Hammerpoll Hand Forged Damascus Viking Axe | 32 Inch Ash Haft | Mjolnir Stamped Poll and Bearded Bit with Leather Edge Cover | Norse Collector Gift | RK-1906

Hammerpoll is a long hafted Viking axe with a Damascus head. The bit is forge welded from 1095 and 15N20, etched so the pattern runs in wide rolling contours across the whole cheek and down to the bright cutting edge, and it is drawn into a bearded profile with the lower corner dropping below the eye. A Mjolnir is stamped into the flat above the eye, beside a squared hammer poll. The haft is white ash, thirty two inches long, wrapped in brown leather at the butt. A leather edge cover is included.

Damascus on an axe is not the same problem as Damascus on a knife, and that is worth knowing before you buy one. A knife blade is one piece of steel with a thin edge. An axe head has to take a hammer blow through the poll and shock through the eye without opening a weld, so a pattern welded head has to be forged with the layer orientation running the right way or it will delaminate. Ours are welded so the layers run along the length of the bit rather than across it. Hammerpoll is forged, welded, drifted, ground, etched, heat treated and hafted by hand by hand in the Czech Republic.

Specifications

Why a bearded bit exists

The beard is the part of the edge that hangs below the eye, and it is one of the most useful shapes anyone has put on an axe. It gives you a long cutting edge on a light head, because the steel is only where the edge is rather than filling in a solid rectangle. It creates a hollow behind the lower corner so you can grip the haft right under the head and use the axe as a large one handed knife for shaping and carving, with the beard between your fingers and the edge. And the extended lower corner catches and pulls, which is why the shape appears in every Scandinavian tool inventory from the ninth century onward. On a thirty two inch haft you have the reach of a two handed axe with a head light enough to control with one.

Reading the Damascus and the Mjolnir

The pattern is real, not applied. Layers of 1095 and 15N20 are stacked, forge welded, drawn out, cut, folded and welded again, and the finished head is etched in acid. The 1095 has high carbon and darkens. The 15N20 carries about two percent nickel and stays bright. Everything you see is the edge of a real layer running through the steel, which is why the pattern continues as you sharpen into it. The Mjolnir stamped above the eye is Thor’s hammer, and it is worth noting that hammer pendants appear in Norse graves in real numbers only from the tenth century, at exactly the point Christianity was spreading, which has led most archaeologists to read them as a deliberate statement of who you were.

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 Hammerpoll that means your mark takes the place of the stamped Mjolnir. We would usually steer you to the ash haft instead, since cutting into an etched Damascus cheek interrupts the pattern that makes the head worth having. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Three and a quarter pounds on a thirty two inch haft is a genuine two handed axe with the balance well forward, which is what gives it authority through a swing. The leather wrap marks where the lower hand belongs, and the standard technique is to start with both hands apart and let the upper hand slide down to meet the lower as the axe comes through. Choke up under the beard for close work. Hammerpoll is a collector and display piece with a functional head. We do not sell it for felling, splitting or full contact use, since a hard impact on an etched surface leaves marks that cannot be polished out without taking the pattern with them.

Care

Damascus rusts in a way that is more annoying than plain steel, because corrosion attacks the dark high carbon layers first and blotches the pattern unevenly. Wipe the head after every handling, keep a light film of oil or a paste wax on it, and never use an abrasive polish or a scouring pad, since either cuts through the etch and greys the pattern out. If the contrast ever fades we can re etch the head under the warranty. The ash haft wants re oiling once or twice a year to stop the wood shrinking away from the wedge. Feed the leather wrap and the edge cover annually. Full instructions are in our guide to 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 Memphis, Tennessee. 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 axe is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. No two Damascus billets fold the same way, so the contour pattern on your head is unique and will not match the one shown. The Mjolnir stamp sits at its own depth, the beard is ground by eye, and the ash haft ranges from near white to warm honey with its own grain figure. The dimensions, the steels, the heat treat and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Damascus pattern real or printed on?

Real. It is forge welded 1095 and 15N20, and the layers run through the thickness of the head. Sharpen into the edge and the pattern keeps going rather than disappearing.

Is a pattern welded axe head weaker than a plain one?

Not when it is welded properly and oriented so the layers run along the bit. Ours are. A badly welded head can delaminate, which is why we do not use Damascus on anything we sell for hard work.

Can I use the poll as a hammer?

It is a proper squared poll and it will drive a peg. Because this is a Damascus collector head, we would rather you did not, since a missed strike marks the etched surface permanently.

How do I keep the pattern looking sharp?

Oil it, keep it dry, and never touch it with abrasive polish or a scouring pad. That is the whole method. If the contrast ever dulls, send it back and we will re etch it.

How should I display it?

Two wall hooks under the head and around the haft, fixed into a stud or a masonry anchor and rated for at least ten pounds between them. Keep it off an exterior wall where condensation cycles.

Can the haft be replaced later?

Yes. The head is wedged in the traditional way, so a haft can be driven out and a new one fitted. We will do it for you at any point in the life of the axe.

What is in the box

• Hammerpoll Viking axe with a forge welded 1095 and 15N20 Damascus head
• White ash haft with a brown leather wrapped butt
• Leather edge cover
• Care card covering oiling Damascus, keeping the etch bright and looking after the haft
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See the other bearded axes, the Viking axes, the battle axes, and the guides.