Wedding & Groomsmen Gifts

How to use this collection

Gift buying for a wedding party has two hard problems. The first is that you often need several of the same thing, matched, by a fixed date. The second is that the gift has to be worth keeping, because a groomsman with a drawer full of forgotten cufflinks does not need another.

Both problems point the same way. Buy something made of a material that improves rather than degrades, and put a name or a date on it so it cannot be confused with anyone else's. That is the whole logic of this page. A hand forged axe with a rune line cut into the cheek is still going to be on a wall in thirty years. So is a horn tankard. A printed novelty is not.

Work in this order. Decide the budget band and the piece type, check whether you need several matched pieces or one larger gift for the groom, then read the engraving section below and settle the wording before you order.

Gifts for the groom

Swords

Three knightly and Norse patterns sit in this collection. One arming sword runs 37 inches overall on a 30 inch double edged blade with a white leather grip, a broad rectangular guard carrying a raised Celtic plaitwork band on both faces and a wide disc pommel with a white leather inset. Another is 38 inches overall on a 31 inch blade two and a quarter inches wide at the guard, with a black leather grip, an 8 inch polished steel guard bezel set with red faceted stones and a matching wheel pommel. The Viking pattern is 37 inches overall on a 31 inch blade with a blue dyed leather grip laid in raised turns and a faceted brass pommel. All three are 1095 at 54 to 58 HRC.

Axes

A bearded axe is the most bought single gift on this page, and it is easy to see why. The piece here is about 16 inches overall with a 4.5 inch cutting edge from horn to beard, a 1095 head at 54 to 58 HRC, a straight grained hickory haft in a clear finish, a polished head and an Elder Futhark rune line already cut across the cheek. It hangs on a wall, it splits kindling and the cheek is the flat that takes a name best.

Knife sets

Two five piece Damascus kitchen sets, both 1095 and 15N20 at 58 to 60 HRC and both full tang. One runs chef knife, santoku, utility, paring and slicer, with blades from about 3.5 to 8 inches and rosewood scales on three polished steel pins each. The other is slicer, chef, utility, paring and a serrated bread knife with walnut scales, polished brass bolsters and a cut knotwork panel behind each bolster. For a couple rather than an individual, this is the gift that gets used every day.

Drinking horns, tankards and cups

The most popular category for a whole groomsmen party, because the pieces are individual without being fussy. Drinking horns are natural ox horn, polished inside and out with a food safe brewers lining and a polished brass or steel rim band at the mouth. Capacities run roughly 12 to 20 fluid ounces and vary horn to horn, because a horn is a natural cone. Colour runs cream and honey amber through smoke grey to near black, and no two match. Some ship with a bridle leather belt hanger, some with a turned oak or walnut stand, and one comes with a carved walnut coaster.

Tankards come three ways. A stainless steel pattern about 6 inches to the rim at roughly 20 fluid ounces with three riveted bands and an etched Mjolnir panel. A stainless and brass pattern sized for a pint with a pint of head, closed with a vertical column of domed rivets and carrying continuous knotwork cut into both brass bands. And an ox horn tankard on a turned hardwood base with riveted steel bands and a rune line cut into the centre band, holding about a US pint. There is also a hardwood beer mug with an engraved raven panel and a turned birch kuksa cup.

All of these are for cold drinks. Horn and sealed timber should never go in a dishwasher or hold anything hot.

One practical note on matched sets. If you are buying several of the same piece, expect them to differ. Horn, bone and timber are natural materials, so six horns will not be six copies, and that is usually the thing the recipients like most about them. Where you want the set to read as a set, the engraving is what ties it together, so keep the wording and the placement consistent across every piece and let the material do what it does.

Rings, pendants and worn pieces

Rune rings are the closest thing here to a wedding band, and several are made to the size you supply. Bands sit around 8 mm wide and 2 mm deep with flat profiles and raised edge rails, carrying either an Elder Futhark row cut in relief on the outside or a four strand Celtic plait on the outside with the rune line hidden inside the shank. Sizing runs US 6 to 14 in whole and half sizes on the made to order pieces.

