Greyward Hand Forged 1095 Steel Medieval Arming Sword | Fullered Double Edged Blade | Faceted Steel Pommel and Ribbed Black Leather Grip | Knight Collector Gift | RK-1795

A plain, serious medieval arming sword with no decoration on it anywhere. The blade is hand forged 1095 high carbon steel, double edged, tapering steadily from a wide base to an acute point, with a long fuller running most of its length. The hilt is exactly as spare as the blade. A straight steel crossguard widening slightly at the tips, a black leather grip with raised ribs so the hand cannot slip, and a faceted polished steel pommel cut in flat planes like a rough gemstone. A black scabbard ships with it.

This is the sword shape that dominated Western Europe for something like four hundred years, and its ordinariness is the point. The arming sword was the sidearm of a man who mainly fought with something else, a lance, a poleaxe, a spear or a bow, and who wanted a blade at his hip that was reliable rather than remarkable. Surviving examples are overwhelmingly plain. The decorated swords in museums are survivors precisely because they were treasured and put away, while the working swords were used until they wore out. Ours is forged, ground, heat treated and assembled by hand in the Czech Republic. This one is kept with the arming swords, and the Viking swords sit right beside it.

Specifications

What the ribbed grip is really doing

Those horizontal ribs are not a texture applied for looks. On a medieval grip the core is wood, usually two shaped halves glued around the tang, and the cord is wound around that core before the leather goes over the top. The ribs you can see and feel are the cord underneath, showing through a thin leather cover that has been wetted and pressed down into the gaps. It is called risering and it does three separate jobs at once.

First it stops the hand sliding along a smooth cylinder when it is wet. Second it tells you by feel alone which way the edge is pointing, because the ribs run across the grip and your fingers register the oval section instantly. Third it takes up the small tolerance between core and leather so the whole assembly tightens as it dries. A plain smooth grip does none of that, which is why almost every surviving medieval hilt shows evidence of risering underneath.

1095 high carbon steel and the distal taper

The blade is 1095, a simple high carbon steel with around one percent carbon, hardened to 54 to 58 HRC. The important thing on a sword this length is the distal taper, the thinning of the blade from base to point when you look at it edge on. The profile taper you can see from above matters less. Without it a sword is a crowbar. With it the mass comes out of the last third of the blade, the balance moves back towards the hand, and the whole thing wakes up. Every historical sword worth the name has it and it is the single most common thing missed on cheap reproductions.

The polish is a hand worked satin. On an undecorated sword like this one a satin finish is more honest than a mirror, because it shows the geometry of the grind and the run of the fuller instead of hiding both behind a bright surface.

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. This sword arrives undecorated, which makes it one of the better blanks we sell for engraving. The fuller, the flat of the ricasso and the faces of the pommel all take a line well. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

The faceted pommel is doing counterweight duty and it is heavier than it looks, which brings the balance point back close to the guard. The result is a sword that feels shorter in the hand than it measures on a wall. The plain crossguard is deliberately unsculpted so it sits flat against a belt or a scabbard mouth rather than fouling on it.

It is a sharpened collector and display sword. It is not sold for battle ready sparring, and it should not be used for contact work against another blade or a person. If you want a sword to hit things with, that is a blunt trainer built for the job.

Care

1095 will rust if it is neglected. Wipe the blade down every time you handle it and keep a light film of mineral oil on the steel, particularly in the fuller where oil tends to run out. Do not store the sword in the scabbard for months at a time, since a leather covered scabbard traps humidity against the blade. Feed the grip and the scabbard with a leather conditioner once or twice a year. The faceted pommel will pick up hand marks and comes back with a soft cloth. If it ever goes dull, a fine metal polish on a rag restores the planes without rounding them. Our full method is under steel care.

Made in the Czech Republic

This piece is made by hand in the Czech Republic, in a workshop that still works the old way. The steel is forged, ground, heat treated and finished by smiths who learned the trade from the people before them, and the wood, horn and leather are cut and fitted by hand rather than pressed out on a line. That is also why no two pieces come out exactly the same.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import these pieces ourselves, check every one when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Chicago, Illinois. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, so your runes or your own design go on before it leaves for you.

A note on handmade variation

This sword is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The facets on the pommel are cut by hand and their proportions shift a little between swords. The rib spacing under the grip leather varies with the cord winding. The satin polish carries its own hand direction and the fuller will not run to the exact same length twice. The steel, the heat treat, the dimensions and the build are the same every time. The character is not. Read how steel and hardness actually work when you have a minute, and the steel glossary if you are still comparing.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp when it arrives

Yes. Both edges get a hand put working edge before it leaves us. It is not a blunted display copy.

Can I spar with this

No. It is a sharpened display and collector sword. Sparring and reenactment contact need a blunt trainer with rolled edges, which is a different piece of kit.

Why is there no decoration on it

Because most real arming swords had none. This one is deliberately plain, which is also what makes it a good candidate if you want your own engraving cut into it.

Is the scabbard included

Yes. The black scabbard shown ships with the sword as part of the listing.

Can I get runes cut into the blade

Yes. Use the rune converter on this page. The fuller and the flat above the guard both take a rune line cleanly.

Will mine look like the photograph

Very close. The dimensions, the steel and the fittings match. The pommel facets, the grip ribbing and the polish direction are hand worked and carry small differences.

What is in the box

• Hand forged 1095 high carbon steel medieval arming sword
• Faceted polished steel pommel and straight steel crossguard
• Ribbed black leather grip over a shaped and corded core
• Black leather covered scabbard
• Care card covering oiling, storage and leather feeding
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See the rest of the arming swords, the longswords, the full sword range and the guides.

Close to this one

Closest to this in the range is the Emberknot arming sword, 36 inches overall. If this one is not quite right, there is the Wheelgird arming sword, 37 inches overall. Also in this group is the Pitchknot arming sword, 32 inches overall.

If you are putting a set together, the Hammerwake Viking sword sits alongside it. Nothing here exactly right, build one to your own spec on the custom Viking sword page.

If you want to spar rather than display, the Valdris sidesword trainer is the blunt trainer built for it, and our HEMA sidesword range is worth a look.