Ravenwake Hand Forged Damascus Katana | 1095 and 15N20 Layered Blade | Triskele Engraved Steel Guard with Cord Wrapped Grip and Hardwood Saya | Norse Collector Gift | RK-2010

The Ravenwake is a full length katana with a hand forged Damascus blade, a satin finished round guard cut with a triple spiral, and a plain hardwood scabbard that leaves the steel to do the talking. The blade carries a shallow groove down the flat, a raised ridge line above it, and a long even curve that runs unbroken from the collar to the point.

That groove has a name and a job. Japanese smiths call it a bo hi, and despite what gets repeated online it is not a blood channel. Cutting a groove down the flat removes metal from the middle of the section, where it does very little for stiffness, so the blade loses mass without losing much rigidity. Northern European smiths reached the same conclusion centuries earlier and called their version a fuller. Two traditions that never met solved the same problem the same way, which is why this piece wears a Celtic triple spiral on a Japanese profile without feeling like a costume.

Every Ravenwake is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports them, checks each one for grind, fit and finish before it goes on the shelf, and ships from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. It arrives with its shaped hardwood scabbard and a lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

Curve, temper line and furniture all have names, and what a katana is goes through the parts. Odin kept two ravens and sent them out every morning, and Huginn and Muninn covers what the poems actually say. The tanto knives carry the same furniture at knife length.

Specifications

Why the triple spiral sits on the guard

The triskele, or triple spiral, is one of the oldest carved motifs in northern Europe. It is cut into the kerbstone at Newgrange in Ireland, which was raised around 3200 BC, several centuries before the first stones went up at Giza. Iron Age Celtic metalworkers picked it up again and it spread across shield bosses, scabbard mounts and horse harness. Norse craftsmen working the same trade routes borrowed it freely, which is why you find spiral triads on Scandinavian brooches as well as Irish stonework. Nobody left a written explanation of what it meant, so anyone who tells you it definitely stands for one specific trio is guessing. What is documented is that it was carved by people who cut it deep and repeated it for three thousand years. On this guard it is engraved rather than stamped, so the lines hold their crispness under a thumb.

The steel and how it is hardened

The blade is pattern welded from 1095 and 15N20. The two steels are stacked, forge welded, drawn out, folded and welded again until the billet holds a few hundred layers, then ground to shape and etched. The nickel in the 15N20 resists the etchant and stays bright while the 1095 darkens, and that difference is what you are looking at when the flowing wood grain pattern appears. It is a real structural pattern that runs through the thickness of the blade, not a print on the surface, and it will still be there after a lifetime of light sharpening.

Finished hardness sits between 58 and 60 HRC. That is hard enough to take a keen edge and hold it through real cutting, and still tempered back far enough that the spine has some give rather than snapping under a bad angle. The edge bevel is brought up by hand on stones, which is why the polish along the cutting edge reads slightly differently from the etched flats above 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. On this katana the usual places are the flat of the blade above the collar and the face of the guard. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, so see the engraving page for lettering sizes and lead times.

Handling and balance

A katana of this pattern is meant to be held in two hands, the lower hand near the end of the grip and the upper hand just below the guard, with the wrists doing the steering rather than the shoulders. The groove down the flat pulls weight out of the middle of the blade and brings the balance point back toward the guard, which is what makes the tip feel light on the turn rather than sluggish. The cord wrap is laid over a textured underlay so it grips a dry hand and does not roll in the palm.

This is a hand forged, hardened, sharp sword and it will behave like one. It is not sold as a sparring sword and it should never be brought into contact with another blade or with a hard target. Treat it as a cutting sword and a display piece, not as a training tool.

Care

Carbon Damascus rusts if you let it. Wipe the blade down with a clean dry cloth after handling, because fingerprints hold salt and salt starts pitting within days in a humid room. Put a thin film of mineral oil or a dedicated blade oil on the steel before it goes back into the scabbard, and take it out and look at it every few weeks rather than leaving it sealed away for a year. The hardwood scabbard is bare timber inside and will absorb moisture, so never store the sword wet. If a haze of surface rust does appear, lift it with oil and a nylon pad rather than abrasive paper, which will cut through the etched pattern. There is more detail on steel care in our guides.

The cord wrap can be sponged with a barely damp cloth and left to dry away from direct heat. Wipe the wooden scabbard with a dry cloth and give it a wipe of furniture oil once or twice a year if it starts to look thirsty.

Damascus wants oil more than plain steel does, because the etch that shows the pattern also opens the surface, and caring for a Damascus pattern covers what to use.

Made in the Czech Republic

This katana is made by hand in the Czech Republic by people who forge, grind and fit for a living. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue and nothing is stamped out in volume. Ransack Viking buys the pieces, inspects each one on arrival in Memphis, and ships the ones that pass. Because they are made in small runs rather than held by the thousand, allow one to two weeks of processing before your order goes out. Shipping inside the United States is free.

A note on handmade variation

This is a hand made sword, not a machine made or bulk produced one, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Damascus is a live pattern and no two billets fold the same way, so the flow of the layers on your blade will be its own. The etch tone can run lighter or darker, the engraving on the guard is cut by hand and sits fractionally differently each time, and the hardwood scabbard carries whatever grain and colour that piece of timber had. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp out of the box

Yes. The edge is brought up by hand before it ships and it arrives ready to cut. If you are buying it to hang on a wall in a house with children in it, say so in the order notes and we will send it with the edge left blunt instead.

Is the Damascus pattern real or printed

Real. The blade is forge welded from alternating layers of 1095 and 15N20 and then etched, so the pattern goes through the steel rather than sitting on it. You can feel a very faint topography under a fingertip where the two steels have etched to different depths.

Can I use it for cutting practice

It will cut soft targets like rolled mats and water bottles if your technique is sound. It is not a sparring sword and must never be struck against another blade or against wood, bone or anything harder than the target it was aimed at.

Will my blade pattern look like the photograph

It will be recognisably the same kind of pattern and it will not be identical. Each billet folds its own way. If a specific feature in the photograph matters to you, message us before ordering and we will describe the piece currently in stock.

Can I have runes cut into it

Yes. Use the rune converter on this page for Elder Futhark, or pick your own design in the engraving option. The blade flat above the collar takes a rune line cleanly and the face of the guard suits a short mark or a date.

How long does it take to arrive

Allow one to two weeks for processing while the piece is checked and any engraving is cut, then normal transit time. Shipping within the United States is free and it ships from our Memphis warehouse.

What is in the box

• Ravenwake Damascus katana
• Shaped hardwood scabbard
• Blade lightly oiled for transit
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

Explore the range

See more in katana and Japanese swords, Damascus swords and swords, or read the guides for steel, sharpening and display.