Short Swords

Why a short sword instead of a sword

A short sword is not a compromise. For most of recorded history it was the sensible answer, and the long sword was the specialist. The reason is shields and formations. If you are standing in a line behind a shield, a 30 inch blade is all you can use, because anything longer catches on the man beside you on the backswing and cannot be recovered in the space you have. The Roman legions won with a blade of about 20 inches for exactly that reason.

Weight is the other half of it. The pieces here that state a bare weight run from 1 lb 12 oz to about 2 lb, against 2 lb 6 oz to 3 lb 2 oz for the full length swords elsewhere on the site. That difference is felt within about thirty seconds of holding one. A short sword can be worn all day, drawn in a doorway, and handled by someone who has never held a blade before without alarming anybody.

For a buyer that has practical consequences. Short swords cost less than full length pieces because there is less steel and less grinding in them. They hang on a wall in spaces where a 40 inch sword will not fit. And they are far easier to bring to a costume event or a photo shoot, because you can move through a room without clearing it first.

The shapes on this page

Seven families cover almost everything here. Length varies less than shape does, so pick the profile first.

Gladius and leaf blades

The Roman infantry sword and its relatives. A waisted leaf profile that narrows behind the shoulder, widens again towards the front third and finishes in a long triangular point. That shape puts mass forward for the cut and still gives a point stiff enough to thrust through mail and linen. Examples here run 26 to 28 inches overall with 19 to 21 inch blades, in both high carbon and Damascus, with turned hardwood grips cut with finger ribs, bronze or brass meander guards, and ribbed leather over shaped cores. Bronze leaf blade pieces from the pre Roman tradition sit in the same group.

The name gladius simply meant sword in Latin, and the shape shifted across the centuries the Romans used it. Earlier examples are longer with a pronounced waist, later ones shorter and closer to parallel, which is why two gladius pieces of the same nominal type can differ by two inches of blade. Judge the ones here on their stated figures rather than on a period label.

Norse and Viking short swords

Straight, broad, double edged blades with lobed or disc pommels, running 26 to 31 inches overall with 20 to 25 inches of blade. These sit on the line where the broad seax stops being a knife and starts being a sword, which is a boundary the Norse themselves never drew sharply. A langseax with a 13 inch blade and a short sword with a 20 inch blade are the same idea at two sizes. Listed bare weights here are around 1 lb 14 oz to 1 lb 15 oz. Grips are leather or cord over a timber core, often banded with wire or raised rings.

Hunting hangers and shell guards

The short sword a gentleman carried into the field from the seventeenth century onward, and the ancestor of the modern hunting knife. A single edged or clipped blade around 22 inches, a brass shell guard pierced or engraved with a motif, and a leather wrapped grip. The pieces here run about 28 inches overall. Some carry an unsharpened display edge with a rounded point, which the listing states.

Sawback short swords

A working profile with saw teeth cut along the spine, 24 to 25 inches overall with 18 to 19 inch blades and listed weights of 1 lb 12 oz to 1 lb 14 oz. On the pieces here the main edge is sharpened and the saw teeth are left unsharpened, which the listings say plainly. The teeth are a visual feature on a display piece rather than a functioning wood saw, and nobody should expect otherwise.

Flame bladed short swords

Undulating double edged blades in the flamberge tradition, about 27 to 28 inches overall with 20 to 21 inch blades, in both 1095 at 54 to 58 HRC and Damascus at 58 to 60 HRC. The waves were originally meant to catch and shiver against an opposing blade. Today they are the reason these pieces catch a room's attention on a wall, which is honestly why most people buy them.

Wakizashi and ninjato

The Japanese short blades that share this page with their western cousins. Wakizashi here run 26 to 30 inches in the saya with 18 to 20 inches of blade measured from the habaki, at about 1 lb 14 oz to 1 lb 15 oz without the scabbard. The ninjato is a straight bladed piece around 35 inches overall. Both are covered in more depth on the Japanese sword page.

