Hammerlight Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Viking Arming Sword | 36 Inch Overall Length | Brass Hilt with Oxblood Leather Grip | Mjolnir Etched Gift | RK-2150

The Hammerlight is a broad bladed arming sword with an all brass hilt. The blade is wide and almost parallel sided, flat ground with no fuller, polished bright, and it ends in a squared blunt terminal rather than a point. The edges are unsharpened. High on the flat, just above the ricasso, a large Mjolnir is etched into the steel with the head and haft filled in with fine knotwork and spiral fill. Below it a straight brass crossguard runs out to small ball terminals, a deep oxblood leather grip fills the hand, and a brass brazil nut pommel closes the assembly.

That pommel is the most historically specific thing on the sword. The brazil nut is the shape that Norse smiths arrived at as the older multi lobed pommels were simplified in the eleventh century, and it is the form you see on the swords carried in the Bayeux tapestry. It works because a single solid mass of metal at the end of the grip counterweights a long blade far more efficiently than a decorated cluster of lobes does. This sword is hand made in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports it, checks the hilt tightness, the polish and the scabbard fit on arrival, and ships it from the Memphis warehouse. It comes with the fitted leather scabbard shown in the photographs.

Pommel, fuller and grip length are what separate a good Norse sword from a prop, and what to look for in a Viking sword goes through them. The hammer is Mjolnir, and the meaning of Mjolnir goes through the sources and the finds. A board from the round shields is what usually stands beside one.

Specifications

The hammer on the blade

Mjolnir is the most common surviving pendant form from the late Norse period, and there are well over a thousand catalogued examples across Scandinavia, the Baltic and the British Isles. What is interesting is when they appear. Hammer pendants become common in exactly the decades that Christian cross pendants start arriving in the same graves, and archaeologists generally read that as a statement rather than a coincidence. Wearing the hammer became a way of saying which side of a changing world you stood on.

The mould found at Trendgarden in Denmark makes the point sharply, because it casts a hammer and a cross side by side from the same block. Whoever owned it was serving both markets. On the Hammerlight the hammer is etched large on the flat rather than reduced to a small mark, with the head and the short haft filled with knotwork and running spirals. Note the proportions, because a real Mjolnir pendant has a short haft and a wide head, unlike the long handled hammers usually drawn in modern illustration. If you want a Vegvisir, a Valknut or a Helm of Awe in its place, that is what the engraving option is for.

The blade and the brass

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel at 54 to 58 HRC. It is left blunt, with no cutting bevel on the edges and a squared end instead of a point. That is deliberate, and it is what makes this a display, collection and reenactment style sword rather than a cutting sword. The blade is wide and has no fuller, so it carries its mass out along the length, and the solid brass pommel is doing real work bringing that back towards your hand.

Brass is not a decorative choice here so much as a period one. Copper alloy fittings appear on a large number of Viking age hilts, sometimes as a cheaper option than silver inlay and sometimes because they simply looked better against a polished blade. It will darken over time. A brass hilt that is handled regularly develops a warm patina on the flats and stays brighter where fingers wear it, which is the finish most collectors prefer to a permanently bright polish. If you would rather keep it bright, a light metal polish once or twice a year is all it takes.

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 the Hammerlight the whole width of this blade is clear flat steel with no fuller in the way, which makes it one of the best surfaces in the range for a long rune line. See the engraving page for what will fit.

Handling and balance

Hold the Hammerlight with the pommel seated against the heel of your hand rather than gripping the middle of the leather. The brass pommel is heavy and it does the counterbalancing, so the sword only feels right when that weight is behind your grip. Because the blade is wide and unfullered, the balance sits a little further out than it would on a fullered sword of the same length, and it swings with more authority and less speed.

The blunt edges and the squared end mean this is safe to hold, to hand to somebody and to wear in costume. It is not a sparring sword. It has not been built or tested for full contact against another sword or a shield, and it should not be used that way. As a display and reenactment piece it is exactly what it looks like.

Care

Wipe the blade with a lightly oiled cloth after handling, because fingerprints on bright polished steel will etch in within a few days. Keep the sword out of the scabbard for long term storage, since leather traps moisture against steel. If rust spots appear, fine steel wool and oil will lift them. The brass needs nothing unless you want it bright, in which case use a proper metal polish and keep it off the leather. Feed the grip and the scabbard with leather balm two or three times a year. Our steel care guide has the full routine for carbon steel blades.

If it is going on a wall, hanging swords and axes safely covers mounts, fixings and what not to do.

Made in the Czech Republic

The Hammerlight is made by hand in the Czech Republic and imported by Ransack Viking. It is not drop shipped from an importer catalogue. Every sword is unpacked in Memphis, checked for hilt tightness, blade straightness, brass finish and scabbard fit, then repacked and shipped free within the United States. Processing runs one to two weeks because that inspection is real. Returns stay open for seven days, and every piece 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 sword 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 oxblood of the grip leather shifts between a deep burgundy and a browner red depending on the hide and the dye lot, the brass will already carry a slightly different tone from piece to piece, the etched Mjolnir is cut individually and its line weight varies, and the scabbard will be a shade lighter or darker. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the blade sharpened

No. The edges are blunt and the end is squared rather than pointed. This is a display and reenactment style sword and the blunt geometry is intentional.

Why does the blade end square instead of in a point

A squared terminal is the safest way to finish a display blade, and it also gives the wide flat of this blade a clean visual stop. It is a common finish on non cutting swords.

Will the brass go dull

Yes, and most owners let it. Brass darkens to a warm honey brown where it is not handled and stays bright where it is. A metal polish will take it back to a mirror at any time.

Can it hang on a wall

Yes. It suits a horizontal wall mount or a vertical stand well, and the brass hilt reads clearly against most wall colours. Keep it out of a bathroom or anywhere with steady humidity.

Can the Mjolnir be swapped for something else

Yes. Choose the engraving option and name the design you want, and it will be cut in place of the hammer rather than beside it. Vegvisir, Valknut and Helm of Awe are the usual requests.

How long does shipping take

One to two weeks of processing while the sword is checked and any engraving is cut, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• Hammerlight Viking arming sword with brass hilt
• Fitted leather scabbard
• Care card for high carbon steel, brass and leather
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

Explore the range

See the rest of the arming swords, the Viking swords, the full swords range and everything under engraved and personalised, or read the guides.