Viking Seax

The broken back and why it exists

Look at the spine of a classic seax and it does something no other knife does. It runs dead straight and level from the handle for most of the blade, then breaks downward at a distinct angle and runs straight again to the point. There is no curve in it. That is the broken back profile, and it is the most recognisable thing about the type.

The reason is structural. A single edged knife with a thick straight spine is stiff, and stiffness is what you want in a blade used for cutting and splitting rather than fencing. But a straight spine carried all the way to the end gives you a squared off blade with no point, so the last third is cut away at an angle to make one. That angled cut is the break. It is the cheapest way to get a usable point out of a stiff bar of steel, which is exactly the sort of decision a working smith makes.

The rest of the pattern follows the same logic. There is usually no guard, because a working knife does not need one and a guard gets in the way of choking up on the blade. The tang runs the full length of the handle. The edge is flat ground with a broad bevel, easy to make and easy to resharpen with a stone in a field. Size is where the type gets confusing: the word covers everything from a small belt knife to a langseax with a blade of two feet that fought as a short sword. All of them are on this page.

The seaxes in this collection

Twenty pieces. They split by steel and then very sharply by size.

Seaxes in plain 1095 high carbon

The larger part of the range. Plain 1095 hardened to 54 to 58 HRC, finished satin, bright or polished, several with an etched panel of knotwork, a raven, or an Elder Futhark rune line along the flat. This is the historically correct choice, and the practical one: at this hardness the edge comes back on a stone in minutes and the blade bends rather than chips if you lever with it.

Seaxes in hand forged Damascus

Seven pieces carry a Damascus blade of 1095 and 15N20, forge welded in alternating layers and acid etched, hardened to 58 to 60 HRC. On a seax the pattern has an unusually large flat to sit on, and the two largest pieces here are described in their own specifications as deeply etched. Handles in this group include buffalo horn, stag antler, polished bone, mosaic bone and rosewood, with brass bolsters or a brass cross guard.

Belt seaxes, 8 to 14 inches overall

Eight pieces sit in belt knife territory, from a compact 7.9 inch piece with a 3.5 inch blade up to a 14 inch seax with a 9 inch blade and rosewood scales. This is the group that does what the original type did, cutting cord, food, leather and wood all day with no ceremony. A 12 inch seax with a 7 inch blade and a stacked leather handle sits at the centre of it.

Long seaxes and langseaxes

Six pieces run from 16 to 30 inches overall. At 15 to 18 inches of blade you have something that is no longer a knife in any practical sense. It chops, it reaches, and it needs a scabbard rather than a sheath. The two largest are a 28 inch langseax with a 22 inch broken back blade, and a matched pair of 30 inch langseaxes with 23 inch blades and two fitted scabbards at 399 dollars.

Matched pairs

Two products here are two piece sets rather than single knives. One is a pair of 15 inch seaxes with 10 inch blades, leather grips and knotwork engraved bolsters, supplied with two sheaths. The other is the pair of 30 inch langseaxes. Both are aimed at reenactment, and at anyone who has wanted to hand a friend the second one.

Sizes, steel and fittings 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 the numbers as what to expect rather than a guarantee to the millimetre. A blank means the product page does not list that figure.

Blade width is the figure people forget. Two seaxes here list it, at 1.5 and 1.6 inches at the widest part. A wide blade is stiffer, carries more mass behind the edge and slices better than a narrow one of the same length.

Sizing and fit

Decide first whether you want a knife or a short sword, because the same word covers both. Under 10 inches overall is a small belt knife, easy to wear all day and legal in far more places. Twelve to 16 inches is the classic seax, worn horizontally across the front of the belt, edge upward, which is how the original scabbard fittings were arranged. Twenty inches and up is a langseax, worn on a hanger like a sword.

Handle length here runs about 4.5 to 6 inches. Anything at or above 5 inches gives a full four finger grip with room to shift your hand back for a chop.

Most seaxes here have no guard, which is correct for the type and worth knowing before you buy. Your hand is stopped by the bolster and the shape of the handle, so keep your grip dry and do not treat a seax like a dagger. If you want a cross guard, two of the Damascus langseaxes carry one in brass.

Fixed blade carry in the United States is governed by state law and very often by city ordinance, and blade length is the usual limit. Read our state by state summary of knife laws before you wear anything from this page, and treat it as a starting point rather than legal advice.