Renaissance side swords and cutlasses

The long tail of the page. Side swords, espada ropera and fencing swords at 38 to 41 inches overall with 31 to 34 inch blades, with swept bars, wire wrapped grips and disc or ball pommels. Cutlasses at about 30 inches with a heavy curved blade and a knuckle bow. These are one handed like everything else here, but they are long enough to need a wall rather than a shelf.

Lengths, weights and steel across the range

Every figure below comes from the specification panel or the title of a product on this page. Nothing is estimated, and a blank is shown as not listed rather than filled in.

Two measurements need care. Japanese blades are quoted from the habaki, the collar at the base, rather than from the guard, and the overall figure is usually given with the sword in its scabbard, so a wakizashi listed at 28 inches is shorter than a gladius listed at 28 inches. And a stated weight is bare in almost every case, so add a scabbard and a belt before you judge how it will hang.

Steel, hardness and the edge you get

Two steels are presented as a house standard across this site and no others. Plain 1095 is hardened to 54 to 58 HRC. Damascus of 1095 and 15N20 forge welded, folded and etched is hardened to 58 to 60 HRC. Where an older listing states a different grade in its own specification table, that table is the accurate answer for that piece.

On a blade this length the hardness question is less fraught than it is on a full sword. A 20 inch blade is a much shorter lever than a 32 inch blade, so it is under less stress in a bend, and the harder Damascus is a perfectly sensible choice here. Plain 1095 still sharpens faster and forgives more on a stone, and it is the better pick if the piece will be handled often.

Read the edge line on the product page. Some short swords here are listed as sharpened on both edges or sharpened and ready to use. Some carry an unsharpened display edge with a rounded point. The sawback pieces sharpen the main edge and leave the teeth blunt. Where no edge line appears, assume a display grind. A blunt 25 inch bar of hardened steel is still perfectly capable of breaking a bone, so treat all of them as sharp around other people.

Hilts, guards, scabbards and care

Grips are leather, cord or turned hardwood over a shaped core, sometimes with wire rings or raised bands to stop the hand sliding, sometimes ribbed under the wrap. Guards run from the plain straight bar of the Norse pieces through pierced brass shells to the swept bars and basket cages of the Renaissance swords. Pommels are steel, brass or bronze, peened over the tang, which means the assembly is permanent and cannot be taken apart for cleaning.

How a short sword hangs matters more than it does on a long one. A 40 inch sword can only be worn on a belt at the hip, but a 26 inch blade will sit comfortably on a hip, across the back or high on the chest, which is why costume and living history buyers gravitate to this length. If you intend to wear rather than display, check the scabbard's suspension in the product photographs before you order, since a scabbard with a single fixed loop is limited to hip carry.

Most pieces here ship with a scabbard, and several of the Japanese blades come with a lacquered or leather covered saya. Keep the blade out of the scabbard in storage. Leather and lacquered timber both hold moisture against the steel, and a carbon blade left sheathed through a damp season comes out spotted.

Wipe the blade with a light oil, deal with fingerprints the same day, and keep the piece away from radiators and direct sun, which dries out leather wraps and shrinks timber cores. Grey patina on carbon steel is stable and harmless. Orange spotting lifts with fine abrasive and oil before it pits.

Every piece on this page is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Finished swords are imported into the United States, inspected by Ransack Viking in Memphis, Tennessee, and shipped from there, with engraving added after arrival. Two swords of the same name will differ slightly in grind and finish, because two people made them on two different days.

Browse related sword categories

• Roman gladius swords with leaf shaped blades
• Viking swords in the full single handed length
• Wakizashi, the Japanese companion blade
• Arming swords, the medieval single handed sword
• Longswords and hand and a half swords
• The full sword range across every period and shape
• Viking seax knives, where the short sword line begins
• Leather scabbards and replacement sheaths

Guides worth reading first

• The seax: from belt knife to langseax to short sword
• Seax and bowie compared, two big blades doing different jobs
• How to buy your first sword without wasting money
• Display sword or battle ready: what the terms actually mean
• Viking seax buyer's guide: history, types and what to look for