Celt (Gaulic) Ring-Handled Knives

[Uath]

I became interested in Celtic weapons after having my DNA tested. I knew I was mostly Scottish, but the results were 87% Scottish and the rest Western European of mostly Celtic type (little Scandinavian or Mediterranean). I thought, being a knife enthusiast, it would be fun to get a belt knife that reflected my Celtic roots, made in the ancient way and demonstrating a definite ancient Celtic pattern.

The problem is that most Celtic knives in the archeological record are pretty standard knives, similar in manufacture and pattern to the rest of Europe. Swords demonstrated Celtic type, but knives not so much.
There is one however, the ring handled knife.

This knife pattern appears in most Iron Age Celtic digs, but it's primarily found in what was then Northern Gaul, and what today is Belgium and Northern France, right along the North Sea. That's not surprising, because the area was known for it craftsmanship and weapon production, along with neighboring Frisia (Netherlands). The area has been a center of trade since the Mesolithic and remains so today.
In all probability, the ring-handled knife was a common pattern produced in the area and traded throughout the Celtic world. No doubt it was produced in other areas, or even in other cultures. There is nothing new under the sun. A knife with a ring made out of the end of the tang is liable to turn up anywhere, but it was hugely popular in Western Europe during the iron age.
Knives of any type, were probably expensive and represented a free man. Slavery was widespread in the ancient world. Slaves, particularly in Northern Europe, were forbidden to carry blade of any length, under penalty of death. Only free men could carry knives, so they were incredibly important.
That being said, the ring-handled knife seems to be a common-man's weapon. It's not fancy. The handle would have been of plain wood (if there were metal fixtures on the handle, they would have survived) or, simply wrapped in cord.
It's a sturdy, simple weapon. That is, if it's meant to be a weapon at all. There's a chance they are working knives, but they don't look it to my eye. Certainly there would be better designs for butchering fish or cutting meat, you never know, but these have the look of weapons and, when I got one, the feel.

Wulflund forge, in Bulgaria, makes several Celtic Ring knives in different sizes. They modeled theirs from a specimen unearthed in Northern France. They use traditional techniques and make them just like the originals (except they use spring steel). I bought one and love it. I carry it all the time when I walk on my farm.

The ring is anybody's guess. It makes pulling it from the sheath super easy, who knows? It might have been designed to hang from a belt hook, there have been designs like that in other cultures. It might be designed to hang on the wall, or for hooking your little finger through (no). If you stick your finger through when you stab?? In the end, I think the ring makes a good pommel and it makes pulling it out of a pouch sheath fast and easy.

 

[Mecha]

I like it!

 

[Lapedog]

The pattern looks somewhat similar to the peasants knives carried on the French mainland which evolved into the modern butcher knife we know today. The handle that sits behind the dropped edge so that way no guard is needed is what made me draw the comparison. I don't know enough to say if there is any historical relation.

In Korea they used to produce a local pattern ring pommeled sword before Japanese arms began influencing Korea. The ring pommeled sword often looked like a Chinese jian with no guard and a ring at the pommel.

 

[naturalist]

In the last few months, there is a book on my desk that i borrowed from library:

Arms of the Sakas and other tribes of the Central Asian steppes / by Burchard Brentjes

There are many ring knives from long long time ago.

 

[O' Dubhthaigh]

Ive been pretty interested in Celtic history for quite awhile. I have a pretty old Irish history, as in family members have kept a pretty thorough family history running back to the 1500s. From Ireland to the US. Thats how i got the bug, lol. I used to be amazed that a lot of ancient knives and swords were so much alike, and, seemed to me to be more utilitarian tool than weapon. But then if you look at the Celts, the many tribes were spread out from the current British isles, all over Europe, Russia, Scandinavia and everywhere inbetween. And what we know of them, they were farmers, fisherman, trappers, lets say blue collar. With their own ruling and religion. Not really a part of the local populations but part of each other, spread out over a large area. Kind of nomadic. Knowing that, it makes sense that their tools would have evolved into weapons. And the weapons would have been an easy transition. The ring knife, if analized, would make a perfect tool for a livestock man, in earlier forms. As time goes on, they evolve into a side arm type of weapon. And that a lot of tools and weapons over a large area would be very similar, with a few differences due to geographic specialties. Or i could be completely wrong. Wouldnt be the first time.