Northmark Hand Forged Damascus Bearded Axe with Engraved Vegvisir | 19 Inch Ash Haft and 7 Inch Edge | Hooked Horn and Black Collar and Leather Mask | Norse Gift | RK-2129

The Northmark is a Damascus bearded axe with a Vegvisir cut into the lower cheek of the head. The head is an open crescent, drawn out into a long hooked horn above the eye and swept down into a deep beard below it, so there is a wide gap of air between the two rather than a solid plate of steel. The whole head carries a fine forge welded grain that swirls where the metal was moved around the eye. The haft is light ash, pinned through with two dark steel pins and wrapped at the head with a black collar. It ships with a stitched leather blade mask.

The beard on a Norse axe is not decoration and it is not there to look fierce. It is a way of getting a long cutting edge without paying for it in weight. This one is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports it, checks the head fit, the pins and the edge before it goes on the shelf, and ships it from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse.

Head weight and haft length decide how an axe behaves in the hand, and how to choose a Viking axe works through both. The vegvisir is Icelandic and centuries later than the Viking age, which where the vegvisir comes from sets out plainly. Lighter heads meant for a target sit in the throwing axes.

Specifications

Why the head is cut away rather than solid

Put a bearded head next to a solid wedge head of the same edge length and weigh them. The bearded one is lighter, sometimes by a third, because all the steel that would have filled the crescent has simply been left out. That matters more than it sounds. Iron was expensive in the Norse world and a lighter head on a given haft is faster to bring back on line after a swing.

The beard earns its keep in three more ways. You can choke your hand up into the gap behind it and hold the axe close to the head for fine carving work, which is impossible on a solid head. The lower corner of the beard hooks, so the axe can pull a shield rim, a rope or a branch toward you. And the long straight section of edge above the beard is where you want to be for splitting, while the curved section below is better for a draw cut.

As for the stave cut into the cheek: the Vegvisir is an Icelandic wayfinding stave, eight arms radiating from a centre point, each one ending in a different arrangement of hooks and crossbars so no two arms match. It is worth knowing that it is not a Viking age design. Its earliest appearance is the Huld Manuscript compiled in Iceland in 1860, where the note beside it says a man carrying this sign will not lose his way in storms or bad weather even when the way is unknown. The name is Old Norse for signpost or wayfinder, and the sentiment is genuine even though the drawing is nineteenth century.

The steel and the ash

The head is forge welded from 1095 high carbon steel and 15N20, drawn out, folded and welded again before being forged around the eye, ground and hardened. The edge is taken to 58 to 60 HRC. On an axe the pattern tells you something useful as well as looking good, because you can see how the steel flowed around the eye when the head was drifted open, and the grain follows those lines rather than crossing them.

The haft is ash, which is the correct wood for a striking tool and has been for as long as there have been striking tools. Ash has long straight fibres that run the length of the board, which is what lets it absorb shock and flex slightly rather than transmitting every impact into your wrist. It is also tough enough to survive a missed strike that would split oak. The pale colour is natural and untreated, so it will darken with handling over the years.

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, so a chosen mark on the cheek takes the place of the Vegvisir. The ash haft and the leather mask are both good alternatives if you want the stave left alone, and runes burned into an ash haft read very well. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

A nineteen inch haft is a one handed length. Hold it at the end for reach and power, or slide your hand up to the collar for control when you are working close. The open head means the mass sits mostly at the edge rather than being spread through a solid body, which makes the axe feel light in the hand and hit harder than its weight suggests.

The edge arrives sharp. Keep the mask on it when it is not in use, be honest with yourself about your swing arc before you start, and remember that an axe that glances off a hard knot does not stop where you expected.

Care

Damascus is high carbon steel and it rusts, and an etched surface holds moisture slightly more readily than a plain polish. Wipe the head after use, dry it and leave a thin film of mineral oil on it, taking care to get oil into the cut lines of the stave where a rust freckle likes to start. The ash haft wants a wipe of boiled linseed oil once or twice a year, worked in thin and left to dry, which keeps it from drying out and shrinking away from the head. Feed the leather mask with balm occasionally. Our steel care guide covers rust and edge care in more detail.

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 axe is made by hand in the Czech Republic and imported by Ransack Viking. Nothing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. Every piece is opened, checked and photographed before it is listed, then shipped from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Processing runs one to two weeks because a pattern welded head is slow work and these are made in small runs. US shipping is free, returns are accepted within seven days, and 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 axe is made by hand, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Every Damascus billet moves differently under the hammer, so the grain on your head is its own. Ash is a natural material and the grain, the figure and the exact pale tone of the haft change from one board to the next. The cut stave varies a fraction in line weight because a person cut it. The edge length, the steel, the heat treat and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the axe sharp when it arrives

Yes. It ships with a working edge and a leather mask over it. Take the mask off carefully.

Is the Vegvisir a genuine Viking symbol

The name is Old Norse and means wayfinder. The eight armed drawing first appears in an Icelandic manuscript compiled in 1860, so it is Icelandic and nineteenth century in form rather than Viking age. We would rather you knew that.

Is the Damascus pattern real

Yes. The head is forge welded from 1095 and 15N20 and the pattern runs through the steel rather than being etched onto the surface.

Can I use it to actually chop

Yes. This is a working axe head on a proper ash haft. Kindling, camp wood and general splitting are all fine. Keep it out of nails, stone and frozen timber.

Can I have runes on the haft instead of the head

Yes, and it looks excellent. Tell us in the engraving option where you want the line to sit. A chosen engraving on the cheek would replace the Vegvisir, but the haft leaves the stave untouched.

How long does it take to arrive

One to two weeks of processing, then free US shipping. Tracking is emailed the day it leaves Memphis.

What is in the box

• One Northmark Damascus bearded axe with cut Vegvisir
• Ash haft, pinned
• Stitched leather blade mask
• Protective oil film on the head for transit
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

Explore the range

See more in bearded axes, Viking axes and Norse arms, or read the guides on choosing a Viking axe.