Vintage : Hand-forged Billhook

Today : The ancient class of hand-forged billhook

Pick your choice, hunter.

I was chilling in the medieval market of Turku this Friday, wandering between all these people dressed like in the good old times when zombie hunters were still an elite to be respected, when my attention was suddenly caught by a very familiar item on a blacksmith's table. I went closer, intrigued and excited, only to gaze in awe upon... a real hand-forged ghoul-hunting billhook, shaped in complete respect of the ancient tradition ! You can't imagine my joy discovering that this arcane handcraft survived and questioned the blacksmith. With subtle riddles and secret signs he made very clear he was one of us (hammer on necklace, sharp tools all around, Elder Sign tattooed on the arm : He clearly knew how to face the unspeakable) and once trust had been gained I could have a closer look at his marvelous pieces of art.

Vintage Tools, this blog is becoming hipster.

Two models were displayed, reproducing tools from two distinct eras of zombie hunting. The elder model is the first Ghoul-Hunting Billhook shape recorded in the annals of the Karelian Historical Society for Ghoul Slaying (Yeah, "slaying" was the old term, we changed it to be more "social" and "sportive"... and not sound like mass-killers. Some people even would like to change it into "Zombie-Challenging" but that's over-politically correct. "Zombie-Preventing" perhaps ? Don't you "pssss" me, I'm still looking for better ideas !). It has the concept of short handle with a medium-length blade and - hence the name - a hook (duh). But notice how these two components are distinct : Hook on one side, blade on the other. It has been hypothesized that it was in order to accomplish a very cool efficient technique involving a back and forth movement allowing the hunter to fight in very close-combat, in the middle of a ghoul pack. Like a blady-pointy bitch-slap.

However, the model evolved with the fusion of the blade and the hook to reach the shape popularized by Fiskars we all know (and use) today.

Othal : The only Seal of Quality you need.

Notice the runic hallmark of this Artist of Iron, for those who doubted my revelations about the pagan roots of ghoul hunting.

Well, hammers were worn around many blacksmiths' necks, I think that makes it clear. What, can't you see the correlation ?

Jokes apart, I really recommend those who can meet him on this kind of events to greet the man and watch him do his work in the ancient ways :

Yeah, this little piece of metal will, somehow, become a ghoul-hunting tool, I swear.

And for all the brutes here around, NO, the anvil is NOT an option.

If you want to know more about this very sympathetic Tool-Provider, why don't you just visit his website www.takomoalkutuli.fi ? (well, perhaps because you don't speak Finnish... still, click around and you will see lots of cool things, and if you want something, just ask him, he's very open and nice. And knows why we need more billhooks.)

Our blacksmith displays a very cool zombie hunting tool. And a billhook.