Ash is the traditional haft timber for anything with a head on it, and the reason is mechanical rather than romantic. It is springy, it takes shock without splitting along the grain, and it is light for its strength, which matters enormously once a shaft passes five feet. Every piece on this page is fitted to an ash shaft.
What sits on the ash
The polearms are the reason this tag exists. Halberds run 60, 62 and 66 inches overall with 16, 17 and 18 inch heads. Poleaxes sit at 50 inches with 5.5 and 6 inch cutting edges. Glaives run 54 and 56 inches with 20 inch blades, and a longer polearm reaches 60 inches with a 26 inch blade. There is a polehammer at 52 inches with a 9 inch head, and a bar mace at 27 inches with a 6 inch head and polished steel ferrules on an American ash haft. The shorter pieces cover a Viking war hammer at 20 inches with a Mjolnir engraved head and steel langets, a Damascus war hammer with a raven etch and a leather grip, a rune cut Norse hammer with a wrist lanyard, a Dane axe on a 32 inch ash haft with a knotwork engraved head and steel langets, a raven axe on a 15 inch haft, and a boar spear with a broad leaf blade and a curved steel crossbar. Heads are plain 1095 high carbon at 54 to 58 HRC or forge welded 1095 and 15N20 Damascus at 58 to 60 HRC. Prices run from 195 dollars to 685 dollars.
Looking after a long shaft
Ash wants oil rather than varnish, because a sealed shaft hides the cracks you need to see. Check where the wood meets the langets, which is where the load goes. If you are shopping by shape, the long bladed staff arms are in glaives and polearms and the axe and spike combinations are in halberds. Replacement wood is in axe handles and hafts. The long hafted Norse axe on this page has its own history, told in the Dane axe.
Ransack Viking is a US company based in North Babylon, New York. These pieces are handmade in the Czech Republic, then imported, inspected and shipped from New York. Engraving is done in the US after arrival: text 19 dollars, symbol 39 dollars, family crest 49 dollars.
Free US shipping
On most pieces. Heavier and oversized ones carry a flat charge.
Hand Forged
Heated, hammered and ground by hand.
Engraving available
Names, dates or Norse runes on most pieces.
