Leafborn Hand Forged 1095 Steel Leaf Blade Short Sword | Downswept Engraved Crossguard | Ribbed Bone Toned Grip and Veg Tan Leather Sheath | Fantasy Collector Gift | RK-1800

A short sword with a leaf shaped blade, which means it widens through its middle third and then draws back in to a point rather than tapering steadily from the guard. It is hand forged from 1095 high carbon steel, double edged, with a raised central ridge running the length. The guard sweeps down towards the point on both sides and carries a band of engraved knotwork across its centre, the grip is ribbed in a pale bone tone, and the pommel is a plain polished dome. It ships with a natural vegetable tanned leather sheath.

The leaf blade is one of the oldest sword shapes there is. Bronze Age smiths across Europe cast them by the thousand, and the reason is metallurgical rather than aesthetic. Bronze is soft and a long thin blade in bronze bends. Putting the mass out in the middle of the blade gives you weight where the cut lands and a stiff section through the widest part, which lets a short weapon hit far harder than its length suggests. When iron arrived the shape persisted in the Greek xiphos and the Roman gladius for the same reason. This one is forged, ground, engraved and hilted by hand in the Czech Republic.

Specifications

Why the widest part of the blade is not at the guard

Most swords are widest where they leave the hilt and narrow all the way to the point. A leaf blade does the opposite in the middle, and that single decision changes the sword completely. Moving mass out towards the percussion point, which is roughly two thirds of the way along, means the blade hits with more energy for the same swing and vibrates less when it lands. A blade that vibrates on impact is throwing energy back into your hand instead of into the target, and it is also the thing that stings the wrist on a badly balanced sword.

The cost is speed. All that mass out at the wide section makes the blade slower to change direction, which is why leaf blades stayed short. On a weapon of this length the trade is worth it. On a long sword it would not be, and that is exactly why the shape disappeared as blades got longer through the medieval period.

1095 high carbon steel and the central ridge

The blade is 1095, a simple high carbon steel of around one percent carbon, hardened to 54 to 58 HRC. The raised ridge running down the centre is the structural spine of a diamond section, and grinding one cleanly on a blade that changes width along its length is genuinely difficult. The ridge has to stay dead straight and centred while the bevels either side of it get wider and then narrower again. Get it wrong and the ridge wanders, which is immediately visible under a bright polish and impossible to correct afterwards.

The bright polish here is deliberate rather than lazy. On a leaf blade the polish is what shows the changing width of the bevels and the run of the ridge, and it is the reason the blade appears to have two different tones down its length as it catches light.

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, which here means a custom guard engraving takes the place of the knotwork band. A rune line along the blade beside the ridge is the placement that suits this shape best, and the natural leather sheath takes a stamped line very cleanly. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Pick this up and the first thing you notice is that it feels heavier than it looks, and heavier towards the middle than towards the point. That is the leaf shape doing exactly what it is supposed to do. The balance sits a hand span in front of the guard, so the sword wants to be swung from the elbow rather than flicked from the wrist, and it stops hard when it lands. The short ribbed grip fills the palm and does not encourage sliding.

It is a sharpened display and collector piece. It is not sold as a sparring weapon and should not be used for contact drills against another blade or a person. If you cut with it, treat it as the heavy sharp object it is.

Care

Bright polished 1095 shows everything. Wipe the blade after every handling, because a fingerprint left overnight in a humid room will etch a grey shadow that no amount of polishing removes without taking the surface back. Keep a thin film of mineral oil on the steel. The natural vegetable tanned sheath is undyed, which means it will darken with handling and with sunlight into a honey brown over the first year. That is normal and most owners like it. Feed it with a leather conditioner once or twice a year and do not store the sword inside it in a damp room. Our full method is under steel care.

Made in the Czech Republic

Every piece we sell is made by hand in the Czech Republic. The smiths there work the way the trade has been worked for a long time, heating and hammering the steel, taking the bevels down by eye, and fitting the handle and the leather one at a time. There is no automated line anywhere in it, so small differences from one piece to the next are normal and expected.

Ransack Viking is a United States company based in Memphis, Tennessee. We bring the pieces in ourselves, inspect them on arrival and ship them from our own warehouse. If you add engraving, that is carried out here in the United States before your order goes out.

A note on handmade variation

This piece is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The point at which the blade reaches its widest will sit a fraction differently on every one, because the leaf is ground by eye. The engraved band on the guard is cut freehand and its line weight varies. Undyed leather starts pale and darkens, so a sheath photographed on day one looks nothing like the same sheath after a year of handling. The steel, the heat treat, the dimensions and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp out of the box

Yes. Both edges get a hand put working edge before it ships. It is not a blunted prop.

Why is the sheath so pale

Because it is undyed vegetable tanned leather. It will darken to a honey brown over the first year with handling and light, and that colour change is part of the appeal.

Is this a real sword or a costume piece

It is a real forged and hardened blade with a working edge, sold as a display and collector piece. It is not sold as a sparring weapon.

Can I have runes engraved on it

Yes. Use the rune converter on this page. A rune line beside the central ridge or a stamped line on the sheath both work well on this shape.

Will the polish stay bright

With a wipe down and a light film of oil, yes. Left with fingerprints on it in a damp room it will grey within weeks and that etching is permanent.

How long before it ships

Processing is one to two weeks because every blade is ground to order. Shipping inside the United States is free.

What is in the box

• Hand forged 1095 high carbon steel leaf blade short sword
• Downswept steel crossguard engraved with a knotwork band
• Ribbed pale bone toned grip with an engraved ferrule and polished dome pommel
• Natural vegetable tanned leather sheath, hand stitched and edge finished
• Care card covering oiling, storage and leather feeding
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

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