Steel and hardness

Two house specifications run through Ransack Viking blades. Plain 1095 high carbon is hardened to 54 to 58 HRC. Damascus of 1095 and 15N20 is forge welded, acid etched and hardened to 58 to 60 HRC. On this page the split runs roughly two thirds plain 1095 to one third Damascus.

Plain 1095 at 54 to 58 HRC is the right steel for a seax. The type was a working knife, and a slightly softer blade bends rather than chips, comes back on a stone quickly and forgives being used to split kindling. On a long blade that ductility matters more than it does on a small knife.

Damascus at 58 to 60 HRC holds an edge longer and looks like nothing else on a wide flat blade. It is more willing to chip if you twist it in a bind, which on a 22 inch blade is worth remembering. Neither steel is stainless and both will rust. If you want the longer version, read Damascus versus high carbon steel and the steel and hardness page.

Handles, tangs and fittings

Every seax here runs a full length tang, which on this type usually means a tapered bar of steel running the whole length of the grip with the handle material fitted over it and peened or capped at the back. That is how the originals were built, and it is why a seax handle can be a single block of horn rather than a pair of scales.

Horn, antler and bone are dense, polish beautifully and shrink in dry heat, so keep them away from radiators and hot cars. One piece here is mottled grey and black horn, and no two pieces of horn are alike. Rosewood is oily and looks after itself. Olive wood is drier and takes a wipe of oil once or twice a year. Stacked leather and leather wrap take hand oil and darken, and are the most comfortable on a long blade because they give very slightly under a hard grip.

Bolsters and butt caps are brass or steel. Brass darkens into a warm brown over months and comes back with a metal polish if that bothers you. Two of the largest Damascus pieces carry a brass cross guard, which is a later fitting on the type and reads as sword rather than knife.

Care and storage

Both steels are carbon steel and both will rust. Wipe the blade dry after use, particularly after anything acidic or salty, and keep a thin film of mineral, camellia or food safe oil on it. Grey patina is stable and does no harm. Orange spotting is early rust and lifts with a fine abrasive and oil before it pits.

Store the blade out of its sheath if it is going to sit for months. Leather is tanned with salts and holds moisture against steel, which is the most common reason a well kept blade still ends up marked.

Sharpen on a stone rather than a powered wheel, which will overheat a thin edge and pull the temper out. A broad flat bevel is one of the easiest grinds to maintain: lay the whole bevel on the stone, keep it flat, and work along the length until you feel a burr the full way. The knife care guide and the Damascus care page cover the detail.

Engraving and gifting

A seax has more usable flat than almost any other knife shape, which makes it easy to engrave. Rune lines run along the spine or across the flat below the bolster. Several pieces already carry cut work: an Elder Futhark line, a knotwork panel, a raven, a wolf head, a Valknut below the guard, a stamped Mjolnir on the flat.

Text engraving is 19 dollars, a symbol is 39 dollars and a family crest is 49 dollars, cut in the United States after the piece arrives. 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. See the Elder Futhark guide and the engraving page.

Engraving is permanent and an engraved piece cannot be returned, so send the exact spelling and read it twice before you order.

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.

Because each blade is forged and ground by hand, small differences in the angle of the broken back, in etch figure and in handle colour between two seaxes of the same name are normal. Two people made them on two different days. Timelines are on the shipping information page and returns on the returns and warranty policy.

How to choose

Answer one question first: is this going on a belt or on a wall. A belt seax wants 12 to 14 inches overall, plain 1095 so sharpening is quick, and a handle that does not mind weather. A display or reenactment piece can go long, take the Damascus and the brass cross guard, and hang on a fitted scabbard where the etch is visible. Then decide about the spine. A true broken back is the historically distinctive profile. A straight spine with a long clip is easier to live with at the tip. Both are here, and each product page says which it is.

Browse related categories

• Viking knives, the wider range of Norse working blades
• Damascus knives in forge welded 1095 and 15N20
• Bowie knives with long clip points and deep bellies
• Viking swords, the double edged pattern
• Short swords, where the langseax ends up
• Bearded axes, the other Norse belt tool
• Hunting knives for field dressing and skinning
• Leather sheaths and replacement scabbards

Guides worth reading first

• The history of the seax, from Frankish belt knife to langseax
• How to choose a Viking seax
• Seax versus bowie, two big single edged blades compared
• How to choose a Viking knife
• Knife blade shapes and what each one is good at