Hammerwake Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Arming Sword | 37 Inch Overall with 31 Inch Blade | Brown Leather Grip and Arched Steel Cross and Wheel Pommel | Norse Display Gift | RK-1338

This is a broad single handed arming sword with a knotwork Mjolnir cut into a bordered panel at the forte. The hammer of Thor is the most common piece of Norse religious iconography we have. More than a thousand hammer pendants have been recovered across Scandinavia, England, Iceland and the Rus trade routes, and for a long time there was a serious academic argument about whether they were really hammers at all rather than stylised crosses or anchors. That argument ended in 2014, when a pendant excavated at Kobelev on the Danish island of Lolland turned out to carry a runic inscription reading, in translation, this is a hammer. It is one of the very few times an archaeological object has simply told excavators what it was. The panel on this blade is a modern knotwork treatment of that shape rather than a copy of any one find.

The sword is forged, ground, hardened, etched and fitted by hand in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. The blade is 1095 high carbon steel, mirror polished, with a long narrow fuller running most of its length. The hilt is a brown leather grip with a contrasting band, an arched steel cross with rounded down swept tips, and a turned steel wheel pommel. It ships in a black leather scabbard with a steel throat and a steel chape. Shipping inside the United States is free.

Specifications

Why the cross curves toward the blade

Look along the guard on this sword and you will see the quillons are not straight. They sweep gently forward toward the point and finish in rounded tips. That curve appears on real medieval swords from the thirteenth century onward and it does three separate jobs. First, a forward curving cross catches an opposing blade that slides down yours and holds it instead of letting it skate off the end, which matters because the whole purpose of a cross guard is to stop a descending edge reaching your hand. Second, the sweep keeps the tips out of the way. Straight quillons foul on a shield rim, a scabbard mouth and your own forearm when you carry the sword at your side. Third, curving the quillons puts the mass slightly forward of the tang, which nudges the balance point out toward the blade without adding weight.

The rounded tips are a practical detail rather than a decorative one. A cross that ends in a spike is a hazard to the man carrying it and to anyone standing beside him, and finds show that the majority of medieval crosses were finished with a rounded, flattened or gently flared terminal. A sword is worn far more often than it is drawn, and the design reflects that.

Why 1095 high carbon steel and not stainless

1095 is roughly nine tenths of one percent carbon with very little else, which is exactly what a sword steel should be. It forges cleanly, quenches predictably and tempers into the range a long blade needs. We take this one to 54 to 58 HRC, deliberately below knife hardness, because a thirty one inch blade has to flex under a badly aligned cut and spring back rather than break. Stainless steels get their corrosion resistance from a heavy chromium content, and at this length that costs toughness in the shoulder and tang where a break is genuinely dangerous. Carbon steel takes a patina and will rust if you leave it wet, and that is the honest trade. The whole argument is in Damascus versus stainless.

The leather grip over a wooden core

Under the leather on this grip is a shaped wooden core split, fitted to the tang and glued closed, which is how medieval grips were made and still the best way to build one. The core does the shaping and takes the tang, the leather takes the sweat and the wear, and the contrast band marks the point where your index finger naturally sits so you can index the edge without looking. A solid metal grip on a sword this size would be cold, slippery and would transmit every bit of shock straight into the palm.

Because there is wood in there, treat it like any wooden handle. Keep it dry, wipe it after handling, do not leave it in a hot car or against a radiator, and do not submerge it. Sudden swings in humidity make the core move, and a moving core is what eventually loosens a peened hilt. A light leather balm on the wrap once a year keeps it supple. Our short guide to wooden handle care covers the routine.

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 this sword that means your rune line or chosen pattern takes the place of the Mjolnir panel at the forte unless you specifically ask us to put it lower down the blade and keep the hammer. Details and examples are on the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Wipe the blade dry after handling and put a film of light machine oil or hard paste wax on it before it goes on the wall. A mirror finish shows fingerprint etching faster than any other surface. Do not leave the sword sheathed for long stretches, because vegetable tanned leather holds moisture and tanning salts against steel and will bloom rust along the blade, most often right where you cannot see it. Hang the sword and keep the scabbard for carrying. Our page on steel care applies to plain carbon steel as well as pattern welded. To bring the edge back, work a coarse then a fine stone at a shallow angle from the cross toward the point following sharpening with a whetstone, then re oil.

Forged in Memphis

Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. The blade is forged, ground, heat treated and etched in our own shop in Memphis, Tennessee, the cross and pommel are cut and turned here, the grip is cored and wrapped here and the scabbard is made in the same building. That is why you can ask a specific question about a specific sword and get an answer. Most orders leave in seven to ten working days, then two to five days in transit. Custom engraving adds about a week, and if the bench is backed up we will tell you rather than let the order sit quietly.

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. The exact sweep of the cross, the depth and crispness of the etched Mjolnir panel, the tone of the leather and the way the polish reads in different light all vary because each one 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 difference between a forged sword and a stamped reproduction.

Frequently asked questions

Is the sword sharp?

Yes, it ships with a working edge. If you want it blunt for reenactment, stage or wall display, say so in the order notes and we will leave a rounded quarter inch edge instead at no extra cost.

Can I cut with a blade this broad?

Yes, on soft targets, and it does it well because the width and the long fuller keep the blade stiff while the weight stays manageable. Bottles, tatami and pool noodles are fine. Do not cut steel, hardwood or bone, do not spar with it and never throw it.

Is the Mjolnir panel etched or printed?

Etched into the steel with acid to a real depth after masking, then polished back. It will not rub off, wash off or fade, and normal handling and oiling will not touch it.

How does this differ from your rune inscribed arming sword?

This one is broader in the blade and slightly longer, with an arched cross and a Mjolnir panel at the forte. The rune inscribed sword is narrower, has a straight cross and carries an Elder Futhark line along the flat. Both are single handed, both are 1095 at the same hardness, and they handle differently because of the blade width.

Can I get a name engraved instead of the hammer?

Yes. Use the rune converter above the add to cart button and your rune line replaces the Mjolnir panel. If you want to keep the hammer and add a name lower down the blade, say so in the order notes and we will quote it.

How long does shipping take?

Free inside the United States. Seven to ten working days in the shop, then two to five days in transit, plus about a week for custom engraving.

What is in the box

• One hand forged 1095 high carbon steel arming sword with etched Mjolnir panel, 37 inches overall
• Black leather scabbard with steel throat and steel chape
• Light protective oil coat on the blade for transit
• Care and sharpening card
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

Browse the rest of the arming swords, our Viking swords, the Thor hammers and everything under swords. Background reading is in the guides.