Broadswords

What a broad blade is for

A wide blade cuts better than a narrow one and thrusts worse. That is the whole trade, and every broadsword on this page sits on the cutting side of it. Width does two things. It puts more steel behind the edge, so the edge is supported and does not fold when it meets bone or a shield rim. It also lets the smith grind a shallow bevel, and a shallow bevel with a broad body behind it is what separates a blade that bites from one that bounces.

The cost is mass in the wrong place. A wide blade that runs the same width to the tip would be exhausting to use, so every one of these tapers, some gently and some hard, and most have steel removed from the middle of the flat where it does the least work. That is the fuller, and it is the single most misunderstood feature on a sword. It is not a blood groove. It is a stiffening rib in reverse, the same trick as an I beam, taking weight out of the centre while leaving the edges and the spine where the strength is.

The basket hilt answers a different question. Once mail and plate stopped being worn on the arms, the hand became the easiest thing on a swordsman to hit, and a crossguard does little about that. So the Scots and the English built a cage. Bars, shell plates and a knuckle bow running from the guard to the pommel, enclosing the hand and adding enough weight at the hilt to balance a long blade back toward the grip.

The broadswords in this collection

Nine swords, splitting almost evenly between the cruciform Norse and medieval pattern and the Scottish basket hilt. Prices run from 389 to 619 dollars and the whole range ships with a fitted scabbard.

Cruciform blades

The longest sword on the page is a 43 inch runic broadsword with a 34 inch blade, 2.2 inches at the shoulder and 5.5 mm thick at the guard, carrying an engraved and darkened Elder Futhark inscription running along the fuller. Deep red leather over a hardwood core, a straight steel guard and a peened pommel, at about 3 lb 9 oz, and it is the heaviest thing here. Beside it sits a 36 inch Viking pattern with a 30 inch blade, 2.1 inches at the guard, a wide shallow fuller running most of the length, and a hilt in brown leather with a wound brass wire wrap over cord risers between a solid brass guard and a lobed brass pommel, at about 2 lb 13 oz.

Basket hilts

Five, and they are the reason this page exists. They run to 37 or 38 inches overall with blades of 30 to 32 inches, all with grips of about 4 inches enclosed by the cage. One is polished throughout with pierced and chiselled shell plates, a knuckle bow, side bars and a red liner behind the steel. Another blackens the bar basket and pommel, fits brass rosette rivets and a brass ferrule, and etches a Norse raven into the guard plate. A third uses a pierced shell with red backing panels and a side ring, a Helm of Awe stave cut into the lower shell, a black leather grip bound with two bands of silver wire and a faceted ball pommel. The red liners are not decoration. They are what a real basket hilt has, a lining that keeps the bars off your knuckles.

Damascus blades

Two, both forge welded from 1095 and 15N20 and hardened to 58 to 60 HRC. The shorter is a 34 inch Viking pattern with a 27 inch blade 2.2 inches at the guard, a smooth black single hand grip, a short straight guard and a polished brazil nut pommel, with a large cut interlace knot on the flat of the etched blade and both edges sharpened, at about 2 lb 12 oz. The other is a basket hilt at 38 inches with a 31 inch blade, blackened basket with polished brass banding, a brass rosette rivet, a ball pommel and an etched triquetra panel on the outer guard plate.

The blackened diamond section blade

One sword here has no fuller at all. Instead the blade is a flattened diamond with a raised central ridge running down it, 28 inches on a 38 inch overall length, blackened along with the guard and set against a contrasting pommel. The guard is a steel crossbar swept toward the hand with flared spade terminals, and the ribbed grip is sized for a hand and a half hold. A diamond section is stiffer than a fullered blade of the same weight and it thrusts better, which makes this the outlier on a page of cutters.

Sizes, steel and weights across the range

Every figure below comes from the specification panel of a piece on this page. These are forged and ground by hand, so read them as what to expect rather than as a guarantee to the millimetre.

Three listings give a weight and they bracket the page neatly. Around 2 lb 12 oz for a 34 inch sword, about 2 lb 13 oz for a 36 inch one and about 3 lb 9 oz for the 43 inch runic blade. Anything unlisted on this page sits inside that spread.

Reach, balance and how these handle

Total length is a poor guide to how a sword feels. The 43 inch runic sword is the longest and heaviest here and it swings like it, with the mass out along the blade and a long arc. The 34 inch Damascus is a foot shorter and nearly a pound lighter, and it turns in the wrist.

Basket hilts feel different again. All that steel around the hand sits behind the guard, which pulls the balance point back toward your fist and makes a 31 inch blade feel shorter than it is. The trade is total weight and a fixed hand position, because once your hand is inside a cage you cannot slide it, choke up on the grip or change the angle much.

Grip length tells you what the sword expects. Four inches inside a basket is a single hand grip and nothing else. The hand and a half grip on the diamond section blade gives you room to add a second hand for a heavy cut, which is where the extra leverage lives.

