Cordcrown Hand Forged 1095 Steel Celtic Sword | 30 Inch Overall Length | Cord Wrapped Grip with Engraved Disc Pommel and Tan Leather Scabbard | Celtic Gift | RK-1916

The Cordcrown is a light single hand Celtic sword with a narrow fullered blade, a downswept crossguard, a natural cord wrapped grip and a heavy round disc pommel carrying a cut Celtic knot. It comes with a tan leather scabbard. Everything about it is built to be quick rather than heavy, which is the honest character of the swords it takes after.

The knot on the pommel is worth a word. Interlace of this kind, an unbroken line woven back through itself with no start and no end, is one of the few decorative languages that survives right across the Insular world, turning up on stone crosses, on the Book of Kells and on metalwork from Ireland to Northumbria. What it very probably did not mean is any single tidy symbol. Modern gift shops assign each knot a meaning; the medieval craftsmen who cut them were working within a shared grammar of pattern where the skill was in keeping the line continuous and the spacing even, not in encoding a message. Judge a knot by whether the strands actually pass over and under correctly all the way round, because plenty do not. Forged, ground, heat treated and hilted in the Czech Republic.

Specifications

Why the disc pommel is that heavy

A wide flat disc is the most efficient counterweight shape there is for a sword, because it puts the maximum amount of mass at the greatest distance from the hand while adding almost nothing to the length of the grip. That is not an aesthetic choice, it is arithmetic. On the Cordcrown the disc brings the balance point back to roughly three and a half inches ahead of the guard, which for a twenty four inch blade means the sword pivots around a point inside your fist rather than out on the blade. You feel that as a sword that changes direction the instant you decide to, which is precisely what a light cutting and thrusting blade is for.

The disc also does a second job. It is peened directly over the tang, so it is the structural cap that holds the whole hilt in compression. The knot is cut into the outer face after peening so the pattern is never distorted by the hammer.

The steel, the cord and the leather

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel, normalised, quenched and tempered to 54 to 58 HRC. On a blade this narrow the temper matters more than the hardness. A thin fullered blade needs to flex and return, and the fuller itself is part of that: removing material from the centre of each flat leaves an I beam section that keeps stiffness while dropping weight, which is the same reason a steel joist is not a solid bar.

The grip is a natural coloured cord laid tightly over a shaped core and finished so it will not creep. Cord gives a positive hold in a wet hand where smooth leather does not, and it can be re-laid if it ever wears through. The scabbard is vegetable tanned leather in a natural tan, wet formed to the blade and stitched rather than glued.

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 the usual choices are the pommel face or a line along the ricasso, and the leather scabbard takes tooling well. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

This is a fast sword. At just under two pounds with the weight held close to the hand, it rewards wrist work and punishes anyone trying to swing it like a heavy cutter. The downswept guard is designed to trap and turn an opposing blade away from the hand, so hold it with the thumb along the flat and let the guard do its job rather than choking up over it.

The grip is a little over four inches, which suits one hand with the pommel sitting in the heel of the palm. The blade is sharp on arrival, has a genuine point and will thrust as readily as it cuts. It is not intended for edge on edge contact against another blade or for full contact sparring.

Care

Oil the blade after handling and before storage, since 1095 is a plain carbon steel with nothing in it to resist corrosion. A satin finish shows spotting more than a mirror does, which is useful because it tells you early. Keep the cord grip dry and let it air out after use rather than putting the sword straight away damp. Feed the leather scabbard once or twice a year with a neutral balm, and do not store the blade inside it for long periods. There is more on steel care on the site.

Made in the Czech Republic

The work behind this piece happens in a Czech Republic workshop that has kept to the old methods. Steel is forged and heat treated by hand, the grind is taken down by eye rather than by machine, and the handle, fittings and sheath are cut and finished one at a time. Because of that, every piece carries small marks of the hand that made it.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import direct, check each piece when it reaches us, and ship from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse. Engraving is added here in the United States after arrival, so the piece you receive is finished to your order.

A note on handmade variation

Each Cordcrown is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so yours will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The cord takes up tension slightly differently on every grip, so the ribbing reads a fraction wider or tighter. Vegetable tanned leather is a natural material and each scabbard finds its own shade of tan as it ages. The knot is cut freehand and its line weight varies. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a full size sword or a short sword?

It sits between the two. At thirty inches overall it is longer than a true short sword and shorter than a full arming sword, which is typical of the blades it is modelled on.

Will the cord grip wear out?

Eventually, with heavy use, as any grip does. It can be re-laid, and we will do it for the cost of the cord if you send the sword back.

Is the pommel knot cut or cast?

Cut. The pommel is solid steel and the knot is engraved into the face after the pommel is peened onto the tang.

Can I get my own Celtic pattern instead of this one?

Yes. Choose your own design in the engraving option and your pattern replaces the knot shown rather than sitting beside it.

Does the scabbard have a belt fitting?

It ships plain. If you want a belt loop or a two point suspension added, ask before ordering and we will build it in.

When will it ship?

One to two weeks to forge and finish, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• One Cordcrown Celtic sword in 1095 high carbon steel
• Tan vegetable tanned leather scabbard
• Care card with oiling and leather feeding instructions
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See more in short swords, Anglo Saxon and Celtic pieces and swords, or read the guides.