Mossgrave Hand Forged Damascus Steel Langes Messer | 32 Inch Overall with 25 Inch Blade | Medieval Collector Gift | RK-1296

Langes messer means long knife, and the name is not a joke about size. The German cutlers who made these blades were knife makers by trade, not swordsmiths, and their guild registrations said so. The tang is a flat plate. The scales are pinned through it. The guard is slotted on. Every part of the construction is knife practice scaled up to sword length, and it produced a blade that stayed in use for well over two hundred years, from the middle of the fourteenth century into the seventeenth, long after the knightly sword had become a court accessory. Johannes Leckuchner’s 1482 manual gives it more than four hundred illustrated plays, which is more attention than most swords ever received. Hanging steel on a wall safely is its own small problem, solved in mounting steel on a wall.

This langes messer is forged and finished by hand in the Czech Republic. The blade is 1095 and 15N20 Damascus hardened and tempered to 58 to 60 HRC, straight backed with a long clipped point and etched to show the pattern. The hilt is a straight brass cross with a stag horn grip pinned in brass and a brass pommel cap. It ships in a black leather scabbard with brass fittings, and shipping inside the United States is free.

Specifications

Why the clipped point does so much work

The single most recognisable feature of a messer is the clip. Over the last five or six inches the straight spine drops away in a long shallow curve and meets the edge in a point. Most people read that as decoration. It is not.

Removing steel from the back of the tip takes mass out of the very end of the blade, which is the worst place to carry it. That lowers the moment of inertia and makes the messer change direction faster, which is why these blades feel lively despite being long and broad. It also produces a point that is thin enough to thrust with while leaving the belly of the edge full width for cutting. And because the clip on a messer is usually left unsharpened for most of its length, you keep a strong false edge that can be sharpened later or used to hook and press in the bind. It is a lot of function packed into one line of grinding.

Why Damascus and not stainless

This forge uses two steels. Plain blades are 1095 high carbon steel at 54 to 58 HRC. Damascus blades are 1095 and 15N20 forge welded and taken to 58 to 60 HRC. Nothing else.

This blade is the Damascus, two carbon steels layered and etched so the grain shows along the flat. Both are plain and predictable, and at sword length that predictability is everything, because the difference between a blade that flexes and returns and one that takes a set is a matter of a few points of hardness across a long piece of steel. Stainless steels solve rust by adding a great deal of chromium, and that chromium forms carbides which coarsen the edge and make long blades brittle. A carbon steel blade will rust if you ignore it, and that is a fair trade for a sword that behaves. See Damascus versus stainless for the detail.

The stag horn grip

The grip is stag horn, shaped to a flattened oval and pinned with brass through the flat tang, with the brass cross slotted on and the brass pommel cap closing the end. Because the tang is a plate rather than a rod, the grip cannot twist, and because the section is flat you always know where the edge is pointing. That certainty is what makes a messer easy to learn on.

Stag horn is a natural material and does not like extremes. Keep the messer out of direct sun and away from dry heat, and wipe a little oil over the grip once or twice a year. Our handle care guide explains what to use and how much.

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. Have a look at the engraving page for lettering sizes and finished examples.

Care and sharpening

Wipe the blade with an oiled cloth every time you handle it, and store the messer out of the sheath if it is going away for a season. Leather holds damp against steel and will freckle a polished Damascus flat surprisingly fast. Rust removal, oils and storage are covered on our steel care page.

To sharpen, put the existing bevel flat on a medium stone and work the whole edge in slow controlled passes, then refine on a fine stone and lift the burr off with a couple of passes on the spine side. Roll the handle up gently as the edge sweeps into the clip so you keep the point crisp. Our guide to sharpening with a whetstone has photographs of the motion.

Made in the Czech Republic

Every piece we sell is made by hand in the Czech Republic. The smiths there work the way the trade has been worked for a long time, heating and hammering the steel, taking the bevels down by eye, and fitting the handle and the leather one at a time. There is no automated line anywhere in it, so small differences from one piece to the next are normal and expected.

Ransack Viking is a United States company based in Chicago, Illinois. We bring the pieces in ourselves, inspect them on arrival and ship them from our own warehouse. If you add engraving, that is carried out here in the United States before your order goes out.

A note on handmade variation

This langes messer is hand forged. It is not machine made and it is not bulk produced, so the piece that arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The figure of the horn, the Damascus pattern, the leather tone and the precise length of the clip all vary, because everything here is worked by hand from natural materials. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not, and that is the point.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp when it arrives?

Yes, it ships with a cutting edge. If you want it blunt for stage work or an open display, leave a note on the order and we will grind it back before dispatch.

Can I throw it or spar with it?

No on both counts. A messer is not for throwing, and steel to steel sparring needs a blunt trainer with rolled edges. It is built for cutting targets and for display.

Can I have runes engraved on the blade?

Yes. Use the rune converter above to convert a name or short phrase into Elder Futhark, or choose your own Viking pattern in the engraving option.

Will my messer be identical to the photograph?

The dimensions and steel will match exactly. The figure of the stag horn, the Damascus pattern and the shade of the leather will be their own, because they are natural materials.

What is the difference between a langes messer and a kriegsmesser?

Length and grip. A langes messer is a one handed blade of around thirty inches. A kriegsmesser is the two handed war version, longer in the blade and with a grip you can get both hands onto.

How long is delivery?

Shipping is free within the United States and stock pieces arrive five to seven business days after dispatch. Engraving adds two to three weeks.

What is in the box

• One hand forged Damascus steel langes messer, 32 inches overall
• One black leather scabbard with brass fittings
• Care card with oiling, storage and sharpening notes
• Your Elder Futhark rune line or chosen pattern, if engraving was ordered
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See the other messers, the broad falchions, the wider sword range and the Damascus swords, or read the guides.

Near neighbours in the shop

A near match for this one is the Palebriar messer, 31 inches overall. Closest to this in the range is the Thornreave messer, 32 inches overall. If this one is not quite right, there is the Ashenhold messer, 33 inches overall.

The Bramblehilt claymore covers the other half of the same kit. You can have this made your way instead on the custom Viking sword page.

Collectors of this style may like the Hallvarn bauernwehr, one of the four sharps in our HEMA line and not meant for sparring; our messer guide has more on it.