Knotfell Hand Forged Viking Falchion with Engraved Valknut | 30 Inch Overall Length | Curved Single Edged Blade and Brown Leather Scabbard | Norse Collector Gift | RK-1815

Knotfell is a hand forged Viking falchion, a heavy single edged sword whose blade sweeps out and widens toward a clipped upswept tip. Two narrow fullers run along the spine side of the flat, the ricasso carries a cut Valknut, the crossguard is a plain straight steel bar and the grip is wrapped in warm brown leather under a squared steel pommel. A fitted brown leather scabbard comes with it.

The Valknut is the most recognisable and least explained symbol in the whole Norse repertoire. Three interlocked triangles, cut into the Stora Hammars picture stones on Gotland, carved on the Oseberg ship burial bedpost and pressed into a handful of other Viking age finds, always in company with Odin, with horses, with hanged men or with burial. Nobody knows what the Norse called it. The name Valknut is modern Norwegian, coined in the nineteenth century, and it means knot of the slain. What the carvers meant by it went into the ground with them.

Forged, ground, heat treated and finished in the Czech Republic. It ships with the leather scabbard, a protective oil film on the blade and a care card. Free shipping inside the United States, one to two weeks of processing while the blade is ground and the Valknut is cut.

Specifications

Why a falchion widens toward the tip

Every straight sword has the same problem. The part of the blade that moves fastest is the part furthest from your hand, but on a parallel sided blade there is no more steel out there than there is near the guard. A falchion fixes that by putting the width where the speed is. Mass shifted forward means more energy delivered at the point of percussion, which sits a few inches back from the tip, and that is why a falchion of the same weight as an arming sword cuts noticeably harder.

You pay for it in point control. A forward weighted blade is slower to change line and it does not thrust well, so the falchion is a cutting blade and makes no apology for that. The clipped tip on this one gives back a little of the thrusting ability without undoing the cut.

The steel and the finish

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel, forged, normalised, hardened and tempered to 54 to 58 HRC. On a heavy single edged blade the thick unsharpened spine does most of the work of keeping the sword straight, which lets the edge be taken thinner than it could be on a double edged blade of the same weight. The result cuts well and resharpens easily.

The flats are taken to a mirror, which is the finish that shows a false grind or a wandering fuller most cruelly and is therefore the honest one to use. The guard and pommel are steel, filed and brought to a satin sheen so they do not fight the blade for attention.

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 falchion that means your chosen mark takes the place of the Valknut at the ricasso rather than joining it. See the engraving page for sizes.

Handling and balance

The balance sits well forward, around six inches ahead of the guard, and you feel it the moment you pick the sword up. It wants to swing and it wants to keep swinging. Let the weight do the work rather than muscling it, and keep the wrist relaxed so the blade can rotate around the point of percussion instead of fighting your grip.

This is a collector and display sword with a proper edge and heat treat. It is not for sparring and it is not intended for full contact work against another person or another blade.

Care

A mirror polished high carbon blade is the least forgiving surface we make. Handle it with a cloth or wipe your prints off straight away, because the salts in skin will etch a visible fingerprint into a bright finish within a couple of weeks. Keep a light film of mineral oil or paste wax on the flats and store the sword out of its scabbard in a humid room. The steel care page has the routine in full.

Feed the grip wrap and the scabbard with a neutral leather balm once or twice a year, and let wet leather dry slowly at room temperature rather than near a radiator.

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 Memphis, Tennessee. 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 falchion is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The Valknut is cut by hand and the line weight varies slightly. The curve of the blade is forged and ground by eye, so the exact sweep and the point where the widening starts are your sword’s own. Leather takes dye differently from hide to hide, so the grip and scabbard will not match the photograph exactly in tone. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Valknut actually mean

Honestly, nobody knows. It appears on Viking age stones and grave goods in contexts tied to Odin and to the dead, and the modern name means knot of the slain, but there is no surviving Norse text that explains it. Anyone who tells you the precise meaning is guessing.

Is the blade sharp on arrival

Yes, it comes with a cutting edge along the curve. The clipped tip and the spine are left unsharpened, which is normal for the type.

Can I get it without the Valknut

Yes. Choose your own design in the engraving option and tell us to leave the ricasso plain or to put a rune line there instead. Your choice replaces the Valknut rather than sitting beside it.

Is it heavy to hold

It is forward heavy by design, which reads as heavier than the scales say. Most people find it comfortable in a swing and slightly tiring to hold out straight for long, which is exactly how a falchion should feel.

Does the scabbard have a belt loop

It is built with a hanger point at the throat. Tell us in the order notes whether you want it set up for a vertical belt hang or a two point suspension and we will fit it that way.

How long until it ships

One to two weeks of processing, then free shipping within the United States.

What is in the box

• One Knotfell Viking falchion with cut Valknut
• Fitted brown leather 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 Norse symbols and what we actually know about them.