Grimhook Hand Forged Damascus Steel Two Handed Longsword with Parrying Hooks | 48 Inch Overall | Ring Terminal Crossguard and Black Leather Scabbard | Collector Gift | RK-1760

The Grimhook is a two handed longsword with a long ricasso and a pair of parrying hooks set into the blade below the crossguard. The main guard is a single steel bar swept into a shallow arc with a ring terminal at each end, the grip is wrapped in black leather over a wood core and runs long enough for two hands with room to spare, and the pommel is pear shaped polished steel engraved with Mjolnir. The blade has a patterned central fuller, the ricasso below the guard is wrapped in black leather, and it ships in a black scabbard with a polished steel chape.

The small curved hooks a hand span down the blade are the interesting part of this sword and almost nobody knows what they do. They are parrying hooks, parierhaken in the German sources, and they are the reason a fencer can put a hand on the flat of the blade and use the sword like a short spear without the opposing blade sliding down onto the fingers. Every Grimhook is forged, ground, heat treated, hilted and polished by hand in the Czech Republic. If the two hand swords brought you here, the longswords are the obvious next stop.

Specifications

What the parrying hooks are for

A longsword this length is not only used at full reach. German fencing masters from Liechtenauer onward taught halfswording, which means letting go of the blade with nothing but the intention of gripping it: the left hand comes off the grip and takes hold of the flat of the blade partway down, and the sword becomes short and brutally controllable for close work and for going after gaps in armour. That grip is perfectly safe on a sharp blade so long as the hand is not sliding.

The problem is what happens when another blade comes down your own. Without a stop, an opposing edge riding down your blade arrives at your fingers. The parrying hooks are that stop. They stand proud of the flats on both sides, they catch anything sliding down, and they mark the boundary of the ricasso, the unsharpened section where the hand goes. On the great two handed swords of the sixteenth century these hooks grew into a second crossguard entirely. On a longsword like this one they stay small, which is exactly right for a sword that is meant to be quick.

The ring terminals on the main crossguard do a related job. They give somewhere for a finger to hook over the guard for a more forward grip when the sword is being used one handed, and they add a little mass at the ends of the bar, which damps the ring of the guard on impact.

The steel and the heat treat

Forged from 1095 and 15N20 steel, folded and forge welded into Damascus, then hardened to 58 to 60 HRC. The two steels etch to different shades, and that is where the pattern running down the blade comes from. It goes through the steel rather than sitting on the surface, so sharpening and polishing will not wear it off.

The blade carries a narrow central fuller, which takes weight out of a long blade without giving up much stiffness. Halfswording puts bending loads on the blade in odd directions, and the leather wrapped ricasso puts the second hand on the thickest part of the blade, right behind the hooks. The long grip and the pommel balance what weight is left.

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 Grimhook the natural place is the blade just past the parrying hooks, close to where makers marks and mottos sit on original longswords. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Point of balance sits about four inches ahead of the crossguard, which for a blade this long means the sword feels much lighter in the hand than the numbers suggest. The long grip is the reason. With the right hand under the guard and the left hand back at the pommel you have a lever more than a foot long, and the sword turns around the point of balance rather than around your wrist. That is the whole trick of a two handed sword: leverage instead of muscle.

Hold it with the left hand doing the pulling and the right hand acting as the pivot. Beginners grip both hands tight and try to push the sword through the cut, which is exhausting and slow. This is a forged and heat treated sword with a real edge. It suits collection, display, and cutting practice on soft targets. It is not a blunt trainer and it is not intended for full contact sparring against another person or another steel blade.

Care

1095 rusts without a film of oil on it. Wipe the whole blade after handling, including the hooks and the blade just past them where hands actually touch the steel, since skin oil is what starts the process. Mineral oil, camellia oil or any purpose made blade oil works. Store the sword out of the scabbard for long periods or at least loosely, because a closed scabbard holds humidity against a blade. Feed the leather grip and the scabbard body twice a year with a neutral conditioner. Take rust spots off with brass wool and oil rather than abrasive paper, which leaves a bright scar. See our steel care page for more.

Made in the Czech Republic

The work behind this piece happens in a Czech Republic workshop that has kept to the old methods. Steel is forged and heat treated by hand, the grind is taken down by eye rather than by machine, and the handle, fittings and sheath are cut and finished one at a time. Because of that, every piece carries small marks of the hand that made it.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import direct, check each piece when it reaches us, and ship from our Chicago, Illinois warehouse. Engraving is added here in the United States after arrival, so the piece you receive is finished to your order.

A note on handmade variation

This sword is made by hand and not machine produced in bulk, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The sweep of the crossguard is bent by hand and its arc is its own. Hammer texture near the tang, the exact shape of the pommel, the position of the hooks within a small tolerance, and the tone of the black leather all vary from sword to sword. The length, the steel, the balance and the build are the same every time. The character is not. There is more on that in how to hang a blade on a wall, and in buying a first sword if you want the background.

Frequently asked questions

What are the hooks on the blade for

They are parrying hooks. When you grip the flat of the blade for close work, they stop an opposing blade sliding down onto your hand, and they mark the end of the unsharpened ricasso. They are a real feature from period swords, not decoration.

Is the ricasso sharp

No. The section between the crossguard and the hooks is left unsharpened precisely so it can be gripped. Everything beyond the hooks is sharpened as normal.

Can I spar with it

No. It is a sharp forged sword. It is right for display, collection and cutting practice on soft targets. Contact sparring needs a purpose built blunt trainer with a rolled edge and a rebated tip, and this is not one.

Is it too heavy to use one handed

It can be handled one handed with a finger over one of the guard rings, but it is built as a two hander and it is happiest that way. The long grip and the heavy pommel are what make it feel light.

Does it come with the scabbard

Yes. The black scabbard with a polished steel chape shown in the photograph is built to this blade and included.

How long before it ships

One to two weeks of processing, a little longer than a plain longsword because the hooks are fitted to each blade individually, plus a few days if you have ordered engraving. Shipping in the United States is free and returns are accepted within seven days.

What is in the box

• Grimhook two handed longsword in 1095 and 15N20 Damascus steel
• Black scabbard with a polished steel chape, built to this blade
• Fitted steel parrying hooks and a ring terminal crossguard
• Care sheet with oiling and storage instructions
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See the rest of the longswords, the full range of swords, our Norse arms, and the guides.

If this one is not it

Also in this group is the Loopwarden longsword, high carbon steel. Sitting beside it in the catalogue is the Flamewake flamberge sword. Another in the same line is the Gloomridge broadsword, 38 inches overall.

For a different piece from the same family, look at the Gravewind bastard sword. Pick the steel, the length and the fittings yourself on the custom Viking sword page.

Want something you can actually fence with? The Rundholm montante is blunt and made for it, and our intro to HEMA is worth a look before you buy.