Stara Basn…When the Sun was God. Pretty nifty film. Definitely did not win any major awards nor should it have but still fun to watch for self styled warrior types who swing axes around:) 

Set in pre-christian times in the land that would become Poland…Stara Basn tells a familiar tale of greed and betrayal in an interesting setting. Long handed mountain axes make several appearances in the film. Not saying that we should look to this film for anything more than entertainment…just nice to see a ciupaga or three in a film.

• The Dances of Podhale (Poland)

• Joseph Needham
• Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Dec., 1937), pp. 117-119

 A Polish dance troupe dancing the Zbojnicki…a bandit dance.

Mary Barton: An Historical Tale of Poland

By Henry Krasinski

Published by A.K. Newman and Co., 1846

One of the Colonel’s coachmen, a Carpathian mountaineer proposed to exhibit a performance common in his country. He was a man exceedingly tall and broad-chested, but appeared to possess singular activity. His brown hair, hanging down upon his back was curled at the end ; a kind of short tunic of grey cloth fitted close to his waist, shewing off his admirable shape ; a large white collar was turned down over his shoulders, and above this collar ran a cord decorated with several bows of ribbons, and on this cord were strung a row of ducats separated by the bows ; these coins jingled at theleast movement he made. His legs were confined in tight, cloth pantaloons, and he wore sandals. A broad, leathern belt was buckled round his loins, and to this belt was suspended a small axe of highly polished steel, and glittering like a mirror. The mountaineer, taking off his large, broad-brimmed hat, requested one of the lackeys to station himself with his back against a tree, and to hold up a lock of his hair between his finger and thumb close to the tree, and hardly an inch from his head. The lackey feeling assured that no harm would come to him in the presence of his master, complied without hesitation, being very curious to know what the mountaineer was about to do. The latter, fixing himself at about twenty-five paces from the man, and humming a Carpathian ditty, began to whirl round upon the spot where he stood with incredible quickness and dexterity. All at once, while performing this species of  dance, he laid hold of his axe, and shouting aloud hurled it with all his might. The weapon spun round several times, gleaming and whizzing in its course, and struck asunder, between the hand and the head of the lackey, the lock of hair that he was holding against the tree, in which it was half buried, to the great surprise of every one, and particularly of the lackey, who stood staring with open-mouthed amazement, aving little expected to be made the butt of so dangerous a diversion. Had the axe struck half an inch higher or lower, it would have infallibly cloven his hand or his head. The feat was performed so unexpectedly that no time was left for reflexion, or opposition.  Although the extraordinary address of the mountaineer was greatly admired, he nevertheless received a severe lecture for having carried his temerity so far. But to convince the company of the infallibility of his hand and eye, he pulled out the axe, withdrew to the distance of fifty paces, commenced the same whirling movement of his body, hurled the weapon again, and lodged it in the same spot of the tree, the poor astonished lackey, having taken particular care, by flying for refuge behind his master, not to be again exposed to similar danger.

Universal Geography: Or A Description of All Parts of the World, on a New Plan, According to the Great Natural Divisions of the Globe; Accompanied with Analytical, Synoptical, and Elementary Tables
By Conrad Malte-Brun
Published by A. Finley., 1829

The lowlanders of past
times let no opportunity escape of harassing the mountaineers, who, irritated
or driven to despair, often invaded the plains and laid waste the
lands of their oppressors. Their enemies rarely ventured to approach the
mountain passes, those who were so bold, seldom or never returned. The
incursions have been checked during the Austrian administration, and by
the punishment of many Gorales, the rest have been intimidated. Although
prohibited from carrying the axe, they still appear with it on their mountains,
but it is no longer employed for an unlawful purpose, and every
traveller may now visit the country, or reside in it without danger. The
axe is a national arm, which the Gorales handle with great dexterity; they
can hit any object with it at the distance of forty yards; the same weapon
is considered an ornament, the people never lay it aside during their games
or the dance.

The Gorales are a fierce, highland race, constantly armed with
the axe, with which they can strike an object at the distance of forty yards; and they
brandish this weapon even at their dances and festivals. Till repressed by the vigorous
measures of the Austrian government, they were accustomed to make most formidable raids
upon the low country adjoining.

