Emberknot Hand Forged Knotwork Knightly Sword | 36 Inch Overall with 29 Inch Blade | Brass Wheel Pommel, Burgundy Leather Grip and Matching Scabbard | Knight Gift | RK-1977

The Emberknot is a single hand knightly sword dressed in brass and oxblood. The blade is broad and double edged with a wide central fuller, and inside that fuller runs an etched panel of Norse interlace. The crossguard is solid brass cut with a matching knotwork band, the grip is wrapped in deep burgundy leather, and the pommel is a brass wheel with a turned central boss peened over the tang. The scabbard is made from the same burgundy hide and dressed with a brass throat, a brass mid band and a brass chape.

Colour on a medieval sword was never accidental. Red leather in particular was expensive, because until the arrival of cochineal from the New World a good fast red on hide meant madder root, alum and a great deal of patience, and dyers guilds guarded the recipes closely. A sword with red fittings was telling you something about its owner in the same way that a gilded spur or a particular fur trim did. Brass mounts said much the same thing. They were the cheaper cousin of gilding but they held their shine, and against a dark red they read as gold at ten paces. Emberknot is forged, ground, heat treated, fitted and peened in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee, and the scabbard is cut and stitched alongside it.

Specifications

What the fuller is really for

The groove down the middle of this blade gets called a blood groove and it has nothing to do with blood. It does not stop suction, it does not help the blade come out of a wound and there is no historical source that says it does. What it does is far more interesting and entirely structural. A fuller is forged in, not cut out, which means the steel it displaces is pushed sideways and the blade gets wider rather than thinner. You end up with two thick edges connected by a thinner web, which is the cross section of an I beam.

An I beam is the shape engineers reach for whenever they need stiffness against bending without the weight of a solid bar, because in bending almost all the work is done by the material furthest from the centre line. Hollow out the middle and you lose very little stiffness and a great deal of mass. On a sword that translates directly into a blade that is up to a third lighter than a flat one of the same width and depth, resists bending just as well, and puts the weight it keeps out where it does something. Look at the fuller here and you can see it start just below the guard and run out well before the point, because the last third of the blade needs stiffness for thrusting more than it needs lightness.

The steel, the brass and the leather

The blade is 1095, a plain high carbon steel with about one percent carbon, taken to 54 to 58 HRC. On a sword that band is deliberate. Harder is not better on a blade that has to bend and come back, and every point above this range trades toughness you need for edge retention you will never notice on a piece that is not cutting for a living.

The guard and pommel are solid brass, machined and then hand chased for the knotwork. Brass is dense, so a compact wheel pommel weighs enough to pull the balance point back towards the hand, and it takes hand cut detail beautifully because it files without tearing. The grip and scabbard are vegetable tanned leather, dyed through rather than surface coated, which is why the colour deepens rather than scuffs pale when the sword gets handled. Vegetable tanned hide is the traditional material for exactly this job, since it wet forms tight to a shape and dries hard enough to hold it.

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. This blade already carries the interlace panel in the fuller, so runes ordered for the fuller will take its place. If you want to keep the panel, the flat face of the brass pommel and the leather of the scabbard are both good surfaces and a date on the pommel is the most common request we get. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Balance sits about four inches ahead of the guard, which is where a broad bladed one hander of this period belongs. The sword feels solid rather than whippy and it changes line without argument. Wide bladed cutting swords reward a relaxed hand and a full committed arc. If you try to stop the blade mid cut you will feel it fight you, because the fuller has put the surviving mass out towards the middle of the blade where it does the cutting.

The leather grip is shaped to an oval rather than a circle, so your hand knows which way the edge is pointing without you looking, and the wheel pommel sits flat against the heel of your palm and gives you something to pull against on a thrust. This is a sharp functional sword for solo cutting and display. It is not a sparring sword and must not be used in contact with another blade or another person.

Care

Wipe the blade after every handling and keep a light film of oil on it. The etched panel in the fuller has more surface texture than the polished flats and will show corrosion first, so pay attention to it. Work oil into the fuller with a folded corner of cloth rather than a flat rag so it actually reaches the bottom of the groove.

Feed the leather two or three times a year with a neutral cream or dubbin, worked in with your fingers and buffed off. Do not use saddle soap on the dyed surface repeatedly, since it lifts colour over time. Brass wants a soft cloth and, if you want it bright rather than patinated, a wax based polish used sparingly and kept out of the engraved lines. Do not store the sword permanently sheathed in a damp room. Full guidance is on our steel care page.

Forged in Memphis

Emberknot is forged, ground, heat treated, etched, fitted and peened in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee, and the scabbard is cut, wet formed to this exact blade and stitched here as well. Nothing here comes from an importer catalogue and nothing is a stock blank with our name added. Because each sword is made to order the honest lead time is one to two weeks before it ships, and shipping inside the US is free. Every piece we make carries a lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This is a hand made sword rather than a machine made or bulk produced one, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Leather is a natural material and takes dye differently from one part of a hide to another, so your burgundy may run a shade warmer or darker than the one photographed and the grain pattern will be its own. The chased knotwork on the brass is cut by hand and the depth and spacing vary slightly. The etched panel in the fuller varies in contrast. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Does it come sharp

Yes, with a hand finished cutting edge. If you would rather have it blunt for display or because of children in the house, leave a note on your order and we will ship it unsharpened at no extra cost.

Will the red leather fade

It is dyed through rather than painted on the surface, so it darkens and mellows with handling rather than going patchy. Keeping it out of long direct sunlight will hold the colour longest.

Is the scabbard rigid enough to hang on a wall

Yes. It is leather over a shaped core with brass fittings, so it holds its own shape. It has no belt loops fitted as standard, so tell us before ordering if you want a suspension rig.

Can you match the grip colour to something else

We keep black, brown, oxblood and tan in stock. Message us before ordering if you want a different colour and we will tell you honestly whether we can get it.

What is the pattern in the fuller

It is a Norse interlace band, etched into the steel rather than printed. It is the same family of knotwork as the band on the crossguard.

How long is the wait

One to two weeks of processing since it is made to order, then free tracked shipping inside the US from Memphis.

What is in the box

• Emberknot knightly sword, sharpened unless you ask otherwise
• Matching burgundy leather scabbard with brass fittings
• Care card and lifetime warranty note
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See more in arming swords, swords, scabbards and sheaths and longswords, or read the guides for more on fullers and blade geometry.