James

James writes the guides on Ransack Viking. The buying guides, the posts on Norse history and the symbols, the steel explainers and the sharpening and care walkthroughs are all his.

The same questions keep coming back. What the shape of an axe head is actually for. What separates a real Damascus billet from a pattern that was etched on afterwards. How hard 1095 is run and what that costs you at the edge. Where the saga ends and the archaeology starts.

If you want the short version, the guides hub collects it. Start with picking a first axe if you are buying, read what the steel and the fittings actually are if you want the material, and how to keep the rust off once the piece is on the wall or in the woods.

Everything below is his, newest first.

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About James

James writes the guides on Ransack Viking. He covers Viking axes and swords, what a Damascus billet of 1095 and 15N20 actually is, Norse history and the symbols people ask about, and how to keep an edge and keep the rust off. He spends more time arguing about axe head geometry than is strictly healthy, and he will tell you when a piece is for the wall rather than the woods.