Sunwake Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Viking Sword | 35 Inch Overall with 29 Inch Blade | Norse Collector Gift | RK-1239

The Sunwake is a hand forged Viking sword finished bright, a 35 inch piece with a 29 inch polished blade, steel furniture and a brown leather scabbard. It is the plainest sword in our Norse range and deliberately so, because a mirror bright blade hides nothing. Historically that mattered a great deal. Many Viking age swords were not made from a single piece of steel at all. Metallurgical sections cut from museum blades show composite construction: a core of softer iron or low carbon steel for toughness, with strips of harder, higher carbon steel forge welded on to form the cutting edges, sometimes with a pattern welded panel down the middle. A smith did that because good steel was scarce and expensive, and putting it only where it cut was simply good economics. It also means the finish told you something. A properly polished blade revealed the weld lines between core and edge, and a buyer who knew what he was looking at could read the quality of the joins straight off the surface.

This one is forged and finished by hand in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. The blade is drawn under the hammer, ground through progressively finer belts and then hand finished to a bright satin polish, hardened and tempered in house, with the guard and pommel fitted and the tang peened over. It ships with a fitted brown leather scabbard over a wooden core with steel throat and chape, a belt hanger, blade oil and a care card. Shipping inside the United States is free, and the engraving option above the add to cart button is open on every piece we make.

Specifications

What a bright polish tells you about a blade

Polish is not only cosmetic. A blade taken to a bright finish becomes a mirror, and a mirror shows every deviation in the surface it reflects. Run your eye down a polished blade and any hollow in the grind, any wave along the fuller, any ripple left by a belt that was pressed too hard shows up as a bend in the reflected line. That is why a bright finish is the honest one. A satin or bead blasted surface will disguise a grind that wanders. A mirror will not.

What you should see on this sword is a fuller with parallel walls running true from the guard to where it stops, flat sides that reflect a straight line without kinks, and a symmetrical edge bevel of even width down both sides. The edge itself is convex rather than a flat V, ground slightly rounded toward the apex, which is the geometry a cutting sword wants. A flat bevel meeting at a sharp angle is easier to sharpen and more fragile, and it chips where a convex edge deforms and survives. The Norse arrived at the same conclusion with stones and elbow grease.

The trade off is upkeep. A bright blade shows fingerprints, water spots and the first faint bloom of surface rust far more readily than a dark one, and a scratch that a satin finish would hide will be visible. Owners who want a sword that looks better neglected should choose one of our blackened or etched pieces. Owners who want to see exactly what they bought should choose this one.

Why high carbon steel and not stainless

1095 is a plain high carbon steel with no alloying complications. It hardens all the way through, takes and holds an edge, and at 56 to 58 HRC it flexes under load and returns rather than breaking. Stainless steel gains its rust resistance from a heavy chromium content, and across a blade this long that chromium encourages coarse carbides and brittle behaviour, which is why serious swords are not made from it and why cheap stainless swords sometimes fail at the tang. Carbon steel asks for a wipe and a film of oil, and on a bright polish that discipline matters more than usual. Our Damascus versus stainless page sets out the metallurgy for anyone who wants the detail.

The grip and the fittings

The grip is a shaped hardwood core, waisted so the hand indexes the edge alignment by feel, with cord risers bound under the leather to give positive stops. The brown leather is wet fitted so it shrinks tight onto the core as it dries and stitched along the back edge away from the palm. Guard and pommel are polished steel, filed and fitted by hand to the tang shoulders, with the tang peened over the pommel button so the whole assembly is mechanically locked rather than glued. If you can rock a guard on a sword, it was not built properly. This one you cannot.

