Grimleaf Hand Forged 1095 Steel Viking Dagger | 17 Inch Overall | Knotwork Cut Guard and Disc Pommel with Leather Sheath | Norse Gift | RK-1861

The Grimleaf is a double edged Viking dagger with a long leaf shaped blade, a straight steel guard cut across its face with Norse interlace, a plain black leather grip and a heavy polished disc pommel peened over the tang. It comes with a tan vegetable tanned leather sheath. At seventeen inches overall it sits right on the line between a large dagger and a small short sword, which is exactly where a lot of the surviving Norse belt blades sit too.

The Norse did not really have a dagger in the later medieval sense. What they carried was a knife, and the knife got bigger as the job got bigger, from a small everyday blade through the various sizes of seax up to something long enough that modern museums label it a sword and shrug. This piece is built in that family, single piece tang, plain fittings, no ornament except where a smith could cut it into flat steel. It is forged, ground, hardened, cut and fitted in the Czech Republic.

Specifications

Where a blade this size actually sits

Length is a poor way to name a blade and everyone in the field knows it. The old Norse word sax simply meant a cutting blade, and it covered everything from a three inch tool for eating and whittling up to the langsax at two feet. There is no line in the archaeology where a knife stops and a sword starts. What changes as the blade grows is what it is for. Below about eight inches you are looking at a tool. Between eight and fourteen you have something that will still cut rope and cheese but is unmistakably built to be worn as part of how you present yourself. Past fourteen you are carrying a short sword and everybody who sees it knows.

This blade is eleven inches and it is double edged, which is the detail that separates it from a seax. A seax has a single edge and a thick flat spine, because a spine gives you something to push against and takes the shock of a chopping cut. Grinding both sides gives up that spine in exchange for symmetry. The blade cuts on the backstroke as well as the forestroke and it thrusts in a straight line rather than following the curve of one bevel.

The central ridge running from the guard almost to the point is what keeps it stiff. Take the ridge away and a double edged blade this wide would flex like a fillet knife.

Steel, interlace and vegetable tanned leather

The blade is 1095 taken to 54 to 58 HRC, hard enough to hold a proper edge and tough enough that the point will not snap off under a lateral load. It is polished bright rather than satin so the interlace on the guard reads against it.

That interlace is cut into flat steel by hand. Cutting on a flat is harder than it sounds because there is nowhere to hide a wandering line, and the strands have to keep an even depth or the weave falls apart visually where a strand should pass underneath. The sheath is vegetable tanned cowhide, tanned with bark and tree tannins rather than chrome salts, which is why it is a warm tan colour rather than a uniform grey blue on the flesh side and why it will darken with handling into a patina of its own.

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 dagger the interlace across the guard is that design, so a rune line cut there replaces it. A short line can also be tooled into the leather sheath if you would rather leave the guard as it is. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

The disc pommel is deliberately heavy for a blade this size and it pulls the balance back to within an inch or so of the guard. That makes the dagger feel quick and neutral in the hand rather than tip heavy, which is what you want in a blade used at close range where you are steering the point rather than swinging weight. The grip is plain and slightly waisted so it indexes the same way every time, and the disc sits against the heel of the palm so the hand cannot slide back.

This is a hand finished collector, display and costume piece rather than sparring equipment. Do not use it against another blade.

Care

1095 is not stainless, so wipe the blade dry after handling and keep a light film of mineral oil on it. Pay attention to the cut interlace on the guard and work a little oil into it with a soft brush. Vegetable tanned leather absorbs moisture readily, so do not leave the dagger sheathed for long periods and never store it sheathed in a damp room. Feed the sheath and grip with a leather balm once or twice a year. Our steel care page covers spotting, patina and edge work.

Made in the Czech Republic

This is a handmade piece from the Czech Republic, made in a workshop that still forges, grinds and finishes by hand instead of stamping parts out. The smiths there have kept the older way of working, and the wood, horn and leather are shaped and fitted by hand as well. Two pieces of the same design will never be identical, and that is part of what you are buying.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We handle the import ourselves, look over every piece when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Engraving is done in the United States after the piece arrives, so your design goes on before we send it out.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Hand cut interlace never repeats exactly, so the weave on your guard will be its own. The tone of the tan leather varies from hide to hide and will darken further with use. The exact width of the leaf, the height of the polish and the thickness of the disc all shift a little. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a dagger or a short sword?

Honestly it is on the boundary. Eleven inches of double edged blade is long for a dagger and short for a sword, which is exactly where a lot of Norse belt blades sat.

Does it arrive sharp?

Yes, on both edges. Ask in your order notes if you would prefer it finished blunt for display or event carry.

Is the sheath belt mounted?

It is a stitched leather sheath sized for a belt. Tell us if you want it built for a wider belt than usual.

Will the bright polish stay bright?

With oil and a wipe down, yes. Left damp or handled and put away, 1095 will spot.

Can I get runes on the sheath instead of the guard?

Yes. A rune line can be tooled into the leather so the guard keeps its interlace.

How long before it ships?

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

What is in the box

• One Grimleaf Viking dagger in 1095 high carbon steel
• One stitched tan vegetable tanned leather sheath
• A light protective oil film on the blade
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

More in daggers, short swords and Norse arms, with seax and blade notes in the guides.