Beardknot Hand Made Bronze Tone Viking Beard Bead Set with Valknut Bands & Twisted Wire Rings | Seven Piece Braid Gift | RK-1616

The Beardknot is a seven piece beard ring set. Three of the pieces are wide flat bands stamped with a Valknut, and four are slimmer rings twisted from round wire into a rope. They are meant to be worn together on one braid or spread across several, and the mix of wide and narrow is deliberate so that a braid can be anchored at the base with a wide band and dressed down its length with the twists.

Beard rings are one of the parts of the Norse look that people assume was invented for television, and it was not. Rings and beads for hair and beard turn up across Scandinavian and Rus finds, and Ibn Fadlan, the Arab diplomat who met Rus traders on the Volga in the tenth century, wrote at length about how carefully they groomed and how much metal they wore. The practical function is unglamorous and real. A ring at the end of a braid keeps the plait from unravelling, and a ring at the base keeps loose hair out of your food and out of your work. Ours are formed and finished in the Czech Republic and arrive together in one pouch. Look for it with the beard rings and beads, and take in the Viking rings and bracelets on the way past.

Specifications

What the Valknut actually is

The three interlocked triangles stamped into the wide bands are the Valknut. The name is a modern one, built from Old Norse words for slain and knot, and the symbol itself appears on Gotland picture stones, on the Oseberg ship burial and on a handful of other Norse objects. On several of those stones it sits in scenes involving Odin, hanged men and the dead, which is why it is usually read as a symbol tied to Odin and to the fate of the slain.

What is worth knowing is that nobody in the Viking age left us a written explanation of it. Everything said about the Valknut meaning the binding and unbinding of a warrior’s mind, or the nine worlds, or the passage into Valhalla, is later interpretation rather than recorded fact. It is a genuine period symbol with a genuinely uncertain meaning, and we would rather tell you that than sell you a tidy story that the archaeology does not support. Three triangles, interlocked so no strand ends, cut into the wide bands of this set.

The metal and the twist

These are jewellery alloy finished in a warm bronze tone, polished on the raised surfaces and relieved in the stamped areas so the Valknut reads dark against light. We describe the finish rather than claiming bronze, brass, gold or silver, because a finished piece at this price is not solid precious metal and saying otherwise would be dishonest.

The twisted rings are made the old way, by taking round wire, twisting it into a rope and then closing that rope into a continuous ring. Twisting work hardens the wire, which is why a twisted ring holds its shape better than a plain wire ring of the same gauge, and it gives the ring a gripping surface. That grip matters more than it sounds. A smooth ring slides down a braid. A twisted one stays where you put it.

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 set the three wide bands are the engravable pieces, and a short rune line will run right round a band. Your text takes the place of the Valknut rather than sitting next to it. See the engraving page.

Fit and sizing

Beard rings are sized by the bore, meaning the hole through the middle, not by finger size. The set is cut for a braided section of beard rather than for a single loose strand, so if you have a short beard you will get more use out of the twisted rings and less out of the wide bands.

The way to fit them is to braid first and thread second. Plait the section, hold the plait between finger and thumb to compress it, slide the ring on from the tip, then let the braid relax so it swells into the ring and locks it. If a ring slides down on its own, your braid is too loose or too thin for that piece. Take a wider section of hair rather than trying to force a smaller ring. The wide bands sit best at the base of a braid where the hair is thickest, and the twists sit well down the length or right at the tip.

All seven are continuous rings rather than open cuffs, so they must be threaded on. They cannot be squeezed shut around a braid.

Care

Take them out before you wash your beard. Beard wash, conditioner and beard oil all sit on the metal and dull the finish over time, and hot water in the shower gets into the twist where you cannot dry it. Slide them off, wash, dry the beard, then put them back.

Wipe them with a soft dry cloth after a day of wear. If they need more than that, use a barely damp cloth and a soft brush in the twist, then dry them fully. Avoid silver dip solutions and ultrasonic cleaners, which are made for solid precious metal and will strip a finish. Keep them in the pouch rather than loose in a pocket with keys.

Made in the Czech Republic

This piece is made by hand in the Czech Republic, in a workshop that still works the old way. The steel is forged, ground, heat treated and finished by smiths who learned the trade from the people before them, and the wood, horn and leather are cut and fitted by hand rather than pressed out on a line. That is also why no two pieces come out exactly the same.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import these pieces ourselves, check every one when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, so your runes or your own design go on before it leaves for you.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand made, not machine made and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Tone, polish, the exact tightness of each twist and the depth of the Valknut stamp all vary because each piece is worked by hand. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not. Within your own set of seven you will find small differences between the four twisted rings, and that is the sign of hand twisted wire rather than a fault. You can carry on with the Valknut, or look at Odin’s ravens while you are there.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get them onto my beard

Braid the section first, compress the braid between your fingers, slide the ring down from the tip, then let the hair relax so it swells and holds the ring in place.

Will they slide out during the day

Not if the braid is thick enough for the ring. If one slides, move it to a thicker part of the braid or take a wider section of hair rather than blaming the ring.

Are these solid bronze or gold

No. They are a jewellery alloy with a bronze tone finish. We would rather describe the finish accurately than claim a metal we are not putting in the piece.

Can I wear them in the shower

Better not. Shampoo, conditioner and beard oil dull the finish and water sits in the twist. Take them out, wash, dry, then put them back in.

Can I get runes on them

Yes, on the three wide bands. A short rune line runs right round the band and takes the place of the Valknut rather than sitting alongside it.

How long does delivery take

One to two weeks of processing plus transit, at the longer end for engraved orders. Shipping within the United States is free.

What is in the box

• Three wide Valknut stamped beard bands
• Four twisted wire beard rings
• One soft drawstring pouch
• Care card covering finish care and how to fit a beard ring
• Made and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See more in beard rings and beads, Viking rings and bracelets, Viking combs and accessories, or read the guides.