On the High Uplands
Sagas, Songs, Tales and Legends of the Carpathians
by Stanislaw Vincenz

Dance description
pg 43
What did they dance? The depicted their ancestors history and past adventures. They swung their axes at one another, erect and squatting, as though repulsing an enemy; they threw their axes from one to another, as though challenging to a fight. Then after the battle, they united, embraced, and danced in harmony. Then they ran off together with raised axes, gazing into the distance, looking for the enemy, as though storming over the mountains, capturing towns, or fleeing from pursuit; or they trotted almost in the one spot, evenly, slowly, yet steadily moving round, always in a circle…….

[The following pic is from a Polish dance manual but is really illustrates some of the things mentioned in the above quote.]

the catalog reads: No.1489 – India Battle Axe. Blade engraved on both sides. Edge of blade has brass cover to protect the sharpness, Wood shaft with tigerstripe grain. VG. $17.50

circa 1950’s…i think that was the date on the cover before it got torn off and vanished. On pg 190 thrown amidst the Indian arms section is a very interesting mountain axe wiith a very narrow waisted blade and a srong back/top spike. Looks to me to be either Polish or Slovak in origin but those are just guesses based on other examples I have seen. THis one is still mighty unique IMO.

The novelist had just returned from a walk
with his daughter when I presented myself at
his cottage at Zakopane in the Carpathian Mountains.
His naturally olive complexion was
flushed with the exercise, and he flourished a
ciupaga (or hatchet-headed mountain-stick)
gleefully as he stepped buoyantly into the room.

He
is a rugged fellow, rather big for a mountaineer,
muscular and alert, and scant of words. His rough, weather-beaten countenance, with two deep, parallel scars across his nose and high cheek-bones, shines with deep-set, wolfish eyes, squinting from under his mushroom-shaped hat, shiny from frequent contact with milk and butter, and commonly surmounted with an eagle’s feather. Over his coarse, wide-sleeved linen shirt, which does not reach his waist, a
big ten-inches-wide belt of three-ply cowhide, ornamented, and weighing over fifteen
pounds, encircles his body like an armor, and shines with four large brass buckles and many brass and silver gewgaws, which jingle at his swaggering gait. A shaggy sheepskin serdak, with
long, yellowish wool, covers his back. On his tight woolen trousers, patched and
darned at the knees, there had once been blue and red embroidery, now mostly rubbed off.

Jedrek was a typical yuhas, and a yuha.s is the nearest type to the now dispersed zboiniks, or Tatra brigands. His great vital power, and his intense passions, insufficiently controlled by reason, often bring him into fights that frequently end fatally, for he always carries a sharp ciupaga, or tomahawk-like ax.

In Poland, which is a typical flat country, with only one chain of mountains rising abruptly at its edge, the difference between the mountaineer and the lowland type is most striking. The corals, or mountaineers,
as little resemble the Polish peasants of the plains as do the lofty mountain regions the wide, level fields of Sarmatia.

The ravine of Sohickowa, which is a favorite rendezvous for lovers, has an eventful history, and there fierce tragedies sometimes break the monotony of cow-bells and melancholy songs. Goral fantasy and superstition readily turn natural happenings into myth and poetry. One late afternoon, while resting under a juniper bush at the edge of the ravine, in the twilight that follows the glow of a red sunset, I saw a goral youth (judging from appearance, a yuhas), followed by a girl of our neighborhood, running stealthily down the ravine, pushing aside the branches of elder bushes, and throwing frightened glances behind.

They had scarcely gone over the edge of the ravine, following one of the many parallel cattle-trails, when a young fellow jumped from behind a spruce, and, facing the yuhas, demanded, “Where to?”

They stood for a while motionless, parley, no dispute ; neither could speak for anger, but they understood each other.

Finally, when the yuhas pulled the lass by the sleeve, and attempted to pass, the other flung himself on his enemy with the fury of a panther. Two ciupagas flashed, but soon were dropped, and they then clung tightly to each other. For a while they struggled for equilibrium, then fell down on the broken slate, and continued
to fight, silently, as they rolled down the slope from bush to bush. Mud covered their garments and filled their hair, and blood began to trickle over their faces.
Some juniper bushes now covered the combatants, and I could hear only heavy breathings and groans. Since they had dropped their weapons in the first moment of the fight, I had not looked for serious consequences ; but now I thought it necessary to interfere. Before I reached them, they released their hold. The yuhas with curses disappeared among the spruce-trees, leaving the other panting on
the stones with a broken rib. With my help the latter got up, and, slipping and stumbling, limped home. Next morning l saw him lying in front of his parents’ house. He never mentioned the cause of his illness, and when old Tereska, who knows the marvelous power of weeds, was called to cure him, she announced, with all certainty, that “Vilkolak” had had him in their arms.