Knotwork is the interlaced band that runs through Norse, Celtic and Anglo Saxon art: a single line with no beginning and no end, woven through itself. It appears on stone crosses, on manuscript pages and on metalwork, and it is the most durable decorative idea in northern Europe. Cut into steel it reads well at a distance and rewards a close look, which is why it turns up on so much of this range.
Where the knot is cut
On the axes there is a bearded head on a 19 inch hardwood haft with a knotwork engraved head, a leather wrist thong and an engraved wooden case, a Dane axe on a 32 inch ash haft with a knotwork engraved head, steel langets and a leather edge guard, and a double headed axe with twin crescent bits, an engraved knotwork collar, steel inlays down a dark hardwood haft and a leather edge sheath. On the blades there is an arming sword at 33 inches with a stacked leather grip, a knotwork engraved ricasso and a fitted scabbard, a Norse dagger at 20 inches with a smooth black grip, a knotwork engraved guard and a tan sheath, and a side sword at 41 inches overall with a 34 inch blade, a dark leather scabbard and a polished steel throat. On the armour there is a rounded nasal helm with a knotwork browband and a riveted nasal bar, a spangenhelm at 16 gauge with an engraved brass browband and a suede liner, and a horned helmet with an engraved knotwork browband and a nasal bar. A cross pein forging hammer with a mirror polished head carries a knotwork cheek. Prices run from 199 dollars to 545 dollars.
Reading the pattern
Knotwork is decorative rather than alphabetic, but the motifs it sits beside are not, and telling them apart is worth ten minutes: our guide to Norse symbols covers which marks carry meaning and which are pattern. The insular tradition it comes from is represented in Anglo Saxon and Celtic. If you want your own cut work rather than a stock design, the engraving page shows placement and pricing, and the pieces already set up for it are 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.
