Ashgleam Hand Forged 1095 Viking Spear | 11 Inch Leaf Blade on a 76 Inch Ash Haft | Rune Engraved Socket and Leather Head Sheath | Reenactment Gift | RK-1594

The Ashgleam is a Viking spear built on the plainest and most common pattern in the whole Norse arsenal. A narrow leaf shaped head with a raised central ridge, a long split socket, and a straight ash haft riveted through. There is nothing ornamental about the shape. This is the weapon that most Norse fighters actually owned, and it turns up in graves across Scandinavia in far greater numbers than swords ever do.

That is worth saying plainly. A sword was a rich man’s possession, expensive in steel and in labour. A spear needed a fraction of the metal and a length of ash that anyone could cut, which is why the sagas hand spears to farmers and crews and reserve named swords for kings. Odin’s weapon was a spear, not a sword, and Gungnir sits at the centre of the mythology for a reason. This one is forged, ground, engraved and hafted in our Memphis, Tennessee shop, and it carries our lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

Specifications

How a Viking spear socket is made and why it matters

Almost every Norse spearhead in the museum record is socketed rather than tanged, and the socket is the clever part. The smith forges a flat tongue at the base of the blade, then wraps it around a tapered mandrel until the two edges meet. On many originals you can still see the seam running down one side where the wrap closes, sometimes forge welded shut and sometimes left simply butted. The socket is then drifted to a taper so it grips the shaft along its whole length rather than only at the mouth.

The reason this beats a tang is shock. A tanged head concentrates every impact on a thin bar of steel driven into split wood, and split wood is exactly where a shaft wants to fail. A socket wraps the wood instead, so the shaft is in compression rather than being wedged apart. Add one or two rivets through the sides and the head cannot walk forward off the end or spin.

The Ashgleam follows that construction. The socket is long, tapered and riveted twice, and it carries a line of Elder Futhark cut along the flat where a Norse smith would most likely have put an owner’s mark. The leaf shape above it has a central ridge running most of its length, which is what stops a blade this narrow from flexing sideways on a hard thrust.

1095 high carbon steel

The head is forged from 1095, a plain high carbon steel that behaves the way carbon steel has always behaved. Heat it, quench it in oil, temper it back. We take this head to 54 to 58 HRC rather than the harder range we use on small knives, because a spear head sees bending and lateral shock rather than fine cutting. At this hardness the point can take a knock on a hard target and bend a little instead of snapping.

The finish is a hand rubbed satin rather than a mirror. That is a deliberate choice on a reenactment style piece. Satin is closer to what a period blade would have looked like after honing on a stone, it hides normal handling marks, and it does not throw glare under stage or field lighting. The ash haft is chosen for straight grain running the full length, because a runout across the shaft is where a spear breaks. Ash is the traditional wood for a reason. It is stiff enough to thrust with and springy enough not to shatter.

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, the leather or the wood. 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 where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this spear that means your text takes the place of the futhark already on the socket. Everything is set out on the engraving page.

Balance and handling

Six foot four is a proper Norse spear length, long enough to fight from behind a shield wall and short enough to carry through a doorway. The balance point sits about thirty inches from the butt, which is well back because the head is light for its size. That is the whole point of the design. A spear you can hold one handed for a long time while the other hand carries a shield is a spear you can actually fight with.

The head arrives sharp on both edges and at the point. This is a working forged spear and it is not sold as a battle ready or full contact sparring weapon. It should not be used against another person. For drill, display, film and stage work, and for static reenactment kit, it is exactly the right piece. If you want a blunted head for combat reenactment, ask before ordering.

Care

1095 is not stainless and it will rust if it is stored damp. Wipe the head dry after handling and keep a thin coat of mineral oil, camellia oil or paste wax on the steel. Pay attention to the socket mouth where water sits between wood and metal after a wet event. Take the leather sheath off for storage rather than leaving the head inside it for months. Light surface rust lifts with oil and a green pad. Our steel care page has the full routine. The ash wants boiled linseed or Danish oil once or twice a year, worked in with a rag and wiped back, which also keeps the wood from drying out and shrinking away from the rivets.

Forged in Memphis

This spear is forged, ground, heat treated, engraved and hafted in our Memphis, Tennessee shop. We wrap and drift the sockets here, we cut and fit the ash here, and we stitch the sheaths here. Nothing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue and rebadged. Because a seventy six inch spear is made and packed one at a time, expect one to two weeks of processing before it ships, longer if there is custom engraving on the order. Shipping inside the United States is free.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Ash varies from near white to a warm honey with darker streaks, and the grain pattern is different in every shaft we cut. The leaf profile shifts by a fraction because it is forged and ground by hand, and the socket seam sits where the wrap closes on that particular head. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this sharp when it arrives

Yes. Both edges and the point are sharpened, and the spear ships with a leather sheath over the head. Handle it like a large knife on a stick.

Can I get a blunt version for combat reenactment

We can grind a rolled safety edge on request. Add a note to your order and we will confirm before the head goes into finishing.

How is it packed for shipping

Assembled, in a long tube or a long box with the head boxed separately inside so the point cannot work through the wall in transit.

Can the haft be shortened

Yes, at the butt end with a fine tooth saw. Refit the steel butt cap afterwards or seal the cut end with oil. Do not cut at the head end, where the rivets are.

What do the runes on the socket say

The stock line is a short Elder Futhark sequence used as a maker’s mark. If you want specific words, order the piece with custom engraving and yours replaces it.

Will mine look like the photograph

The size, steel and construction match. The ash grain and the exact leaf profile will be its own, because both are worked by hand from natural material.

What is in the box

• One Ashgleam 1095 Viking spear, head riveted to the ash haft
• One stitched vegetable tanned leather head sheath
• Care card and lifetime warranty note
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

Browse the full Viking spears range, the Viking weapons catalogue, the Viking shields that go with it, or read the guides.