Hearthspire Hand Forged Viking Candle Holder | Three Branch Twisted Steel | Mjolnir Engraved Collar and Scrolled Feet with Dished Drip Pans | Norse Hall Gift | RK-1676

The Hearthspire is a three branch candle holder forged from square steel bar, twisted along its length, gathered into a collar engraved with a Mjolnir and spread out again into three scrolled feet. Each branch ends in a dished drip pan with a spike standing up in the middle of it, and the centre branch stands a little taller than the two outer ones so the flames sit at different heights.

The spike is the historically correct fitting and it has a name. It is a pricket, and it is what candle holders used before sockets existed. A pricket holds a candle by driving up into the base of it, which works with the tallow and beeswax candles people actually made at home, because those were hand rolled or dipped and no two came out the same diameter. A socket only makes sense once candles are moulded to a standard size, which did not happen in any general way until the eighteenth century. This one is forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee.

Specifications

Why a pricket and not a socket

Push a taper candle straight down onto the spike and give it a slight twist. The steel bites into the wax, the candle sits central and the dish underneath catches whatever runs off. That is the whole mechanism, and it has not needed improving in about a thousand years.

The practical advantage over a socket is that a pricket does not care what diameter your candle is. A thick beeswax taper, a thin dinner candle and a slightly bent hand dipped one all go on the same spike, whereas a socket only takes what it was bored for. It also holds the candle right down to the last inch, because there is no collar in the way, and church inventories from the medieval period list pricket stands for exactly that reason. Wax was expensive and nobody wanted to throw away a stub.

The dish around the spike is not decoration either. Tallow and beeswax both run, and a dished pan turns a mess on the table into a disc of wax you can lift off cold with a thumbnail. Set the candle straight, let the first burn glaze the pan, and after that the clean up is a ten second job.

The steel and the twist

Each branch starts as a length of square bar. Heated to an even orange and gripped at both ends, square bar takes a twist beautifully, and it is one of the oldest decorative moves a blacksmith has. The corners of the bar become a helix that catches light down the whole length, and because the section stays square the twist adds stiffness rather than weakening the branch. If you look closely you can see the pitch of the twist change slightly along each stem, which is how you tell hand work from a machine rolled section.

The branches are gathered and held by a forged collar at the waist rather than welded into a lump. The collar is drawn out, wrapped hot around the bundle and closed, and it shrinks onto the steel as it cools, which is a mechanical joint that gets tighter rather than looser. The Mjolnir is cut into the face of that collar, where it sits at eye level on a table.

The feet are the last operation. Each one is drawn to a taper and curled into a scroll over the horn of the anvil, then set so all three sit flat on the same plane. That is what stops a piece like this rocking on a table. The finish is brushed and clear sealed, so it will hold its colour indoors without needing oil, and it is steel rather than a plated pot metal casting.

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, so on this holder your runes or your pattern take the place of the Mjolnir on the collar. Full details are on the engraving page.

Mounting and display

This is a free standing piece. Set it on a flat, heat tolerant surface such as a wooden table, a stone hearth or a mantel, and give it a little clear space above because the flames sit higher than a normal candlestick. The three scrolled feet spread wide enough that it does not tip easily, but it is steel and it is heavy, so do not put it where it can be knocked onto a stone floor.

Press each candle firmly onto its pricket before lighting so it cannot lean, and if you are using a soft beeswax taper on a warm day, let the candle cool before you set it. Do not leave burning candles unattended, keep the holder away from curtains and shelves above it, and let the steel cool before you move it. A drip pan holds heat for a while after the flame is out.

It also works well unlit as a table piece, and it takes battery operated taper candles if you would rather not have a live flame in the room.

Care

Let wax go completely cold and then lift it off the drip pans with a fingernail or a blunt wooden stick. Do not scrape it with a knife, because that will cut through the clear seal and start a rust spot underneath. If a pan is badly glazed, a few seconds of hot water will release the wax cleanly, and then the steel should be dried straight away.

Dust it with a dry cloth. Because the finish is sealed you do not need to oil it for indoor use, but if it lives somewhere damp such as a porch or a cabin, a very light wipe of oil once or twice a year will keep the surface even. Do not put it in a dishwasher and do not soak it. If a mark does appear on bare steel, a fine synthetic pad and a drop of oil will lift it, worked along the direction of the brushing.

Made in Memphis

Every branch on this piece is drawn, twisted, dished and scrolled at our anvil in Memphis, Tennessee, and the collar is wrapped and engraved on the same bench. Nothing here is a casting bought in from an importer catalogue with a Norse name attached to it. Because a three branch holder is nine or ten separate forging operations, allow one to two weeks of processing before yours ships. Shipping inside the United States is free, returns run for seven days, and the piece carries our lifetime warranty against defects in the forging and the build, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The pitch of each twist, the exact curl of each scrolled foot, the hammer texture along the branches and the way the light catches the brushed finish will all be slightly different, because every one is forged hot by hand rather than pressed out of a die. The height, the three branch layout, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Are candles included

No. The holder is sold on its own. It takes ordinary taper and dinner candles, and the pricket spikes will hold most diameters.

Will wax ruin it

No. The drip pans are there to catch wax. Let it go cold and lift it off with a fingernail rather than scraping with a blade.

Is it steel or a casting

It is forged steel bar, twisted and shaped hot at the anvil. It is not a cast or plated ornament.

Can I have runes cut into it instead of the hammer

Yes. Use the rune converter on this page. Your line replaces the Mjolnir on the collar rather than sitting beside it.

Does it wobble on a table

The three feet are set flat by hand on a surface plate before the piece leaves us, so it should sit still. Three feet always find a plane, which is why we used three rather than four.

Will mine look like the photograph

Same size and layout, but the twists, the scrolls and the hammer marks are individual to each piece. That is what tells you it was forged rather than moulded.

What is in the box

• Hearthspire three branch forged steel candle holder
• Three dished drip pans with pricket spikes
• Mjolnir engraved forged collar
• Care card for brushed and sealed steel
• Lifetime warranty against defects in the forging and build
• Made and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See more in viking home decor, engraved and personalised, accessories and runestones and rune sets, or read the guides.