Viking knife almost always means the seax, the single edged belt knife the Norse carried for everything from eating to fighting. The spine is thick, the edge is straight or broken backed, and the handle is usually plain wood, horn or bone. That is the core of this page, though the tag also gathers the other fixed blades that get carried in the same spirit: tantos, bowies, choppers and a set of throwing knives.
Blades, handles and lengths
The seaxes run from a broken back piece at 12 inches overall to full size ones at 24 and 24.5 inches with 18 inch blades. In between there is a 15 inch blade with an Elder Futhark rune line and an olive wood handle, a 13 inch blade with an etched wolf head and a buffalo horn handle, and a two piece set of twin seax knives at 15 inches each with leather grips, knotwork engraved bolsters and their own sheaths. Alongside them sit kukri choppers around 15 and 16 inches overall, tantos at about 11 and 12 inches with stacked leather or walnut and an etched Elder Futhark band, a bowie with a stacked leather washer handle and a fullered clip point, and a Norse dagger at 20 inches overall with a knotwork engraved guard. Steel is plain 1095 high carbon at 54 to 58 HRC or forge welded 1095 and 15N20 Damascus at 58 to 60 HRC. Handles cover olive wood, walnut, rosewood, bone, stag antler, black and buffalo horn, cord wrap and stacked leather, with brass or steel bolsters and butt caps. Almost everything ships in a leather belt sheath. Prices run from 169 dollars to 320 dollars.
Picking one that suits you
Blade length is the first honest question, because a 15 inch blade on a belt is a statement and a 4 inch one is a tool. Our guide to choosing a Viking knife works through length, grind and handle material, and the seax in particular has more history than most sellers admit, laid out in the seax guide. To browse rather than read, the general fixed blades are in Viking knives and the broken back pattern has its own shelf in Viking seax.
Ransack Viking is a US company based in Chicago, Illinois. These pieces are handmade in the Czech Republic, then imported, inspected and shipped from Chicago. 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.
