Aurnvik Hand Forged 51CrV4 Spring Steel Langes Messer with Forward Angled Nagel Spike & Blonde Scales | About 35 Inches Overall | Wood Scale Grip and Care Cloth | HEMA Gift | RK-3048

The Aurnvik is a langes messer with the most assertive nagel in this run. It is not a stud and it is not a short perpendicular post. It is a long spike that springs from the cross and runs forward, angled towards the point rather than standing square out of the flat, so it reaches further across the back of the hand and sits in the path of anything sliding down the blade.

The blade is single edged with a clipped point that has been rounded off at the end, which is how a clipped messer profile is made safe for sparring without losing the shape the sources show. The grip is a pair of blonde wood scales riveted to the flat tang with three rivets peened on both faces. There is no pommel and no peen block, because a messer is built like a knife and keeps knife construction all the way through.

If you are working out which messer to start with, the messer guide compares the fittings and how to choose your first HEMA sword covers the wider decision. The rest of the single edged trainers live in HEMA messers.

Specifications

Every figure below is a nominal build figure. This is made by hand, so treat each one as close rather than exact.

Why a messer carries a nagel at all

Look at a messer hilt beside an arming sword hilt and the difference is obvious. The arming sword has a cross with two quillons and a pommel closing the hand in from below. The messer has a short cross, scales riveted on and nothing behind the hand at all. Something has to cover the fingers, and that something is the nagel, a spike or post set into the guard block on the outside face.

The nagel does the job a second quillon would do on a double edged sword, standing between a descending blade and the back of your hand. It also gives the hilt a shape that can be used, because a nagel can catch, trap and steer a blade in the bind rather than merely blocking it. That is why the sources treat the messer hilt as part of the art rather than as safety kit bolted on afterwards.

Being clear about one thing. A nagel is not a parierhaken. A parierhaken is a pair of hooks standing out of the blade itself, above a leather covered ricasso, and it belongs on montantes and the big two handed swords. This spike springs from the cross, below the blade, and it is a nagel. The two get mixed up constantly and they are different fittings doing different jobs.

The forward angled spike and the rounded clipped point

Angling a nagel forward changes what it can do. A spike standing square out of the flat covers the hand in one plane and no more. Rake it towards the point and it covers a wider arc, it reaches further out from the hilt, and it sits across the line that a blade takes when it slides down towards your knuckles. In the bind a forward raked spike gives you something to hang a blade on, which a perpendicular stud does not. It also means the hilt has a front and a back and you have to know which way round the sword is in your hand, which sounds obvious until someone picks it up the wrong way in a drill.

The point is the clipped messer profile, where the back of the blade is cut away towards the tip to bring the point back in line. Here the very end of that clip is rounded off, so the shape is period correct and the termination is safe for contact. The clip is ground back to the same flat land as the edge, so nothing on the piece is sharp.

Steel is 51CrV4 spring steel hardened to 49 to 52 HRC. Spring steel is chosen because it bends and returns instead of taking a set or snapping under a hard bind, which is exactly what a cutting steel at 54 to 58 HRC will not do. Flex is medium tier and we publish no pound figure, since we do not measure every blade. The steel and hardness guide explains the numbers.

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 or the grip. On this one the clean field is the blade flat behind the nagel, or the blonde wood of the scales if you would rather have the marking in the grip than the steel. Elder Futhark has no sign for every sound in English, so the converter maps what it can and we cut what it gives back. If you want to read the alphabet before you choose, the Elder Futhark runes guide sets it out.

Engraving is priced by what you ask for. Text and runes are $19, a symbol is $39 and a family crest is $49. All of it is cut in the United States after the piece has landed and passed inspection, so nothing leaves the Czech Republic already marked.

If you would rather have your own design 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. More on the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Quick and close, like any one hand messer. The difference the long nagel makes is that you feel the hilt more. The spike gives your hand a reference point without touching it, and after a few sessions you stop thinking about blade orientation because the fitting tells you where the edge is. That is a real training advantage for a fencer coming off double edged swords.

We do not publish a weight or a point of balance. The photographs carry no scale and we do not weigh every example that comes through the warehouse. Worth knowing before the first session, a long forward spike wants a slightly wider glove than a ring nagel does, so check your hand fits comfortably behind it with whatever you train in.

Care

Wipe the blade after every session, because sweat is what puts spots on spring steel and the flats either side of the nagel are where hands sit. A light film of oil between sessions is all it needs and the care cloth in the box is for that job. Pay attention to the angle where the spike meets the cross, since that corner traps moisture and is easy to miss with a cloth.

The blonde scales are wood and want the same care as any wood grip. Keep standing water off them, dry them naturally if they get soaked, and wipe a little oil into the grain occasionally. Check the three rivets for movement every few weeks and tell us if one is turning, because a loose rivet is a defect with no end date and no receipt needed. Full instructions are in the care guide.

Made in the Czech Republic

Made by hand in the Czech Republic and imported by Ransack Viking. Nothing here is drop shipped out of an importer catalogue straight to a customer. Every one is checked for hilt tightness, pommel seating and blade straightness at our North Babylon, New York warehouse, and ships from there. Shipping in the United States is free, returns run for seven days, and the lifetime warranty against defects in the forging, the grind, the heat treat and the fittings has no end date and needs no receipt.

If you want the longer version of how the line is sourced and what we do and do not claim about it, the country of origin page lays it out, and order and shipping information covers timings.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand forged. It is not machine made, not cast and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page.

The rake of the spike is set by hand and the angle differs a little between pieces. Blonde wood shows its grain and its colour differently on every scale, the rivet peens sit as small raised discs, and the length of the clip at the point varies. None of that is a defect and none of it is covered as one.

Frequently asked questions

Whether the spike is a parierhaken

No. A parierhaken stands out of the blade above a leather covered ricasso and belongs on the big two handed swords. This spike springs from the cross, so it is a nagel.

Whether it is sharp

No. It is a blunt trainer with a flat edge land of about 3 mm. The clip is ground to the same land and the point itself is rounded off.

Why the nagel is angled forward

A forward raked spike covers a wider arc than a square stud, reaches further from the hilt and sits across the line a sliding blade takes. It also gives you something to catch a blade on in the bind.

What flex tier this sits in

Medium, the usual club setting for messer work. We do not publish a pound figure because we do not measure every blade.

Whether it is tournament legal

That depends on the ruleset you fence under. Nagel length and tip shape are both things events have opinions about, so read the gear rules where you are entering.

Whether a scabbard is included

No. Nothing in this line ships with a scabbard and we do not sell one cut to this blade.

What is in the box

• The Aurnvik langes messer, about 35 inches overall
• A light protective coat of oil on the blade
• A care cloth for wiping down after sessions
• A care and storage card with the warranty terms

Explore the range

The single edged trainers sit in HEMA messers, with the whole line in HEMA swords. For curved single edged play look at HEMA sabres, and the older catalogue sits in messers. The written material is collected in the guides hub.

Compare it with these

Worth setting next to this one: Molgarth langes messer, about 35 inches overall, Brenvald langes messer, about 37 inches overall, Brunhak langes messer, about 37 inches overall, Kaldrast hanger sabre, about 36 inches overall and Haldvane arming sword, about 37 inches overall.

Look through the HEMA messer category and the HEMA sword hub for the rest, then try the custom sword builder if you want something specific.