Jrmungandr the Serpent

Emerging from the depths of the world sea, the serpent Jrmungandr’s unfathomably long tail remains hidden beneath the surface, a tail which, according to Norsemythology, has grown long enough to encircle all of Midgard (Earth, as you and I know it). This is one interpretation of the extraordinary work of culinary art seen here, a chef’s sujihiki, designed and crafted in northern Romania by artist Toma Fenes. In depicting this monstrous sea serpent of the deep, Toma forges two opposing pieces of solid titanium which form an exceedingly comfortable handle, finished with texture and undulations that depict the water’s waves, dozens of fine silver ten zogan inlaid dots becoming individual droplets as they reflect the sun’s rays. Those droplets having been set free as Jrmungandr’s head and open mouth protrude through the liquid titanium swells to survey its surroundings. Formed of pure silver with titanium pupils, the beast’s eyes are all seeing. Submerged beneath, Jrmungandr’s body, enveloped and partially hidden by the foamy blue waters, oscillates back and forth indicating its mode of propulsion as the sunlit silver dots above give way to a combination of brass, anodized titanium, and additional silver inlays, both on its sides and creating spikes along its back spine. As the titanium frames culminate at the base of the blade’s tang, secured to Jrmungandr’s body by anodized titaniums screws, a tail begins. Meticulously honed and razor sharp along one edge, and inlaid further still with a striking series of titanium and brass, the creature’s spiked spine takes the form of a culinary cutting tool crafted for performance. While the Norse stories profess a serpent with tail long enough to circle the globe and be grasped in its own mouth, a concept seen to represent rebirth and the cycle of life, in the case of this one-of-a-kind metallic creation, Toma caps its reach at 333mm / 13.1″, shaped not to swim, but to slice with uninhibited performance. The final material, the one to which titanium, brass, and silver have been adhered, is 26c3 ‘Spicy White’ carbon steel, the material which forms the blade’s edge, differentially hardened bevels, and of course, Jrmungandr’s body and head. A lustrous, hand-sanded satin finish and etch has brought out a beautiful hamon along the symmetrical, convex blade bevels, visually not unlike the flow of the watery home in which Jrmungandr was conceived. Art and function merge in this extraordinary piece by the maker behind Sapphira the Dragon, Jrmungandr’s distant cousin.