There is wood under the wrap, so treat the grip as wood. No soaking, no hot cars, no radiators, and no drying a damp grip with heat. Wipe it and let it come back to room temperature. Our note on wooden handle care covers this exact material, and a light conditioner on the leather once or twice a year keeps it supple and stops the seam splitting.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the handle. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On a bright blade an engraved line is subtle, catching the light at an angle rather than shouting, which is what most people want on a gift piece. The fuller carries a longer line, and the flat of the pommel or the guard suits a date or a set of initials. The engraving page shows both, with the character counts we can hold at this size.

Care and sharpening

A bright polish needs the routine kept up. Wipe the blade after every handling session and keep a light film of oil on it, because skin oils are mildly acidic and will etch visible prints into a mirror surface within days in a humid room. Do not store the sword inside the scabbard for months, since leather holds moisture and tanning salts and both will pit steel over a season. Keep it on a rack with the scabbard beside it. Our steel care guide covers storage, patina and how to lift a rust bloom before it becomes a pit, which on a polished blade is far easier if you catch it in the first week.

Sharpening is standard high carbon work over a longer edge. Work in overlapping sections along a coarse stone then a fine one at a steady angle, keeping the convex edge geometry rather than grinding it into a flat V, and finish with a strop. Keep the polished flats off the abrasive. The angle control method in our guide to sharpening with a whetstone is what we use on the bench and applies directly.

Forged in Memphis

Everything we sell is made in our own shop in Memphis, Tennessee. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue, rebranded or bought in finished and boxed, which is why we can tell you which steel is in a blade and who put the polish on it. Polishing is also the reason a bright sword takes longer than a satin one: the last stages are done by hand and cannot be rushed without leaving marks that a mirror will show. If yours is not already on the rack, expect two to three weeks of bench time before it ships, plus a few days more for engraving.

A note on handmade variation

This sword is hand forged. It is not machine made and it is not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. The wood grain under the grip leather, the tone the hide takes from the dye, the exact way the polish breaks light along the fuller, the file finish on the guard and the precise profile of the point all vary from piece to piece because each is worked by hand from natural materials. What does not vary is the specification. The steel, the heat treatment, the dimensions, the construction and the standard of the finish are the same on every sword we send out. The character is what changes.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp when it arrives?

Yes. It comes with a hand honed convex working edge, ground for durability rather than shaving. If you want it blunted for display or because there are children in the house, put a note on the order and we will finish it with a rounded edge at no extra cost.

Will the polished blade rust easily?

It will rust if neglected, like any high carbon steel, and a bright surface shows the first signs sooner than a dark one. That is a feature rather than a fault, because you catch a bloom in week one instead of finding a pit in month six. Wipe it, oil it, and store it out of the scabbard.

Can I use it for cutting practice?

Yes, on soft targets. Through hardened 1095 with a peened full tang handles water bottles, tatami mats and green pool noodles. Do not cut against steel, stone, bone or seasoned hardwood, do not use it against another blade, and do not throw it.

Can I have Elder Futhark runes engraved on it?

Yes. Use the rune converter on this page, then choose the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether the line goes in the fuller or on the handle furniture. On a bright blade the effect is understated and catches light at an angle, which suits a gift piece.

What is the difference between this and the blackened version?

Only the finish and what it asks of you. Both are 1095 at the same hardness with the same geometry. A blackened blade hides marks, resists corrosion better and shows engraving strongly. A bright blade shows the quality of the grind, looks traditional, and needs the oil routine kept up. Neither cuts better than the other.

How long does shipping take?

Free inside the United States with tracking. In stock swords go out within two business days. Forged to order, allow two to three weeks of bench time, plus a few days more if you have added a custom engraving.

What is in the box

• One Sunwake hand forged Viking sword, 35 inches overall with a 29 inch 1095 blade
• Fitted brown leather scabbard over a wooden core with steel throat and chape
• Leather belt hanger with buckle
• Blade oil and a lint free cloth for first storage
• Care and sharpening card
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See the rest of the Viking swords, the wider swords collection, the Viking weapons we forge alongside them and the scabbards and sheaths built to fit. Steel, polish and sharpening are covered in the guides.