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The shepherd's axe is a long thin light axe of Eurasian origin used in past centuries by
shepherds A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
in the
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
and in other territories which comprise today
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
,
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
and
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
. The features of a shepherd's axe combine a tool with a walking stick, that could be used as a light weapon. It has symbolic historical and cultural connotations and is still used as a prop in many traditional dances, for example the
odzemek The Odzemek (in slovak Odzemok) is a Slovak solo traditional dance for men which always has an improvised character. The dance starts out slow and gets faster as the dance goes on, and is traditionally danced in Slovakia and also Moravian Wallachi ...
.


Languages

Depending on the language, the axe is called as follows: ; , lit. "Romanian";
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
(depending on the region): ''ciupaga, rąbanica, obuszek, cekanka, wataha, wataszka'', the latter two from Romanian ''vătaf'' ("master shepherd"); ; ; , lit. "Romanian"; ).


Appearance

A shepherd's axe is a light
axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
with a long and straight wooden shaft, often with a metal butt. The length of the shaft is usually slightly more than 1 metre. The shafts were usually engraved as their owners had plenty of time for crafting. A small metal head-piece is sharp on one side while the other side is flat and can be used as a hammer. The head-piece is formed to fit comfortably into the hand so the shepherd's axe could be used as a walking stick. Today's shepherd's axes are mostly decorative, some having
golden Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall * Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...
or
silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
head-pieces (mostly brass, iron, chromed iron, wood or aluminum – it is rare that any axe head would be made of solid gold or silver). Many are considered works of art (esp. those made up to the 1960s by highlanders). They were skillfully stamped/adorned according to ancient tradition. The main motifs were the sun, stars (whirl), comets, tree of life, flowers, trees such as fir or spruce, and various geometric designs. Some smiths used many different, elaborated stamps.


History and usage

The first written mention of the shepherd's axe comes from Emperor
Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ( ...
's court.Magyar Demokrata
2009-09-04, in Hungarian
It is also depicted on
Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
imagery. The first users of the shepherd's axe were Eurasian nomads. Many of them were found in Avar graves. Besides the common Eastern steppe varieties, Avar influence too can be felt on the Hungarian shepherd's axes. In the 9th century, Magyar warriors used light axes on long shafts, called ''fokos'', in their military arsenal during their invasion of Central Europe.Honfoglalás kori fokosok, balták és bárdok
Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( hu, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA) is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. Its ma ...
, Zsolt Petkes, in Hungarian
Apart from them, the
Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...
and also the
Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the Al ...
and
Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
used similar weapons.
Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Eastern ...
shepherds brought their shepherd's axes into
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
when they migrated along the
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
and
Dinaric Mountains The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and He ...
from the 14th through 17th centuries{{cite book, last=Reychman, first=J. , title=Peleryna, ciupaga i znak tajemny, year=1971, pages=68 These were used by shepherds as versatile tools, providing a small axe, a supplemental hammer and a walking stick. Although a shepherd's axe could not be used to effectively cut down heavy trees, it was still able to cut smaller branches. In
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
and
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, shepherd's axes were inseparable tools of native shepherds, together with heavy decorative belts. In the
Slovak culture The culture of Slovakia has various folk traditions influenced by its location in Central Europe. It shares similarities with Czech, Austrian, German, Hungarian and Ukrainian culture. Folk tradition Folk tradition has rooted strongly in ...
, the shepherd's axe was popularized by local historical legend
Juraj Jánošík Juraj Jánošík (first name also ''Juro'' or ''Jurko'', ; baptised 25 January 1688, died 17 March 1713) was a Slovak highwayman. Jánošík has been the main character of many Slovak novels, poems, and films. According to the legend, he robbed ...
. In
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, modified axes were also used as martial weapons by Hungarian warriors in the early modern period, used, for example, in the 18th century in Rákóczi's War for Independence against Austrian soldiers. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Hungarian
Kuruc Kuruc (, plural ''kurucok''), also spelled kurutz, refers to a group of armed anti-Habsburg insurgents in the Kingdom of Hungary between 1671 and 1711. Over time, the term kuruc has come to designate Hungarians who advocate strict national ind ...
leader
Imre Thököly Imre is a Hungarian masculine first name, which is also in Estonian use, where the corresponding name day is 10 April. It has been suggested that it relates to the name Emeric, Emmerich or Heinrich. Its English equivalents are Emery and Henry. ...
and his soldiers used shepherd's axes as weapons. Hungarian shepherds in the northern regions used them also as tools. Many people of the
Halychyna Galicia ()"Galicia"
''
Oleksa Dovbush Oleksa Dovbush ( uk, Олекса Довбуш) (born 1700, Pechenizhyn Kolomyia— died 24 August 1745) was a famous Ukrainian outlaw, leader of opryshky, who became a folk hero, often compared to Robin Hood. Biography Oleksa was born in the ...
.


Present-day usage

At present, shepherd's axes are still made and sold as souvenirs and for decorative purposes. They are also still used in many traditional dances. Occasionally they may be seen in the
rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
parts of the country where older men still use them as walking sticks. They are rarely used as tools or weapons.


Gallery

Image:Klimek3.jpg,
Klemens Bachleda Klemens "Klimek" Bachleda (13 November 1851 - 6 August 1910) was a pioneering Polish mountain guide and mountain rescuer in Austria-Hungary. He died during an unsuccessful mountain rescue attempt in the High Tatras. By . Biography Early and per ...
holding a ciupaga Image:Wladyslaw Skoczylas - Janosik.jpg,
Juraj Jánošík Juraj Jánošík (first name also ''Juro'' or ''Jurko'', ; baptised 25 January 1688, died 17 March 1713) was a Slovak highwayman. Jánošík has been the main character of many Slovak novels, poems, and films. According to the legend, he robbed ...
holding his valaška Image:Thokolyi.jpg,
Imre Thököly Imre is a Hungarian masculine first name, which is also in Estonian use, where the corresponding name day is 10 April. It has been suggested that it relates to the name Emeric, Emmerich or Heinrich. Its English equivalents are Emery and Henry. ...
holding a modified fokos Image:Bajurak.jpg, Opryshok Vasyl Bayurak holding ''bartka Image:Obst WPD bartka.jpg, Depiction of ''bartka'' by Severyn Obst (1882)


References

Axes Carpathians Hungarian culture Polish culture Romanian culture Slovak culture Ukrainian culture Weapons of Hungary Weapons of Poland Weapons of Romania Weapons of Slovakia Weapons of Ukraine