Battle Axes

Why the axe beat the sword on numbers

A sword is expensive. It is several pounds of good steel worked from end to end, and every inch of it has to be right. An axe is a fist sized lump of iron with a hardened edge welded or forged into the front, hung on a length of ash that anybody could cut and shape. In the Viking Age that made the axe the ordinary answer and the sword the exception, which is why axe heads turn up in Scandinavian graves in numbers swords never approach.

The physics helps too. Mass concentrated behind a short edge, swung at the end of a lever, delivers a great deal of energy into a very small area. A sword spreads its weight along three feet of blade and cuts by drawing. An axe puts everything into one point of impact. That is why the same tool that split firewood on a Tuesday went on a longship on Wednesday.

The cost is control. An axe is heavy at the far end, so it wants to keep going once it is moving and it is slow to bring back. Everything in axe design after that is an attempt to fix this. A beard cuts weight out of the lower bit while keeping the cutting edge long. A thin cheek reduces mass without losing edge. A hammer poll balances the head so it does not want to rotate in flight. All three appear on this page.

The axes in this collection

Fourteen pieces sit here. They separate by head form first and by steel second, and the range runs from a 16 inch hand axe to a 34 inch two hand crescent on a wall mount.

Bearded axes

The classic Norse profile, with the lower edge drawn down into a beard so the cutting edge stays long while the head stays light. Five here. Two are Damascus at 58 to 60 HRC, one with a deep hooked lower edge and a hand cut geometric panel in a lozenge frame, one at 16 inches overall with an upswept toe, a dropped heel and a brass eye band stamped with the first aett of the Elder Futhark. The others are 1095 with acid etched surface decoration, one with a squared hammer poll, a brass collar carrying a rune line and a brass butt cap cut with a Valknut.

Broad crescent axes

Two 34 inch pieces with a 10 inch cutting edge measured along the curve and a head 11 inches from horn to horn. Both are 1095 at 56 to 58 HRC at the edge with a softer eye and poll, both have a deep cut Elder Futhark rune band on both faces filled in frost blue, and both are hung on American ash wrapped full length in oiled leather cord. One weighs about 4 lb 6 oz and ships with a saddle stitched, copper riveted black leather head sheath. The other comes with a carved timber wall plaque of 24 by 8 inches, blackened steel cradle hooks and keyhole hangers routed into the back, at about 7 lb on the wall with fixings supplied.

Double bit axes

Three twin headed pieces, at 26, 28 and 30 inches overall. Bit widths run 4 to 7 inches and complete weights reach 4 lb 6 oz. One is a twin crescent head 11 inches across the horns with roughly 7 inches of arc on each bit and Norse animal ornament etched into the upper cheek. A double bit head is symmetrical, so it hangs true, and you get two edges: one kept keen and one kept for rough work.

The Damascus axes and the war hammer

Three heads on this page are forge welded 1095 and 15N20, hardened to 58 to 60 HRC at the edge and acid etched so the layers read across the cheek. One is a bearded bit with a squared hammer face and a Mjolnir stamped above the eye. One is the walnut hafted bearded axe. The third is not an axe at all but a war hammer with a crow beak pick opposite the face, 26 inches overall with an 8 inch head, brass langets riveted down the haft and a brass ferrule, at about 2 lb 6 oz.

Sizes, steel and fittings across the range

Every figure below comes from the specification panel of a piece on this page. Heads are forged and hafts are shaped and hung by hand, so read the numbers as what to expect rather than as exact.

Two figures are easy to confuse. Head weight and complete weight are not the same thing, and a listing quoting a 2 lb head on a 28 inch haft will feel heavier in the hand than a 2 lb 6 oz war hammer on a 26 inch one, because the mass sits further from your grip.

How the head is hung

The eye is the hole through the head, and on these it is drifted rather than drilled, which means a tapered punch is driven through hot steel and the metal is displaced around the opening rather than cut away. That keeps the grain of the steel running around the eye instead of through it, and it is why a properly drifted eye does not split.

The haft is fitted from below and wedged from above. A wooden wedge driven into a kerf in the top of the haft spreads the wood inside the eye and locks it. Several heads here add a steel cross wedge driven at right angles to the first, and several are also pinned through the cheek. Both are belt and braces, and both are what you want on a head you intend to swing.

Langets are steel or brass straps that run down the haft below the head and are riveted through. They protect the wood from an overstrike, which is the swing that lands short and buries the top of the haft into the log instead of the bit. Overstrikes are how most hafts die.

