Bonecrest Hand Forged 1095 Steel Norse Sword | 36 Inch Overall with a 30 Inch Blade | Bone White Grip, Brass Disc Pommel and Full Elder Futhark Blade | Viking Collector Gift | RK-1741

A Norse sword in 1095 high carbon steel with a long slender blade, a brass cross guard whose quillons droop slightly towards the point, a smooth bone white grip and a plain brass disc pommel. Cut along the flat of the blade is the complete Elder Futhark, all twenty four runes in their proper order. It ships with a pale scabbard fitted with a brass throat and chape.

That order is not arbitrary and it is not modern. The runes have a fixed sequence, divided into three groups of eight called aettir, and we know it because somebody carved the whole thing onto the underside of a stone slab in a grave at Kylver on Gotland around the year 400. The Kylver stone is the oldest complete futhark in existence, and every rune row cut since, including the one on this blade, follows the sequence it preserves. Why the alphabet was laid out that way instead of following the Latin order it was partly borrowed from is still unsettled. This sword is forged, ground, heat treated, engraved and fitted in Memphis, Tennessee.

Specifications

Reading the rune row on the blade

The Elder Futhark takes its name from its first six letters, f u th a r k, in the same way that alphabet comes from alpha and beta. It has twenty four characters and it was used across Germanic Europe from roughly the second century to the eighth, after which it split into the shorter sixteen rune Younger Futhark in Scandinavia and the expanded Anglo Saxon futhorc in England.

The shapes are the way they are for practical reasons. Almost every rune is built from straight strokes, and almost none of them use a horizontal line. That is because runes were originally cut into wood along the grain, and a horizontal cut runs with the grain and disappears, while a vertical or angled cut crosses it and stays visible. Carve the Latin letter E into a plank and you will see the problem immediately. The alphabet was designed around its material, which is not something you can say about many writing systems.

The three aettir, groups of eight, each traditionally take the name of their first rune. This is the structure the Kylver stone records, and it is also how rune magic in later sources is organised, with runes referred to by their position in an aett rather than by name. Having the whole row on a blade is a statement rather than a message: it is the alphabet itself, complete, rather than a word spelled out of it.

1095 steel, brass and the grip

The blade is 1095 hardened and drawn back to 54 to 58 HRC, which is the working range for a long sword blade. Harder than that and a thirty inch blade snaps instead of flexing. Softer and it will not hold an edge. The blade is ground with a long distal taper, meaning it gets thinner as well as narrower towards the point, which is what keeps the mass back near the hand and stops a sword this long feeling dead in the wrist.

The fittings are brass. A brass disc pommel this size does real work as a counterweight because brass is denser than steel, and the tang is peened cold over the pommel face so the guard, the grip and the pommel are held in compression with no glue and no threads anywhere in the assembly.

A word on the grip, because it matters. It is finished bone white and it is meant to read like a bone or antler hilt of the kind you see on Scandinavian finds. It is not ivory, and we do not sell ivory. It is a shaped wooden core with a smooth pale covering, sealed so it does not soil from handling. We would rather tell you exactly what it is than let the colour imply something it is not.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this sword that is a real decision, because the existing engraving is the full twenty four rune row. If you want a name instead, the whole futhark comes off and your text goes on in its place. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

This is a one handed sword with a slim profile and it feels lighter in the hand than its length suggests, because the taper takes weight out of the last third of the blade and the brass pommel pulls the balance back. Held with the index finger against the guard the pivot sits a few inches ahead of the cross, which is a lively setting rather than a chopping one.

The quillons angle forward towards the point. That is not decoration. Angled quillons catch a descending blade and steer it away from the hand rather than letting it slide straight down the bar, and they also sit more comfortably against the forearm when the sword is carried on the shoulder. Keep the grip loose and let the last two fingers do the holding.

Display it flat on a stand with the rune row facing outward, not standing on the point. A sword resting on its tip is putting its whole weight onto the thinnest part of itself, and over a few years that shows.

Care

1095 is not stainless and it will corrode if it is neglected. Wipe the blade with a clean dry cloth after handling and lay a thin film of mineral oil or blade oil over the whole surface, working it into the cut runes with a cloth so the grooves do not hold moisture. Bare fingerprints will start to etch carbon steel within a day or two. There is more on steel care.

The pale grip is the part that shows dirt, and it is worth handling with clean dry hands. A slightly damp cloth wipes it down and it should be dried straight afterwards rather than left wet. Do not use solvents or alcohol wipes on it. The brass will patinate and can be brought back with a little metal polish on a cloth, keeping the polish out of the engraved runes. Do not store the sword inside the scabbard for long periods, because a closed scabbard traps humid air against steel.

Forged in Memphis

The blade is forged, ground and heat treated, the rune row is cut, the brass guard and pommel are made and fitted, the grip is built up over its core and the scabbard is fitted, all in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. Nothing about this sword arrives here finished from an importer. Each one is built when it is ordered, so allow one to two weeks of processing before it ships and a little longer if you have asked for a custom rune line in place of the futhark. Shipping inside the United States is free.

A note on handmade variation

This sword is hand made, not machine made and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The rune row is cut one character at a time, so the spacing and the depth breathe slightly along the blade in a way a printed line never would. The brass is turned and filed and each pommel carries its own history under the polish. The bone white grip takes its finish at its own depth and will read a shade warmer or cooler than the one in the picture. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the grip real bone or ivory

Neither. It is a shaped wooden core with a smooth bone white covering, finished to read like an antler or bone hilt. We do not sell ivory.

What does the writing on the blade say

It is not a message. It is the complete Elder Futhark, all twenty four runes in the traditional order preserved on the Kylver stone.

Can I have a name instead of the futhark

Yes. Your chosen engraving replaces the rune row rather than sitting next to it. Use the rune converter above to see how a name looks in Elder Futhark first.

Is the scabbard included

Yes. The pale scabbard with its brass throat and chape comes with the sword.

Is it sharp

Yes, it arrives sharpened. It is a sharp collector and display sword and not a sparring weapon.

How heavy is it

Lighter than most people expect. A single hand sword of this length with a distal tapered blade and a brass pommel handles briskly, and the weight sits close to the hand rather than out at the point.

What is in the box

• Bonecrest hand forged 1095 Norse sword with the full Elder Futhark cut along the blade
• Pale scabbard with a brass throat and chape
• Blade wiped and oiled for transit
• Lifetime warranty against defects in the forging, the grind, the heat treat and the fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See the rest of the Viking swords, the swords, the engraved and personalised pieces and the guides.