Kris wedge or sliver. "Kris" is the more frequently used spelling in the West, but "keris" is more popular in the dagger's native lands, as exemplified by the late Bambang Harsrinuksmo's popular book entitled "Ensiklopedi Keris" (Kris Encyclopedia). Two notable exceptions are the Philippines where it is usually called "kalis" or "kris" (although the Filipino "kalis" is a sword, rather than a dagger), and Thailand where it is always spelled kris and pronounced either as "kris" or "krit". In the Yala dialect the word is "kareh". Other spellings used by European colonists include "cryse", "crise", "criss", "kriss" and "creese." Kris history
Kris of Knaud was believed to be lost, but it remained in the possession of Knaud's family. Long after Knaud's death, during World War II, his family buried the Keris in their garden to protect it during the Japanese occupation. During the Indonesian National Revolution, they took it to the Netherlands, where it was safeguarded in the family’s bank safe. In the 19th century, a plaster cast and a photograph of the kris were kept in the holdings of the Bataviaasch Museum of Arts and Archaeology. In 1920, N.J. Krom dedicated a full page to the keris in "Hindoe-Javaansche Kunst". David van Duuren