Hafts, ash and grain

Most of these are hung on white or American ash, and there is a reason ash has been the default haft timber for millennia. It is stiff along its length, it flexes without splintering, and it fails slowly and audibly rather than suddenly. Walnut and dark stained hardwood appear on the shorter and more decorative pieces, both denser and both less forgiving of an overstrike.

Oil the haft once or twice a year with boiled linseed or a hardwax oil, and pay attention to the end grain at the butt, which drinks it. A dry haft shrinks, and a shrunken haft loosens in the eye. If a head ever moves, stop using the axe and have it re hung rather than pounding the wedge deeper.

Steel, hardening and the soft eye

Almost every listing here describes a hard edge and a softer eye and poll. That is deliberate and it is the oldest trick in axe making. A fully hardened axe head would crack the first time it hit a knot, so only the bit is taken to full hardness and the body is left tough. On the 1095 pieces that means 54 to 58 HRC at the edge, and on the Damascus heads 58 to 60 HRC.

The Damascus here is 1095 and 15N20 forge welded, folded and acid etched. The nickel bearing 15N20 resists the acid and stays bright, the 1095 darkens, and the contrast is the pattern. On an axe cheek there is a broad flat surface for that pattern to run across, which is why the Damascus pieces are the ones people hang on a wall.

Several 1095 heads here carry acid etched surface decoration rather than pattern welding, and the listings say so plainly. Etched knotwork is a surface treatment. It is attractive and it is not Damascus, and anyone selling you otherwise is hoping you cannot tell.

Sharpening and use

Sharpen an axe with a file and a puck, not a bench stone. Clamp the head, work a mill file from the middle of the bit toward each corner following the existing bevel, then finish with a round sharpening puck in circles, coarse side first. Match the angle already there. An axe bevel is convex, and flattening it into a knife edge will make it bite deeper and then chip.

Use the middle of the bit. The corners are thin and they are where chips start. Chop into green wood, brush and limbs rather than seasoned hardwood, and never treat an axe as a splitting wedge or hammer the poll with a rock. Only the head with an actual hammer face is meant to be struck with anything.

Several listings state directly that the axe is sharp and not suitable for contact reenactment. Take that seriously. A sharpened edge and a foam padded event do not go together.

Care, rust and storage

These are carbon steel and they rust. Wipe the head down after use, especially after green wood, because sap is acidic and it marks steel fast. Leave a light film of oil on the bit and cheeks.

Store an axe hanging or on a rack rather than leaning on its edge, and keep the leather cover for transport rather than long storage, because leather traps moisture against steel. Grey patina is harmless. Orange spotting lifts with fine abrasive and oil.

Engraving and gifting

Most axes here can be engraved after they arrive in the United States. Names, dates and rune lines go on the cheek or along the beard. Text engraving is 19 dollars, a symbol is 39 dollars and a family crest is 49 dollars.

Elder Futhark is a phonetic alphabet rather than a cipher, so a name is transliterated by sound, and there is no rune for the letter C. Engraving is permanent and an engraved piece cannot be returned, so read the spelling back twice.

Where these come from and how they ship

Ransack Viking is a US company based in Memphis, Tennessee. The pieces are handmade in the Czech Republic, then imported, inspected and shipped from Memphis. Engraving is done in the US after arrival. Nearly every axe here ships with a stitched leather edge cover or head sheath.

Because each head is forged and each haft shaped by hand, no two are identical. Hammer texture, etch depth and the exact figure of the grain vary from one piece to the next.

How to choose

Decide first whether this is a working axe or a wall piece. For work, take a bearded head of 5 to 6 inches on a 26 to 28 inch ash haft in plain 1095. It is light enough to swing all afternoon, easy to file sharp and cheap enough to be honest about.

For a wall, take one of the 34 inch crescents or a Damascus head, where the etched cheek and the rune band do the work at three paces. The version supplied with the carved plaque and cradle hooks solves the mounting problem for you. And if this is a gift, the 16 inch Damascus hand axe is the one people pick up and do not put down.

Browse related categories

• Bearded axes, the full Norse range
• Dane axes, the long hafted two hand pattern
• Double headed axes with twin bits
• Throwing axes and hawks
• War axes and heavier fighting patterns
• Replacement handles and hafts

Guides worth reading first

• Battle axe or bearded axe: what the difference buys you
• How to choose a Viking axe
• How to sharpen an axe with a file and a puck
• Viking axe history and what the finds tell us