Runeledge Hand Made Walnut Sword Wall Mount Pair with Solid Brass Scroll Hooks | Felt Lined Cradles | Elder Futhark Rune Engraving and Keyhole Slots | Display Gift | RK-1759

The Runeledge is a matched pair of wall brackets for hanging a sword horizontally. Each bracket is a shaped walnut plate with clipped corners, carrying two solid brass scroll hooks that curl up and back, each hook lined inside with dense grey wool felt. A line of Elder Futhark runes is engraved into the face of the walnut between the hooks, and a keyhole slot is routed into the back at each end so the bracket drops onto two screws and sits flat.

Most swords that get damaged in a house are damaged hanging on a wall, not in use. The two common causes are a single mount taking the whole weight at one point and bending a scabbard, and a bare metal hook wearing a bright line through a blade finish. This mount answers both: two brackets spread the load along the length of the sword, and the felt lining means nothing hard ever touches the piece. Each pair is cut, routed, engraved, sanded and oiled in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee.

Specifications

Mounting a sword so it stays mounted

Start with the weight. A hand forged sword and its scabbard together will usually run between three and six pounds, and that load is not sitting straight down on the fixings, it is levering out from the wall. A single drywall plug will hold three pounds hanging flat and will not reliably hold three pounds hanging six inches proud of the surface. Find the studs and screw into wood wherever you possibly can. If you cannot, use a proper toggle anchor rather than the plastic plug that came with a picture hook.

Space the two brackets so each one sits well inside the ends of the sword. A common mistake is to put them at the very tip and the very pommel, where a small knock lifts one end out of the cradle. Roughly a quarter and three quarters of the way along the sword is the right place, and it also spreads the weight of a long blade so nothing sags in the middle. Mount the lower bracket first, hang the sword to check the line, then mark and mount the second.

The scroll shape on the hooks matters more than it looks. The curl comes up and then back over towards the wall, so the mouth of the cradle points slightly upward. A sword nudged sideways rides up the curl and drops back rather than rolling out. Straight pin style hooks have no such stop and rely on gravity alone, which is fine until someone shuts a door hard.

The walnut, the brass and the felt

Black walnut is used here for two reasons. It is stiff enough at this thickness that the bracket does not flex when a heavy sword is loaded into it, and it is dark enough that polished steel and brass both read cleanly against it. The keyhole slots are routed into the back rather than drilled through the face, so no screw head shows and the bracket can be lifted off the wall for painting and dropped straight back on the same screws.

The hooks are solid brass, not plated steel. Plated hooks look identical on the shelf and then wear through at the curl exactly where the sword rests, leaving a grey streak that never comes back. Solid brass wears to a warmer colour and never wears through to anything else. We leave it unlacquered so it takes a patina, and it can be brought back to bright with metal polish any time you want. The felt lining is dense wool, bonded into the cradle, and it is there so that nothing harder than a sheep ever touches your blade or scabbard.

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 the Runeledge that means your line replaces the standard rune line on the face of the brackets, and there is enough room to put a different line on each of the two, which is how people usually mark a wedding date or the name of the sword being hung. See the engraving page.

What it will and will not hold

The cradles are cut to take a sword, a sheathed sword, an axe haft, a walking staff or a rifle sized object without straining. Two brackets will comfortably carry a longsword and its scabbard together. They are not designed to take a shield, which needs a flat backed hanger rather than a cradle, and they are not designed for anything that will not sit in a curved cradle without rocking.

You can also use the pair vertically, one above the other, to hold a sword point down, which is the safest way to store a blade with an oiled finish because oil migrates down rather than into a grip. If you do that, put the top bracket where the crossguard will rest and the lower one to catch the blade, and check the fit with the sword before you drive the second set of screws.

Care

Dust the walnut with a dry cloth. Once a year, or whenever it starts to look dry, rub a small amount of hardwax oil or plain furniture oil into the wood with a lint free cloth and buff off what has not soaked in after twenty minutes. Do not use a silicone spray polish, which builds a film and makes any future refinishing difficult. The brass will darken with time. If you prefer it bright, a little metal polish on a cloth restores it in a minute, and if you like the patina, leave it alone. Vacuum the felt lining occasionally, because grit trapped in wool is the one thing here that could scratch a blade. Keep the whole mount out of direct sun, which fades walnut faster than it fades anything else.

Made in Memphis

Cut, shaped, routed, engraved, sanded and oiled in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee, and the hooks are fitted and checked here. This is not an importer bracket with runes printed on. Allow one to two weeks of processing before it ships, a few days more if you have ordered a custom engraved line, because the face has to be cut and the wood reoiled. Shipping in the United States is free, and the lifetime warranty against defects in the timber, the engraving and the brass runs with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

These are made by hand and not machine produced in bulk, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Walnut runs from a purple brown through to a warm chocolate depending on where in the board it was cut, and your pair may carry a streak of pale sapwood along one edge, which we consider a feature rather than a flaw. The engraved rune line is cut by hand and its depth varies slightly. The brass hooks are formed and buffed individually. The dimensions, the hook spacing and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Will it hold a heavy sword

Yes, provided you fix it properly. The brackets and hooks are far stronger than the wall they hang on. Screw into studs where you can and use toggle anchors where you cannot, and never rely on a plastic plug for a load that hangs out from the wall.

How far apart should the two brackets go

About a quarter and three quarters of the way along the sword. That spreads the weight and keeps both ends of the blade well inside the cradles so a knock cannot lift one out.

Will the hooks scratch my blade

No. Every cradle is lined with dense wool felt so nothing metal touches the piece. Vacuum the felt now and then, since trapped grit is the only realistic scratch risk.

Are screws included

Yes, mounting screws and wall anchors come in the box. If you are fixing into masonry or into a stud, you may prefer your own fixings, and we recommend that where the wall allows it.

Can I hang an axe on it

Yes. The cradles take an axe haft, a staff or a sheathed sword equally well. They are not suitable for a shield, which needs a flat hanger rather than a curved cradle.

Can I put my own runes on it

Yes, and it is the most common request on this piece. The rune converter on this page turns a name or a date into Elder Futhark and we cut it in place of the standard line, with a different line on each bracket if you want.

What is in the box

• Two Runeledge walnut wall brackets with engraved Elder Futhark rune lines
• Four solid brass scroll hooks, felt lined, fitted to the brackets
• Mounting screws and wall anchors
• Fitting notes with spacing and anchor guidance
• Lifetime warranty against defects in the timber, the engraving and the brass
• Made and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See the rest of the sword stands and displays, our Viking home decor, the engraved and personalised pieces, and the guides.