The medieval longsword is the two hand European blade that dominated the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and filled the surviving fencing manuals. Straight, double edged, tapering, with a grip long enough for both hands and a pommel heavy enough to make the whole thing move. It is the sword most people picture when they say sword, and it handles better than any of them expect.
Lengths, guards and pommels
Overall lengths run 40 to 48 inches, with blades at 31 and 35 inches on the pieces that list them. The longest is a two handed sword at 48 inches with parrying hooks on the ricasso and a ring terminal crossguard. A 47 inch piece uses the same ring terminal guard with a two hand leather grip. The guards vary more than the blades: quatrefoil cross guards, arched steel guards, downswept guards, a downswept second guard, and hooked twin quillons with an etched valknut between them. Pommels cover fluted crowns, faceted crowns, lobes, a knot engraved shield, a triquetra shield, a raven etched pommel, a brass pommel and a cast wolf head over an etched knotwork ricasso. Grips are wrapped in black, blue, cream cord and plain leather, and scabbards run brown, black, pale grey, cross laced and steel mounted. One is a flame bladed longsword at 43 inches that ships with a matching 15 inch dagger, both with rune etched ricassos. 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 459 dollars to 695 dollars.
Owning one sensibly
A 47 inch sword is a serious object in a house, and the sensible questions are about storage before they are about steel. Our safety and storage notes cover mounting height, edges and households with children. If you are weighing the two house heat treatments, the page on steel and hardness explains what 54 to 58 and 58 to 60 HRC actually mean in the hand. The full range is in longswords, and if these still feel small, the genuinely enormous two handers are in zweihanders.
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.
