Knotbolster Hand Forged 1095 Steel Twin Seax Knives | 2 Piece Set 15 Inch Overall Each | Leather Grips with Knotwork Engraved Bolsters and Two Sheaths | Norse Gift | RK-1926

The Knotbolster is a matched pair of seax knives, two blades made and finished together and sold as a single set. Each has a warm brown leather handle capped with polished steel, a heavy steel bolster carrying a cut interlace panel on both faces, and a straight backed single edged blade with a long clip to the point. Two brown leather sheaths are included, one wet formed to each blade.

A seax at this size is the version most Norse and Anglo Saxon people actually owned. The great fighting langseax gets the attention, but the finds are dominated by blades of this length, carried by everyone, used for everything from eating to leatherwork to butchery to settling arguments. Grave assemblages across England and Scandinavia turn them up with men, with women and with children, which tells you it was regarded less as a blade than as a piece of essential personal equipment, like a phone or a set of keys. The decoration on the fittings is where status showed. The blade itself was simply expected to work. Forged, ground, heat treated and hilted in the Czech Republic.

Specifications

What the bolster is doing

The block of steel between handle and blade is the bolster, and on a guardless knife it earns its keep three times over. It seals the joint where the tang enters the handle, which is the single most common place for water and grease to get in and rot a grip from the inside. It adds mass behind the blade, which pulls the balance back into the hand and is why a ten inch blade here feels controllable rather than tippy. And it stops the hand sliding forward onto the edge under a hard push cut, which is the job a crossguard would do on a sword.

Making one properly is more work than it looks. The bolster has to be drilled and filed to fit the tang with no gap at all, then fitted before the handle goes on and peened up tight, because any clearance will show as a dark line the first time the knife gets wet. The interlace panels on these are cut into both faces after fitting.

The steel, the grind and the leather

Both blades are 1095 high carbon steel, quenched and tempered to 54 to 58 HRC. The bevel is a high flat grind that runs most of the way up the blade from the edge, leaving a thick straight spine. This is the classic seax section and it is a genuinely good design: a thin edge for cutting, a thick spine for strength, and no secondary shoulder to drag in a deep cut. It also means the knives sharpen easily on a flat stone, because you simply lay the whole bevel down and work it.

The handles are vegetable tanned leather over a shaped core, burnished smooth and finished warm brown. Leather is a better handle material than most people expect. It is grippy when wet, it warms to the hand in cold weather, and it can be sanded and re-finished decades later. The two sheaths are the same leather, wet formed individually to each blade and stitched, so they are not interchangeable between the two knives.

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 set the interlace panels on the bolsters are the existing work, so if you want to keep them, ask for runes on the blades or stamped into the two sheaths instead. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Each knife balances right at the bolster, which is exactly where a working knife should sit. That neutral balance is what lets you do fine work near the point and heavy work near the handle without changing grip. The leather handle has a slight swell in the middle so it locks into a closed hand, and the polished steel cap gives the little finger something to pull against.

Because there is no guard, keep your index finger behind the bolster on any hard push cut. Both blades arrive sharp. These are working knives and collector pieces, and they are not throwing knives and not intended for prying or for contact against other steel.

Care

Wipe and oil both blades after use, particularly if you have cut anything acidic. Fruit, onion and tomato will stain 1095 grey within minutes, which is harmless patina but it surprises people the first time. Hand wash only, dry immediately, and never put either knife in a dishwasher: the heat and the detergent will ruin the leather handles and strip the oil from the steel. Feed the handles and sheaths with a neutral balm once or twice a year. There is more on steel care on the site.

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 set is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so it will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The two knives are made together so they match one another closely, but they will differ from the pair shown in grind line, clip length and handle tone. Leather is a natural material and no two hides take dye the same way, so the exact brown will vary. The interlace is cut freehand and its line weight shifts a little. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

How many knives are in the set?

Two, with a fitted leather sheath for each. Both are included in the price shown.

Are these food safe for kitchen use?

The steel is fine for food. Hand wash and dry immediately, and expect a grey patina to build on the blade from acidic ingredients, which is normal for high carbon steel and does no harm.

Will they rust?

1095 has no corrosion resistance, so yes if you leave them wet. Dry and oil them and they will last generations. That is the trade you make for how well plain carbon steel takes an edge.

Can the sheaths be swapped between knives?

Not really. Each one is wet formed to its own blade, so they fit best on the knife they were made for.

Can I have a different name on each knife?

Yes. Tell us in the engraving option which name goes on which blade. A pair with two names is one of the most common requests we get for a set like this.

How soon will they arrive?

One to two weeks to make both, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• Two Knotbolster seax knives, 15 inches overall each
• Two fitted brown leather sheaths, one wet formed to each blade
• Care card covering oiling, hand washing and leather feeding
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See more in Viking seax, Viking knives and engraved and personalised pieces, or read the guides.