Oathbright Hand Forged Viking Sword with Celtic Knotwork Guard and Block Pommel | 30 Inch Overall Length | Broad Bevelled Blade and Linen Scabbard | Norse Reenactment Gift | RK-1812

Oathbright is a hand forged Viking sword built on the broad short bladed pattern that turns up all through the late Iron Age north. The blade is wide, almost parallel sided for most of its run, has wide edge bevels with no fuller and finishes in a blunt, rounded square tip rather than a needle point. The guard is a rectangular steel block with each face cut with a panel of interlaced Celtic knotwork, the pommel is a plain matching block with a rounded top, and the grip between them is wrapped in soft leather. It comes with a linen covered scabbard.

The blocky hilt is the historically interesting part. Viking hilts were not one design but a family, and the plain rectangular guard with a matching bar pommel is one of the earliest and simplest of them, the shape catalogued as Petersen type C and its cousins. What looks crude next to a later lobed pommel is actually sound engineering. A straight bar of steel across the shoulder of the blade spreads shock from a bad parry across the full width of the tang instead of concentrating it at a narrow point, and a block pommel puts a large lump of mass right behind the hand where it does the most good for balance.

Forged, ground, heat treated, hilted and finished in the Czech Republic. It ships with the linen covered scabbard, a protective oil film on the blade and a care card. Free shipping inside the United States, with one to two weeks of processing while the hilt fittings are cut and fitted. It is part of the Viking swords, and the Norse arms are put together the same way.

Specifications

The broad bevelled blade

The blade is almost parallel sided and ground with wide bevels running to both edges, leaving a flat centre band rather than a fuller. That keeps plenty of steel in the section, which suits a broad cutting blade, and the bevels give each edge a well supported angle. The tip is squared off and rounded, so this is a sword built around the cut rather than the thrust.

The steel

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel, forged, normalised, hardened and tempered back to 54 to 58 HRC. That band is where a long blade wants to sit. Harder than that and a sword becomes brittle in a way that matters far more than it does on a small knife, because a sword has the leverage to actually break itself. Softer and the edge goes over too easily. The 1095 takes a deep even hardness and it is a simple, well understood, entirely honest steel with no exotic alloy claims attached to it.

The fittings are steel, cut and finished by hand and given a grey antiqued surface so the knotwork reads clearly instead of disappearing into a mirror polish.

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 a rune line usually runs down the flat centre of the blade or across the face of the guard. See the engraving page for the space available.

Handling and balance

The block pommel puts real mass behind the hand, so the balance point sits close in, roughly a hand span forward of the guard. That makes the sword feel lighter than its weight suggests and it turns quickly from one line to another. The broad blade wants a cut rather than a thrust, which is exactly what the rounded tip is telling you.

Be clear about what this is. The tip is rounded, not pointed, and this sword is sold as a display and costume piece and for the look of a reenactment kit. It is not for sparring and it should not be used for full contact work against another person or another blade.

Care

1095 is not stainless. Wipe the blade down after handling, because salt from skin is what starts most of the rust that people blame on damp. A thin film of mineral oil or paste wax over the flats is enough for indoor storage. Do not leave the sword sitting in the scabbard for months at a time, because a linen lining holds humidity against the steel. Hang it or lay it out and keep the scabbard nearby instead. Fuller detail is on the steel care page.

The leather grip takes a light neutral balm once or twice a year. The linen scabbard cover can be brushed clean and should be kept dry.

Made in the Czech Republic

Every piece we sell is made by hand in the Czech Republic. The smiths there work the way the trade has been worked for a long time, heating and hammering the steel, taking the bevels down by eye, and fitting the handle and the leather one at a time. There is no automated line anywhere in it, so small differences from one piece to the next are normal and expected.

Ransack Viking is a United States company based in Chicago, Illinois. We bring the pieces in ourselves, inspect them on arrival and ship them from our own warehouse. If you add engraving, that is carried out here in the United States before your order goes out.

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 knotwork panels are cut by hand and the interlace will sit slightly differently on your guard than on the one photographed. The leather grip takes its own tone as it is wrapped and burnished. Hammer texture, the exact width of the bevels and the precise shape of the tip shift by small amounts because a hand is doing the work. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not. The long form of that is the Ulfberht blades, with the gap between a display sword and a battle ready one next to it.

Frequently asked questions

Is the blade sharp when it arrives

It ships with a cut edge that is not razor keen, and the tip is deliberately rounded. If you want it sharpened for cutting practice on soft targets, say so in the order notes and we will take the edge further before it goes out.

Can I use it for reenactment combat

No. It is built for display, costume and kit, not for full contact sparring. Reenactment groups have their own blunt specifications and safety inspections, and this sword is not sold to meet them.

Is the scabbard included

Yes. The linen covered scabbard shown in the photograph ships with the sword at no extra cost.

What is the knotwork on the guard

It is an interlaced ribbon pattern of the kind that runs through Insular and Norse metalwork, an endless loop with no start and no finish. It is decorative rather than a specific named symbol like the Valknut or the Vegvisir.

Will mine look exactly like the photograph

Close, but not identical. The blade geometry and the hilt shape are consistent. The grip tone, the exact cut of the interlace and the polish pattern on the flats vary because each one is finished by hand.

How long does shipping take

One to two weeks of processing while the sword is built, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• One Oathbright Viking sword with knotwork guard and block pommel
• Linen covered scabbard
• Protective oil film on the blade
• Care card for high carbon steel and leather
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See more in viking swords, swords and Norse arms, or read the guides on hilt types and scabbard fit.

Near neighbours in the shop

If this one is not quite right, there is the Loopcrown Viking sword, 36 inches overall. Also in this group is the Knotreave Viking sword, 36 inches overall. Sitting beside it in the catalogue is the Stavesong Viking sword, 35 inches overall.

From the same corner of the shop, there is the Grimtide short sword. You can have this made your way instead on the custom Viking sword page.