Wavecrown Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Flamberge Sword | 35 Inch Overall Length | Wave Bladed Sword with Disc Pommel and Timber Scabbard | Collector Gift | RK-2154

The Wavecrown is a single hand flamberge, which is to say a sword whose blade runs in a series of even waves from the ricasso to the point instead of in a straight line. The steel is plain high carbon, polished bright, and the waves are ground into both edges in matching phase so the blade stays symmetrical and true. Just above the guard a rectangular panel of Celtic interlace is etched into the flat, the only decoration on an otherwise very clean sword. The hilt is deliberately plain to let the blade do the talking: a straight steel crossguard with squared ends, a black grip closed with brass collars, and a broad disc pommel with a raised central boss.

The scabbard is the other thing worth noticing. It is a timber scabbard rather than a leather sleeve, built from shaped wood with a brass throat and a brass chape at the tip and a leather band wrapped around the upper third. That is closer to how a real scabbard was made than a leather envelope is, because the wood does the holding and the metal fittings protect the two ends that get knocked. This sword is hand made in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports it, checks the wave alignment, the hilt tightness and the scabbard fit on arrival, and ships it from the Memphis warehouse.

If this is your first sword, how to buy a first sword covers what actually matters. For where 1095 sits on the hardness scale and what that buys you, see the steel and hardness page. Thrusting blades with the same kind of hilt sit in the rapiers.

Specifications

What a flame blade is and what it is not

The wave bladed sword is a real historical form and it has an unusually large amount of folklore attached to it. The genuine part first. Undulating blades appear on the great two handed swords of sixteenth century German and Swiss use, where they are called flammard or flamberge, and later on rapier blades. The waves mean that when two blades slide along one another the contact happens at a handful of points rather than along a smooth line, which produces a rasping vibration instead of a clean glide. Fencers of the period did report that this disrupted the feel of a bind, which is a real effect in a system where you read your opponent through the blade.

Now the folklore. The waves do not make a wound that cannot be closed, they do not saw through armour, and there is no evidence any of them were banned by treaty or by any church. Those stories attach themselves to almost every unusual blade shape sooner or later. What is true is that a wave blade takes far more work to forge and grind than a straight one, because every wave has to match its opposite number on the far edge or the blade will run untrue, and that alone made these swords expensive and rare. The Wavecrown is built as a display and collection piece, and the waves are there for exactly the reason they usually were, which is that they look extraordinary.

The steel and the scabbard

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel at 54 to 58 HRC, polished bright rather than satin so the waves catch light along their whole length. That polish is the reason this sword photographs the way it does and also the reason it shows every fingerprint, so keep a cloth near it. High carbon steel is not stainless and it will spot if it is left damp or handled and put away unwiped.

The timber scabbard is built the traditional way, from shaped wood that carries the blade, with brass mounts at the throat and the tip. The brass throat protects the mouth where the blade goes in and out and stops the wood splitting there, and the chape covers the point end which is what gets knocked when a scabbard is stood in a corner. The leather band around the upper third is both a decorative wrap and a reinforcement. A wooden scabbard is much kinder to steel than a soft leather sleeve because it does not collapse onto the blade and it does not hold moisture in the same way.

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 Wavecrown the interlace panel above the ricasso is the obvious spot and a rune line takes its place there. The wooden scabbard is the other good surface and it takes a cut line beautifully. See the engraving page for what will fit.

Handling and balance

The disc pommel is a broad flat mass sitting right at the end of the grip, and it is doing more counterbalancing work than its size suggests, because weight at the very end of a lever has the most effect. The result is a sword that feels alive in one hand rather than nose heavy. Hold it with the pommel seated against the heel of your palm rather than gripping the middle of the grip.

Handle a wave blade with a bit more care than a straight one. The crests of the waves stand proud of the general line of the blade, so they are the first thing that touches anything, and they mark more easily than a flat edge would. This is a display and collection sword. It is not built or tested for full contact against another sword, a shield or any target, and it should not be used for that.

Care

Wipe the blade with a lightly oiled cloth after handling and every few weeks while it is on display, paying attention to the crests of the waves because they are what your fingers touch first. A bright polish shows fingerprint etching within days, so this is not a sword to leave unwiped. Store it out of the scabbard for the long term. If rust spots appear, fine steel wool and oil will lift them, then a metal polish will restore the shine. The timber scabbard wants nothing more than a dry place and an occasional wipe, and the leather band takes a little balm once or twice a year. Our steel care guide covers polished blades in more detail.

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 Wavecrown 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 wave alignment, blade straightness, hilt tightness and scabbard fit, then repacked and shipped free within the United States. Processing is one to two weeks because that inspection genuinely happens, and a wave blade takes longer to check than a straight one. Returns stay open for seven days, and there is 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. Wave blades vary more than straight ones by their nature, because each crest and trough is ground by eye, so the depth and spacing of the waves will differ slightly from the sword shown. The timber scabbard carries its own grain and takes the stain a shade lighter or darker, the brass mounts sit at slightly different tones, and the etched interlace panel is cut individually. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the wave shape ground or forged

Both. The profile is worked into the blade and then the bevels are ground to follow it on each side, which is why a flame blade takes so much longer to make than a straight one.

Is this sharp

Treat it as a display and collection sword rather than a cutting sword. The edges carry a ground bevel and the point is a real point, so handle it with the care you would give any full size blade, and do not use it against a target.

Does the wooden scabbard scratch the blade

No more than a leather one, and usually less. The wood holds its shape rather than collapsing onto the steel, so the blade only contacts it at the mouth and along the spine.

Can I hang it on a wall

Yes, and it is worth doing horizontally so the waves read across the wall. A two point wall mount will support both the blade and the scabbard.

Why is the pommel a plain disc

Because the blade is the feature. A disc pommel puts the counterweight as far from the guard as possible in the smallest amount of metal, and keeping it plain stops the hilt competing with the waves.

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

• Wavecrown flamberge sword with disc pommel
• Timber scabbard with brass throat, brass chape and leather band
• Care card for polished high carbon steel, brass and wood
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

Explore the range

See the full swords range, the fantasy and movie swords, the arming swords and everything under engraved and personalised, or read the guides.