An engraved sword carries cut work on the blade, the guard or the pommel rather than a plain polish. Done properly the marks are etched or cut into the steel and survive a sharpening; done badly they are printed on and come off with the first polish. Everything on this page is the first kind, and most of the marks are Norse rather than decorative filler.
What is cut and where
The blades run 28 to 43 inches overall with 23 to 34 inch blades, so the canvas varies. Guards carry the most work: an Elder Futhark row cut through a Viking guard, a valknut engraved guard with blackened fittings, a Celtic knotwork guard on a white gripped knightly sword, a vegvisir cut into a brass basket cage, a helm of awe pierced through a shell guard with red panels behind it, and a brass shell guard with a wolf motif on a hunting hanger. Pommels take the rest: a triquetra disc with a ring quillon, an engraved disc, a knot engraved shield, a bossed wheel and a cast Mjolnir. On the blades themselves there is a rune engraved falchion, a valknut panel, a tree of life roundel and a knotwork arming sword. Steel is plain 1095 high carbon at 54 to 58 HRC or forge welded 1095 and 15N20 Damascus at 58 to 60 HRC, and nearly all ship with a fitted leather scabbard. Prices run from 349 dollars to 599 dollars.
Reading and adding marks
Know what is on the steel before you hang it on a wall. The valknut and the Elder Futhark cover the two marks that turn up most often here, including what the sources actually support. If none of the stock cuts suit, a name, a date or a symbol can be added after the sword lands in New York, with placement and pricing shown on the engraving page. The plain single hand blades waiting for it are in arming swords.
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.
