Author Topic: Identification: Some weird story  (Read 368 times)

Offline GoGeTa006

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Identification: Some weird story
« on: April 18, 2012, 04:36:51 PM »
My best friend died some years ago, so I cant really ask him this question so Im hoping some knowledgeable member here might answer:

He got a tattoo, they were 2 daggers in his front hip, he was going to get 2 more daggers in his back and 1 huge dagger running through his spine.
I asked him about the daggers and he told me they were the "daggers of Osiris"
I said "WTF I've never heard of osiris having daggers"
(MAYBE its not even egyptian. . .maybe its from some other mythology and he (or I) got the names screwd up)
he said, that the story goes like this:

its kind of like lord of the rings, there were 4 daggers crafted for the kings (or pharaohs? or rulers?) and there was a 5th dagger, more powerful than the other ones. . . and thats as far as I remember. . .The daggers look like those ones that arent straight (they are like rippled) and IIRC they had a gem in the handle (he only got 2 daggers before he died)

anyone know this story? maybe its not daggers of Osiris, maybe its from some other mythology (Nordic or something?)

I already tried google and I cant find anything >:(
« Last Edit: April 18, 2012, 09:51:01 PM by GoGeTa006 »

Offline kadatherion

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Re: Identification: Some weird story
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2012, 06:48:18 PM »
I said "WTF I've never heard of osiris having daggers"

Neither did I ???
And neither did I find anything really relevant on google. What follows is as such wondrously pointless.

I remember he was usually depicted with the scepter and the flagellum... and I vaguely remember Seth did cut his corpse in several pieces, but no mention of daggers that I know of (well, it's been at least 10 years since the last time I read anything about ancient Egypt myths, so I might well be wrong).
I'd say it could be from some work of fiction (or art... just like Luis Royo has mixed and matched asian myths for a couple of his artbooks) loosely based on a certain symbolism: Osiris' spine was usually symbolized by the Djed (needless to say, I wikied it for the name :P ), a pillar, and in some depictions this gets mixed with his curvy scepter and a snake.

So, we have a sort of "rippled" spine, kind of consisting with the symbolism the bigger dagger would have had, Osiris was a god of the afterlife so it comes natural to think of sacrificial daggers (not that they used the kriss or keris in Egypt, that's more of an Indian shape, but still...), plus pretty much everyone has plundered these gods for everything, from science fiction to D&D settings, so it's all become pretty confused. There might be this vaguely related imagery (or it might be me trying really hard  ;D ), but the whole thing about these daggers being made for the kings a-la LotR (if that is indeed the case) smells fishy: there almost always was one and only one pharaoh at any one time. Not so much semantically as he was a God-King (there were quite some differences between dynasties on that matter), but simply because Egypt was pretty much unified since 3000 BC and there never were different pharaohs at odds except for a couple of short periods; it doesn't seem a very likely scenario for such a legend to come up unless a modern novelist went a bit fantasy on it (Christian Jacq I'm pointing mah finger at you).

Also, then there are those tattooers who suggest you subjects they dreamt of the last time they were so stoned they'd swear it was Osiris himself who told them the story, so... who knows, hopefully the premise will click with someone else's memory.

tl;dr;
(click to show/hide)

Offline GoGeTa006

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Re: Identification: Some weird story
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2012, 09:39:16 PM »
Here, this is the shape of the blade of the daggeR:
(click to show/hide)

The handle should have a GEM in it, (there were 5 different colored gems) I believe the biggest dagger was purple IIRC, I remember red and green. . .

and thank you for the info, and it might have only been the tattoo artist's smoked-up trip. . .
« Last Edit: April 18, 2012, 09:43:28 PM by GoGeTa006 »

Offline Ixarku

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Re: Identification: Some weird story
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2012, 11:33:34 PM »
That is definitely the same blade as a kris.
It took an hour to write; I figured it'd take an hour to read.

Offline megido-rev.M

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Re: Identification: Some weird story
« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2012, 12:39:00 AM »
AFAIK that's not an Egyptian-style blade, and Osiris didn't have associated weapons let alone five daggers. It resembles an eel more than anything, so perhaps it's from some mythology that involved water serpents (what do gems have to do with the blade shape, I have no idea).

Offline kadatherion

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Re: Identification: Some weird story
« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2012, 12:05:13 PM »
Yep, the kris is a weapon from Indochina, but as it has become "famous", so to say, having been adapted in countless fantasy scenarios, we ended up giving an idealized ceremonial value to that specific blade shape, when in reality it was made like that because with such a shape once the blade is in you can't take it out without ripping the flesh (as such it was more deadly). Nowadays whenever you encounter a dagger that's supposed to be magic/ceremonial/sacrificial/special in any way in a fantasy/mythological setting or drawing, 9 times out of 10 it has that kind of blade. When it comes to tattoos it's even more common, as a straight blade is arguably more "boring" as a subject.

Still, heh, whenever I happen to drop by my tattooer's studio I have a laugh seeing how he comes up with some crazy excuse to persuade half his customers to do what he wants instead of what they planned to have done. Lots of them ask for utterly stupid or uninteresting subjects, and the tattooer always fancies himself an artist whether he is good or not, so he can't help but try to have them choose something he finds more compelling. Add that the other half of them comes up with an idea for a tattoo straight out of some fantasy novel/manga/movie/game, and you see how a tattoo studio becomes the perfect breeding ground for mishmash myths.
Lately, for instance, oriental tattoos have become pretty popular where I am, and as someone who actually studied the subject I often cringe hearing how they twist Japanese folklore creatures or historical characters ;D

Offline surdumil

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Re: Identification: Some weird story
« Reply #6 on: April 19, 2012, 01:58:19 PM »
Let's face it.  The story behind most tattoos is bound to be for purely entertainment value.
They're skin deep, after all.


Online kitamesume

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Re: Identification: Some weird story
« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2012, 01:55:56 PM »
"scars" are still the most natural and prized tattoo for most people, specially from soldiers and mercenaries.

>,> like a gun hole through the skull, dead center on the forehead... and he lives! wow...

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