Steel and hardness

Two steels run through the page. Plain 1095 high carbon is hardened to 54 to 58 HRC, which is where a long blade wants to be, hard enough to hold an edge and soft enough to flex rather than crack. Damascus of 1095 and 15N20 is forge welded, folded, ground and acid etched, hardened to 58 to 60 HRC, so it keeps an edge slightly longer and takes a little more work to bring back.

Two blades here list a figure a shade outside those bands, one at 56 to 58 and one at 53 to 55. That is normal on hand heat treated steel and the panels state what each blade was measured at rather than what the range says it should be. Practically, a couple of points of hardness on a sword this size is not something you will feel.

Neither steel is stainless. Both rust if left wet and both take a grey patina over years that does no harm.

Fullers, ridges and edges

Most of these blades are fullered. The fuller is ground into the flat, usually running from just below the guard to somewhere short of the point, and it removes weight from the part of the cross section that contributes least to stiffness. A fullered blade of a given weight is wider and stiffer than an unfullered one, which is exactly what a cutting sword wants.

The exception is the diamond section blade, which puts a raised ridge down the centre instead. That is the opposite approach, adding thickness at the middle rather than removing it, and it produces a stiffer point at the cost of a heavier blade for the same width. Thrusting swords are built this way. So are stage and display blades that need to survive being dropped.

Edges arrive ground and finished by hand. One listing states both edges are sharpened. These are not razors, because a very thin edge on a sword chips against anything hard, and a few passes on a stone will take any of them further if that is what you want.

Hilts, grips and pommels

Every sword here is full tang with the pommel peened over the end. That is the only construction worth having on a sword, because a peened tang cannot unscrew itself loose the way a threaded pommel nut can.

Grips run to leather over a hardwood core, some plain, some ribbed, some wire bound. The brass wire wrap over cord risers on the Viking pattern is the traditional treatment and it is the best of the lot in the hand, because the risers give your fingers something to index against. Wire bound grips inside a basket do the same job in a smaller space.

Pommels are counterweights first and decoration second. The brazil nut and the lobed brass pommel are Norse and early medieval forms. The faceted block and the ball with a button belong to the basket hilts, where a heavy ball at the back of the hand balances a long blade. Blackened steel, polished steel and brass all appear, and brass will darken over months and come back with metal polish on a cloth.

Scabbards, care and storage

Every sword ships with a fitted scabbard, most leather over a wooden core with metal at the throat and chape. One carries a belt hanger. The wooden core holds the shape and keeps the blade off the stitching.

Carbon steel and leather are a poor long term pair, because leather holds moisture and its tanning agents are mildly acidic. Wipe the blade dry, put a light film of mineral or camellia oil on it, and if the sword is going to sit for months, store it out of the scabbard or on a horizontal rack with the scabbard beside it.

Fingerprints do more damage than weather. A print left on a polished blade will etch itself in over a few weeks, so handle the polished pieces with a cloth. Grey patina is stable and can be left alone. Orange spotting lifts with a light abrasive and oil before it pits. Blackened finishes should be left alone entirely, because polishing takes the finish off, and etched Damascus fades under hard polishing, so oil it and leave it.

Baskets need a look at from time to time. Dust collects inside a pierced shell and behind a liner, and a soft brush gets it out before it holds damp against the steel.

Engraving

Several of these already carry cut or etched work, from an Elder Futhark inscription along a fuller to a Helm of Awe on a shell guard, a raven on a guard plate and a triquetra panel on a basket. Further engraving is done in the United States after the piece arrives. The flat of the blade above the guard is the usual place on a cruciform sword, and on a basket hilt the outer guard plate is the obvious panel.

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 code, 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 send the exact spelling and read it 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.

Swords ship boxed with the scabbard. Two swords of the same name will differ slightly in grind, etch figure and leather colour, because two people made them on two different days.

How to choose

First sword and you want the Norse look? Take the 36 inch cruciform in 1095 with brass fittings. It is the classic profile, the wire wrapped grip is the best hilt on the page and it sits under three pounds.

Want a Scottish basket hilt? Start with the polished shell and red liner. Polished steel and a red lining photograph better than blackened work and the pierced shell plates are where the craft shows.

Buying a display piece where the blade is the point? The Damascus with the brazil nut pommel. Etched pattern welding with a cut interlace knot on the flat reads from across a room, and at 34 inches it fits a wall that a 43 inch sword will not.

Related collections

• Viking swords, the northern cruciform family
• Basket and shell hilt swords
• Arming swords, the single hand medieval blade
• Damascus swords in forge welded 1095 and 15N20
• Longswords for two hands
• Claymores
• Sword stands and display fittings
• Scabbards and replacement sheaths

Guides worth reading first

• How to buy your first sword
• Display sword or battle ready: what the difference is
• Viking swords worth collecting
• The Ulfberht sword
• Damascus or high carbon steel: which blade should you buy
• Steel and hardness: what HRC numbers mean