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41.520 Carcan Asu, Javanese-Balinese notes on dogs’ marks, especially for hunting: cod. 9262 (Krt 392). 41.600 Sharp weapons, especially crisses (poniards, often with undulated blades), lances (often halberds with fantastic shapes) and, to a lesser extent, swords always were of interest to Javanese gentlemen. Crisses (English-Dutch spelling of the Javanese këris, commonly called creese) occupy im portant places in Javanese mythology and legendary history, and in former times many Javanese families of consequence kept some sharp weapons as heirlooms (pusoko). Pusciko crisses, lances etc. were given individual names with the title kyahi, and they were regularly cleansed and “fed” with incense. The religious care of the weapons amounted to a fetish cult. In 40.250 ithe interrelationship of the Ja vanese armourers’ lore and magic has been mentioned. Crisses also had a connection with divination: the blades were measured with the breadth of their owner’s handpalms. The number of times it went was considered an indication of the criss’s good or bad in fluence on the owner’s fortunes. Crisses and lances are divided into many groups according to their shapes, which have names, known to the connoisseurs. Apart from the veneration for the weapons as heirlooms and fetishes, they were also prized as works of art. Collections of valuable crisses belonged to the cherished possessions of princes and noblemen. Beautifully worked crisses were given as presents of honour by Royalty. Beside the blades of the crisses, the hilts and the sheaths also were made into exquisite

works of art by special artisans. In East Java, Madura and Bali wooden and ivory hilts were elaborately decorated with car vings, often representing human heads or figures belonging to epical history (wayarj heroes). In Central Java, as a rule, the decoration of criss-hilts was simpler. Neither hilts nor sheaths were venerated to the same degree as the criss-blades. In pre-Islamic Javanese literature crisses are already mentioned. In the beginning of the Muslim era, in the flourishing period of the Pasisir (North Coast) culture, in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, tales of mirac ulous weapons and of great armourers seem to be on the increase. There is reason to suppose that increasing international traffic along the coasts of South-East Asia some how was instrumental in the flourishing of the armourers’ art in Java, perhaps by bringing a large supply of good steel. Java nese legendary history links tales of great armourers with the appearance of the walls, the apostles of Javanese Islam (see 24.700). The legendary connection of the armourers art (and some other arts and crafts) with the venerated walis, as patrons, may be a reminiscence of the flourishing of art in general in the period of the Pasisir culture, which also saw the spread of Islam. Pasisir culture, the arts, Islam and the walis were closely connected concepts in the Javanese mind (see 15.600, 31.080, 42.100 and 43.000). Beside the few texts on crisses, lances and other sharp weapons, registered below, there are several notes on the subject scattered in books of notes and compendiums, often provided with illustrations. References can be found in the General Index under the