"A rechta Bua hoat a feitl, feia und a schnua", is an old Bavarian and Austrian saying. It translates loosely as "a true boy has a jackknife, fire, and some cordage".
Not long ago it was customary for gents, boys, but also girls and women, not to leave one's home without some basic implements. My grandma always carried a small kitchen knife, a bit of twine and a lighter in her apron dress. My father carried two knives, twine and a lighter whereever he went, even when just going out onto the property, not to mention my grandfather and granduncle and grandaunt.
Pocket knives, contrary to popular beliefs, are actually really old. A knife from Hallstatt shows striking similarities to really modern pruning knives:
(Picture from Österreichisch
es Nationalmuseum)
The knife shown in the picture is dated to the iron age, maybe to the Latène period.
In the Roman empire, there were simple knives like the aforementioned example, but also far more eloquent pieces:
The picture shows what is often called a "Roman Swiss Army knife", which is perfectly relateable.
Other examples from the Roman empire offered a single blade, but a no less eloquent handle.
(Picture Copyright by https://coriniummuseum.org/object/1980-109-22-2/)
The knife, which was found during excavations in Bath, offers a rather distinct blade. It could be called a "clip point ", because, well, that presumeably is how it was made.
The word "Feitl", usually referring to a simple knife with no spring or locking mechanism, might refer to Middle High German "viddelen" (to play on a fiddle, to mess about, to tinker). It might also have sexual implications. We will see later on that there are children's culture rituals that might hint of such an implication.
(Picture Copyright by Feitlclub Trattenbach)
Looking at a contemporary example of a typical Feitl from the Trattenbach region in Austria, it bears striking similarities to those examples from Hallstatt and the Roman empire. Even the blade shape is almost identical to the example from Bath. Actually there is a huge number of similar pocket knives from the Roman empire with a more or less eloquent handle, but almost identical blades.
This has something to do with the manufacturing process.
In the video, you can see that the steel sheets are clipped and the edge line is forged (cold) to shape. This method is maybe not the most sound way to do it, metallurgically speaking, to put it politely, but there is no mistaking the fact that it really is economically efficient. We do not know how the Roman knives were forged, but there are few other ways to do it economically efficient than like that, and given that there are a lot of finds from the iron age like that, it is probable they did it in a very similar way.
Which puts the little knife in a very interesting position. There seems to be some kind of continuity from the Hallstatt period to the 21st century. The thing is, quite possibly the use of a pocket knife has not changed too much. It is safe to say, by the way, that it is part of the things that make up human culture.
Assuming that the etymology I postulated is correct and hints of the process of "fiddling with something" or "tinkering", it becomes evident why that might be. It was used for whittling, cutting cordage, making shavings for fire starting, but also for games that hint of an older, maybe folkloristic context.
There are different blade shapes, too.
(Picture Copyright by https://www.momentothek-oberwart.at/detail/4868-herr-rudolf-wagner-erzeuger-des-woadafeitl-warter-feitel)
The knife shown in the picture was made in a different community in Austria, the village of Oberwart, in the year 1954 by one Rudolf Wagner. The handle was made from lacquered horn. The bolster design bears striking resemblance to another kind of Austrian knives, the often quoted "Drudenmesser" variety.
And while the Feitl is obviously an utility knife, the use is not always utilitarian. Several house manuals from the 16th to the 20th century hint of an apotropaeic function of simple utility knives, too. Means, the eloquent knife handles and speciality blades of the Drudenmesser might have not been exactly cheap.
(Picture Copyright by https://www.domquartier.at/hintergrundgeschichte/fraisenkette-und-drudenmesser/)
Often forged and tempered to very specific requirements, some of them sometimes a bit superstitious, the handle made from chamois horn and heavily decorated with inlays, sometimes bone or mother of pearl, silver and brass, a common farmer might have been hard-pressed to afford a knife like that. Instead, there are also a lot of examples that appear to be decorated after buying.
The original Trattenbach Feitl was none too shabby, either, though. They were, as opposed to other contemporary pieces, forged from highly refined steel, the so-called "Scharsach" steel, which originally was reserved for weapons, scythes and scissors.
(Picture Copyright by https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Museumsdorf_Trattenbach_Museum_in_der_Wegscheid_14.jpg)
Those knives were of legendary quality and the edge retention qualities must have been quite outstanding. They were sold far and wide, even to the American colonies where they became known as "penny knives".
Have a look at Keith's awesome blog for more info:
Also, there are several videos about these knives in the longhunter period in the American colonies. Look at this example:
These knives were a treasured possession, a staple utility knife and a source of entertainment.
