister Reputation of the Sicarii in the Roman empire inspiring, and was needing to express some of my own feelings along the lines of this conceptual piece. The owl hunts stealthily, and stealth is what I want to achieve. Not for any sinister reason ;-), but to blend into the forest in skóggángr practice. Also, the line of the blade follows a whiplash line, making it very effective in slashing strokes and freehand cutting as well as whittling and harvesting herbs. It has a very dynamic feel to it.

 I used the elder Futhark runes to carve the name into the integral bolster. By the way, the blade is forged from an old HSS chisel I found in the woods. The piece above is reindeer antler carved with a meander pattern. The handle itself is desert iron wood that will see some carving, too.

Of course, the overall concept is anachronistic, but for me exemplifies an essence of what is wild and ferocious in the woods. It is the "black-handled knife" of a druid, to an-alyse away what is not necessary in the spiritual and intellectual world, and a knife to draw out a border-not against the world of demons or sprites, but against humans who are the demons of our time.