Ragnar Lothbrok Hand Forged Stainless Steel Viking Sword | 38 Inch Overall | Norse Collector Reenactment and Display Gift | RK-667

Thirty eight inches of hand forged stainless steel, with a guard and pommel cast in zinc and set with imitation gems in yellow, orange, ruby and pearl white. The Ragnar Lothbrok is the most ornamented sword in this range, and it is made for display, collection and reenactment rather than for cutting. How the screen kit compares to the archaeology is rated in the screen kit rated for accuracy.

Decorated hilts are not a modern indulgence. In the Norse world a sword was the most expensive object most people would ever see, and its hilt was where that wealth was made visible. Surviving Viking Age swords carry pommels and guards inlaid with silver and copper wire, chased with interlace, and in the very finest cases plated in precious metal. The blade did the work. The hilt announced who you were. That is the tradition this sword sits in, and the fittings here are built to be looked at.

Swords at this level were also named, and the sagas record the names as carefully as they record the men. Skofnung, the sword of the Danish king Hrolf Kraki, is said in Laxdaela saga to have been so keen it must not be drawn in the presence of women and must have the sun never shine on its hilt. Gram is the sword Sigurd used to kill the dragon Fafnir. Tyrfing is cursed to kill a man every time it is drawn. Magnus Barefoot carried one called Legbiter. A named sword was an heirloom, passed down, argued over and buried with people, and no other object in Norse culture was treated that way.

Every Ragnar Lothbrok is forged, ground, assembled and finished in a Czech Republic workshop. Shipping inside the United States is free, processing takes one to two weeks, and returns are accepted within seven days.

Specifications

Why the fittings are cast zinc

This is the part of the sword people ask about, and the answer is genuinely interesting rather than a compromise to apologise for.

Zinc alloy is the standard material for detailed decorative metal fittings across the whole of the jewellery, hardware and replica trade, and the reason is its melting point. Zinc alloys melt at a little over 400 degrees Celsius, which is low enough that molten metal flows readily into very fine mould detail before it starts to freeze. Steel poured at fourteen hundred degrees will not reliably fill a thin undercut or a crisp piece of interlace. Zinc will, every time. That is why the raised knotwork, the bezel settings for the stones and the sharp definition on this guard and pommel are possible at all.

It is also dense, roughly comparable to steel by weight, which matters because the pommel of a sword is a counterweight. A lightweight resin or plastic pommel would leave the balance point far too far up the blade. And zinc takes plating and finishing well, which is how you get an even metallic surface across a complex shape.

What zinc is not is structural. It is softer than steel and it is not a material you would build a load bearing component from. That is the honest reason this sword is a display and collection piece rather than a cutting sword. The blade is steel and the fittings are decorative, and treating it as a functional sword would be putting stress through parts that were never intended to take it.

Stainless steel, and the honest case for it here

Most of our range is carbon steel or Damascus, because on a working blade the ability to take and hold a very fine edge is worth the maintenance. This one is stainless, and on a heavily ornamented display sword that is the correct choice for a specific reason.

A polished carbon steel blade in a display case is a maintenance commitment. Fingerprints etch into bare carbon steel within days, and a sword that is picked up and admired by every person who visits will show every one of those prints. Stainless carries enough chromium to form a passive oxide layer that repairs itself when scratched, so it stays bright with nothing more than a wipe. Alongside gem set fittings and a polished hilt, a blade that keeps its shine without oiling is what keeps the whole piece looking right.

The trade offs are real and worth stating. Stainless is harder to sharpen, does not hold a fine edge as long as a well treated carbon steel, and is less tough in a long thin section, which is why we do not use it where a blade will take impact. On a display sword none of those costs are ever paid. The full comparison is in Damascus versus stainless.

The hilt and how it is held together

The grip on this sword is forged stainless steel rather than an organic material, which means there is no wood or leather in the hilt to shrink, swell or rot over the years. Everything from the point to the pommel is metal, and the whole assembly is compressed between the cast guard at one end and the cast pommel at the other.

A metal grip has one practical consequence worth knowing. Steel is a good conductor, so the hilt takes on the temperature of the room. In a cold hall it will feel cold in the hand. That is normal for the construction and not a defect.

The gem settings are bezels, meaning the stone sits in a shallow cup with a rim of metal formed over its edge to retain it. Bezel setting is the oldest stone setting method there is and it is by far the most secure, but it does not like being knocked. Handle the sword by the grip rather than the fittings, and do not let it fall against a hard surface.

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 handle. 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 whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this sword the blade is the surface to use, because the guard and pommel are cast with their own decoration and set with stones. Given the saga tradition of named swords, a name in Elder Futhark down the blade is about as fitting a request as we get. Detail on the engraving page.

Care and upkeep

The blade needs almost nothing. Wipe it with a soft dry cloth or a microfibre when it gathers dust or fingerprints. It does not need oiling and it will not rust in a normal room. Avoid abrasive pads, which will dull the polish.

The cast fittings and the stones want a gentler approach than the blade. Dust them with a soft dry brush and keep liquids away from the bezels, because moisture that gets behind a set stone is difficult to remove. Do not use jewellery dip, silver polish or any solvent based cleaner on the fittings. General steel notes are in steel care. This is a display and reenactment piece with no cutting role, so there is nothing to sharpen. If you own knives from the range, the whetstone method for those is in sharpening with a whetstone.

Made in the Czech Republic

This piece is made by hand in the Czech Republic, in a workshop that still works the old way. The steel is forged, ground, heat treated and finished by smiths who learned the trade from the people before them, and the wood, horn and leather are cut and fitted by hand rather than pressed out on a line. That is also why no two pieces come out exactly the same.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import these pieces ourselves, check every one when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, so your runes or your own design go on before it leaves for you.

A note on handmade variation

This sword is hand forged and hand assembled. It is not machine made and it is not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The polish along the blade, the tone and finish of the cast fittings and the exact colour and depth of the imitation stones all vary from one piece to the next, because each is finished by hand. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Are the gems real?

No, and the listing does not claim they are. They are imitation stones in yellow, orange, ruby and pearl white, bezel set into the cast fittings.

Is this a battle ready sword?

It is a collector, reenactment and display piece. The fittings are cast zinc, which is a decorative material rather than a structural one, so it should never be used for cutting or contact work.

Why does the handle feel cold?

Because it is steel. A metal grip takes on the temperature of the room in a way a wood or leather grip does not. It is a property of the construction rather than a fault.

Was Ragnar Lothbrok real?

He appears in the later Norse sagas and in Saxo Grammaticus, but most historians treat him as a legendary composite rather than a single documented individual. The sword is named for the legend.

Did Vikings really name their swords?

They did, and the sagas record the names. Skofnung, Gram, Tyrfing and Legbiter are among the best known. A sword was an heirloom and was treated as an individual with a history rather than as a piece of equipment.

How should I clean the fittings?

A soft dry brush and nothing else. Keep water, jewellery dip and solvent cleaners away from the bezel set stones.

What is in the box

• One Ragnar Lothbrok stainless steel Viking sword, 38 inches overall
• Protective packaging
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

Related collections: Swords, Viking Swords, Viking Axes and Viking Shields. The sagas, the steel and the care notes sit in the guides.