Kids and adults alike in Austria and Bavaria used the knife in several games of blades. In the Trattenbach region there was the game of "Messerln". A half-opened knife was thrown into a wooden chopping block or table or bench from a height of about 50 cm. The one whose knife opened in the process to stand more or less perfectly upright, won. Given the knife is working on friction alone and rather light, this would require technique, a lot of force and finesse, so it was a feat of strength and skills, but also intelligence and coordination.
This doesn't seem in any way special, like many games like that, worldwide, but especially in the Alpine countries. Games like that are, in a way, part of human nature.
In children's culture rituals in the region, the loser of such a game often got the handle of his knife "intersected", together with mocking, satirical rhymes. This might hint of an older ritualistic background. It is, of course, neigh on impossible to say, but one might be able to postulate a ritual of fertility behind the rustic, but somewhat innocent endeavour. And of course, to postulate a continuity reaching back to the iron age is outright silly, for lack of evidence.
The use of even the humblest of utility knives as apotropaion, however, is so well documented for every human culture on earth, that it is almost commonplace. Sigmund Freud also documented the connection between knives and sexual impulses empirically.
The game quite certainly is reserved for boys and young men. But there are also rituals with a "Feitl " documented for girls. One folk custom is to go out in the night of the winter solstice alone, and without speaking a word, and carving a heart into an evergreen tree with the blade of the Feitl. Returning home in silence again, it is said that that the would-be bride sees her future husband in her dreams.
A possible interpretation of the name itself and the action of "fiddling with something" also has some rather rustic sexual connotations. To "fiddle" with a woman is a metaphor for sexual intercourse. Nowadays, the connection to weather rituals in folk customs doesn't seem obvious, but the connection e.g. between rain and the knife seems no longer too far off if you take into account another etymological interpretation. In Nether German there still is the term "fiseln/fisseln/fieseln" which refers to a light drizzle. It derives from Old Nether German and Old High German *fîsil/fithîl, which literally means "penis". The German dialect word "pieseln" is a verb referring to a lighter intensity of urinating, but also to a light drizzle referring to rain. Thing is, Middle High German and Old Nether German *fîthil could become Feitel in Early Modern High German according to Verner's laws of diphtong change. It is of course a rather daft analogy to associate a knife with a penis and a penis with rain or even storm. But even today we call rain names like that in a colloquial or dialect context.
My theory is getting further emphasis by the existence of folk customs like throwing a knife into the storm with the blade towards the wind in a similar manner as in said game. Or into the soil in order to attract rain.
Another custom was to write incantations like AGLA or
SATOR
AREPO
TENET
OPERA
ROTAS
on the blade and to stick it into a roof beam in order to fend off evil spirits like Drak and Trud/Drud or the Tut-Ursel, a spirit akin to the Béan-Sídhe, or, more prosaic, lightning strike.
There are, of course, several more folk customs centered around knives in the Alpine regions, but also the rest of Germany and Austria.
Any Feitl could be an Apotropaion, not only the more specialized "Drudenmesser", and these customs were followed often until the late 20th century.
The cult of Mammon-Satan, aka Miltonesque capitalist society, put an end to a lot of these cultural customs and led to a loss of a whole lot of intangible cultural heritage, in a rather prosaic way. Of several hundred manufacturing sites in Trattenbach, only two still produce the original Trattenbach Feitl on site, and they honestly work to rather modest standards of quality. But in 2015 the process was somewhat slowed, or, hopefully, even halted. The manufacturing process is now part of the intangible cultural heritage of the UNESCO which is a beacon of hope, so to say.
Actually, the use of the knife should also become part of that protection.
What gives me some hope, is that young knifemakers in Austria start to discover the topic, too, without trying to compete for cheap price policies from abroad.
(Copyright by https://www.kalderum.com/product/87-damaszenerstahl-feitl-alle-verkauft)
Examples like that might be close to the original image of the original standards of quality, before they became "penny knives ".
The culprit is, on one hand, this is a knife that really prominently shows the cultural relevance of simple utility knives as an everyday item, but also as a part of our humanity and culture. On the other hand, this is also humbling, because this is, what people carried, who were depending on their tools to a much higher degree, than we modern couch-potatoes can even imagine. With but a knife like that, flint and steel and a bit of twine, the boys of these times were able to brave the mountains. And maybe it often was making all the difference between thriving and death.
I do have a lot of fun researching the topic, a right rabbit hole, and maybe that is not the last you have read about it here...😉
