An engraved axe carries cut work on the head rather than a plain polish. Done properly it is chased or etched into the steel, which means it survives sharpening and a lifetime of handling. Done badly it is printed on and gone within a year. Everything here is the first kind, and most of the marks are Norse rather than generic decoration.
What is cut and where
The cheek is the usual canvas. There is a Damascus bearded head with an engraved vegvisir on a 19 inch ash haft with a 7 inch edge, a hooked horn, a blackened collar and a leather mask, a mirror polished 1095 head with an engraved valknut on a 17 inch ash haft with a 6 inch edge, a Damascus head with an engraved longship on a 20 inch haft with a 7 inch edge and a riveted leather collar, a bearded head with an Elder Futhark engraved cheek on ash with a brass collar, and a Damascus head with a triquetra engraved cheek on pale ash with a steel collar. The oak hafted pieces at 19 inches carry a vegvisir etched head and an etched coiled serpent. A felling axe with a 4 inch bit has a chased knotwork cheek on a hickory haft, and a bearded head with Celtic knotwork engraving sits on a 26 inch ash haft with a leather wrapped grip. The long pieces are a bearded axe with a hammer poll at 28 inches on a leather wrapped hardwood haft, and a long handled Viking axe on about a 35 inch haft with an etched vegvisir and a leather grip wrap. Steel is plain 1095 high carbon at 54 to 58 HRC or forge welded 1095 and 15N20 Damascus at 58 to 60 HRC. Prices run from 189 dollars to 369 dollars.
Know the mark, or choose your own
Half the Norse symbols sold online have been handed a meaning by a marketing department. Our piece on the vegvisir and the wider guide to Norse symbols set out what the sources actually support. If none of the stock cuts suit, a name, a date or a symbol can be added after the axe lands, with placement and pricing shown on the engraving page, and everything already set up for it is in the engraved and personalised range.
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.