Pendants run 1.2 to 1.75 inches across in polished steel or a silver or bronze tone finish, on box or curb chains of 20 to 24 inches or on a leather cord, carrying the Vegvisir, the Valknut, Mjolnir or a raised Bifrost bridge. Arm rings are open backed twisted bars with rounded or spiral terminals, adjusted by gently flexing the gap. There are also Celtic knotwork earrings and axe head hoops, and a natural horn beard comb that ships in a plain wooden box.

The metal here is described by its finish rather than by a hallmark. Where a piece is polished steel with a silver tone, the product page says exactly that and adds that it is not sterling silver, and where a set is a jewellery alloy it says so plainly.

What is in the collection at a glance

Every figure below is taken from the specification panel of a piece on this page. These are hand made goods, so read the numbers as what to expect rather than as a guarantee to the millimetre.

Capacity on a horn and ring size are the two figures people most often skip. Horn capacity varies piece to piece because the material is a natural cone, and made to order rings need the size sent in the order notes.

Engraving, what it costs and what to send

Engraving is carried out in the United States after the piece arrives from the maker, and it is priced per piece. Plain text is 19 dollars. A line of Elder Futhark runes is 19 dollars. A Norse symbol, such as a Valknut, a Vegvisir stave, a Helm of Awe or a Mjolnir, is 39 dollars. A family crest is 49 dollars. Each of those is charged for each piece engraved, so a set of six horns with a name on each is six charges.

Send the exact wording, spelled exactly as you want it cut, and say where on the piece it should go. Elder Futhark is a phonetic alphabet rather than a cipher, so a name is transliterated by sound rather than letter for letter, and there is no rune for the letter C. A name like Chris comes across as a K sound. If you want a crest, send the cleanest image you have.

Engraving is permanent and an engraved piece cannot be returned or exchanged. Read the wording back to yourself once more before you submit the order, and if you are ordering several matched pieces, list each name against each item so there is no ambiguity.

Timing, and when to order

Order earlier than feels necessary. Pieces are made by hand and then imported, and engraving is a separate step carried out after arrival, so a personalised order takes longer than a plain one. Matched sets take longer again, because the whole set is engraved and checked together before it ships.

If you have a fixed date, work backwards from it and leave slack. Read our shipping page for current timings, and if the date is tight, contact us before ordering rather than after. A gift that arrives the week after the wedding is a problem no discount fixes.

Presentation and how things arrive

Several pieces ship in their own presentation packaging. One bearded axe comes in a dark hardwood box with brass hinges and a carved lid panel. Another axe ships in a black wooden presentation case with an engraved lid and two steel latches. A horn beard comb comes in a plain wooden box with a lift off lid, and a Mjolnir pendant in a wooden gift box. Jewellery generally ships with a cloth or linen drawstring pouch and, on some pieces, a polishing cloth.

Where a piece does not have its own box, the product page says what is included. Fixed blades ship with a fitted leather sheath, and swords with a scabbard where one is supplied.

Where these pieces are made

Everything on this page is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Finished pieces are imported to the United States, inspected by Ransack Viking in Memphis, Tennessee, and shipped from there, with engraving added after arrival. Natural materials mean real variation, so two horns or two bone pieces carrying the same name will differ in colour and figure, and that is worth mentioning to whoever receives them.

Browse related categories

• Engraved and personalised pieces across the site
• Bearded axes with a flat cheek that takes a name well
• Viking swords with lobed and wheel pommels
• Drinking horns with brass and steel rims
• Viking rings and bracelets in rune and knotwork bands
• Viking tankards, mugs and turned cups
• Damascus chef knives and kitchen sets
• Viking home decor for the wall and the table

Guides worth reading first

• Viking wedding gifts: what to buy and what to avoid
• Groomsmen gifts: axes and blades that get kept
• Custom knife engraving: what we can cut and how to order it
• Elder Futhark runes: the alphabet and how names transliterate
• Viking symbols and what each one actually means