Sawreave Hand Forged Damascus Falchion Short Sword with Celtic Knotwork Guard | Sawback Spine | Cap Pommel and Tooled Leather Sheath | Norse Collector Gift | RK-2052

The Sawreave is a falchion, a single edged short sword with a blade that widens toward the tip instead of tapering to a point. The blade here is pattern welded, with a broad belly, a clipped forward point and a run of coarse saw teeth cut into the upper third of the spine. The hilt is where the Norse detail sits. A shaped steel crossguard carries three panels of interlaced knotwork, one at the centre and one on each terminal, the grip is black leather laid in ribbed bands, and the pommel is a domed cap ringed with a matching band of knotwork. It is supplied with a black leather belt sheath tooled with a knot motif and mounted with a polished steel throat and toe.

Falchions confuse people because they look like a cleaver and get treated as a peasant blade, but the surviving examples are anything but crude. The Conyers falchion in Durham and the Thorpe falchion in Norwich are both high status pieces with fine fittings, and the type turns up in thirteenth and fourteenth century manuscripts in the hands of knights as often as anyone else. The reason is simple geometry: putting the mass out toward the tip turns a short blade into a serious chopper without making it long. This falchion is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports it, checks the grind, the knotwork cutting and the sheath fit one piece at a time, and ships it from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse.

A falchion is a single edged cleaver with a sword hilt, and how to buy a first sword covers how to judge one. Insular knotwork travelled with the Norse and came back changed, and the symbols guide covers the shapes that recur. Single edged blades of similar weight sit in the messers.

Specifications

Why a falchion widens toward the tip

Every cutting blade has a point along its length where it can be struck without sending a shock back into the hand. Move mass forward of the grip and that point moves forward with it, and the further out it sits the more of the blade’s own momentum goes into the cut rather than into your wrist. A falchion is the blunt solution to that problem. Rather than lengthening the blade, which costs weight everywhere and makes the sword unwieldy in close quarters, the smith simply lets the blade grow wider and heavier as it runs away from the hand.

The clipped point at the forward end is the second half of the idea. Left as a plain curve the tip would be almost useless for anything but chopping, so the spine is cut back at an angle to bring the point down onto the centre line where a thrust can actually be aimed. The saw teeth along the upper spine are a modern addition rather than a medieval one, and they are cut where the blade is thickest and least involved in the cut, so they take nothing away from the edge below them.

Pattern welded steel and the Celtic knotwork

The blade is forge welded from alternating layers of 1095 high carbon steel and 15N20. The nickel bearing layers resist the etch and stay bright, the high carbon layers darken, and the result is the swirling figure you can see running across the belly of the blade. Because the billet is worked and drawn by hand there is no repeating unit, and your blade will carry a pattern that is not on any other. Hardened and tempered, the steel sits at roughly 58 to 60 HRC.

The knotwork on the guard and the pommel band is cut into solid steel and then darkened so the lines read against the polish. Interlace of this kind is one continuous line that passes over and under itself and returns to its own start, which is why it was used on Insular manuscripts and Norse metalwork alike as a figure for something without end. Three panels sit on the guard, and the band around the pommel cap picks the same weave up again so the hilt reads as one piece rather than two decorated parts.

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 falchion the usual placements are the wide flat of the blade or the leather of the sheath, and the engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives. See the engraving page for what fits in each position.

Handling and balance

This is a forward weighted blade and it feels like one. Point of balance sits noticeably ahead of the guard, further out than on a double edged sword of the same length, so the falchion wants to fall into a cut and needs a positive hand to bring it back. The ribbed leather grip helps here, because the raised bands give the fingers something to lock against when the blade is moving.

Treat it as a display and collector piece and as a reenactment prop for drill and photography. It is not built for full contact sparring and it should not be brought edge to edge against another blade. The saw teeth are decorative rather than a working tool, so do not put them to a branch expecting a saw.

Care

Etched Damascus is more prone to spotting than plain polished steel because the etch opens the surface. Wipe the blade after handling, oil it with a thin film of mineral oil or a light gun oil, and pay particular attention to the saw teeth, where moisture collects in the roots between the points. A cotton bud is the easiest way to get oil down in there. Lift any rust spot with oil on a soft cloth rather than abrasive paper, which would cut the pattern away. Our steel care guide has the detail.

The sheath is leather and it should be fed once or twice a year with a neutral conditioner, worked in with a cloth and left to absorb. Do not soak it, do not dry it near a heat source if it does get wet, and do not store the blade in it for long periods in a damp room. The polished steel throat, toe and pommel come back with a light metal polish.

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

Blade, hilt and sheath are made by hand in the Czech Republic. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. Ransack Viking buys the pieces, checks them in Memphis and ships from our own warehouse, with free shipping inside the United States. Processing is one to two weeks because each falchion is inspected and any engraving is cut before it leaves. Returns are accepted within seven days. The lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings has no end date and needs no receipt.

A note on handmade variation

This falchion is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The Damascus figure differs on every blade because the billet is folded and drawn by hand. The depth of the knotwork cutting, the darkness of the etch, the exact set of the saw teeth and the tone and grain of the leather all move a little from one piece to the next. 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?

It arrives with a working edge rather than a shaving edge, which is normal for a display and reenactment blade and safer in transit. A fine stone will take it further if you want it there.

Do the saw teeth actually cut wood?

No. They are a styling feature cut into the thick part of the spine and they are not set or filed like a real saw. Treat them as decoration and keep them oiled, since the roots between the teeth hold moisture.

Is this a sword or a large knife?

It is a short sword. The falchion sits in the same family as the messer and the seax, single edged blades that are longer and heavier than a knife but shorter than an arming sword.

Can I wear the sheath on a belt?

Yes. The sheath has a leather belt loop at the throat and it is built to carry, though the falchion is heavy enough that a wide belt will sit better than a narrow one.

Will the knotwork be the same on mine?

Yes, unless you order engraving. The three guard panels and the pommel band are cut on every one of these. Custom runes or a design of your own go on the blade or the sheath instead of the standard blade engraving.

How long does shipping take?

Processing is one to two weeks while the piece is checked and any engraving is cut. Shipping inside the United States is free and goes out from our Memphis warehouse.

What is in the box

• One Sawreave pattern welded Damascus falchion short sword
• Matching black leather belt sheath with tooled knot motif and steel throat and toe
• Elder Futhark rune engraving or your own Viking design where ordered
• 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 short swords, Damascus swords and swords, or read the guides.