Moorsweep Hand Forged Viking Scimitar with Knotwork Engraved Crossguard | 36 Inch Overall Length | Broad Curved Blade and Brown Leather Scabbard | Norse Collector Gift | RK-1824

Moorsweep is a hand forged Viking scimitar with a long curved single edged blade that widens sharply in the last third and finishes in a flared upswept tip. The crossguard is a plain straight steel bar cut with a band of interlaced knotwork, the grip is wrapped in black leather over a full tang, and the pommel is a flared trumpet form in polished steel. A long brown leather scabbard ships with it.

The flare at the tip is the interesting feature and it has a name in the tradition it comes from. On a Turkish kilij that widened forward section is called a yelman, and it is a piece of deliberate weight engineering rather than a decorative flourish. Putting extra width, and therefore extra mass, out at the far end of a curved blade drives the point of percussion further forward and multiplies the force delivered in a draw cut. Blades with a yelman spread from Central Asia across the Islamic world and into eastern Europe over several centuries, and every one of them was a cutting blade that made no serious attempt to thrust.

Forged, ground, hilted and finished in the Czech Republic. It ships with the leather scabbard, a protective oil film on the blade and a care card. Free shipping inside the United States and one to two weeks of processing while the curve and the flare are ground true.

Specifications

Why a wide tip needs a heavy pommel

Every ounce added out near the point costs you several times over at the hand, because the blade is a lever and your wrist is the fulcrum. A blade that flares at the tip is therefore a blade that has deliberately made itself hard to hold up. The only answer is to add mass at the other end, which is exactly what the flared trumpet pommel on this sword is for.

Get that counterweight right and the sword feels balanced in the hand while still hitting with everything the forward mass can deliver. Get it wrong and you have a wrist breaker that looks impressive on a wall and is unpleasant to hold for more than a minute. The pommel here is sized to the blade rather than chosen for looks, which is why it is as large as it is.

The steel and the grind

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel, forged, normalised, hardened and tempered to 54 to 58 HRC. On a single edged blade the thick unsharpened spine carries the stiffness, which lets the edge be ground finer than it could be on a double edged blade of the same weight.

Grinding a widening curve is the hard part of making this sword. The bevel has to stay even in width while the blade itself changes width, which means the grind angle shifts continuously from ricasso to tip and every pass has to be steered rather than pushed. A machine can be programmed to do it. A hand has to be trained to do it, and the results always carry a small amount of the maker in them.

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 scimitar your line goes in place of the knotwork band on the guard, or along the ricasso where the blade is at its widest. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Even with the counterweight the balance sits well forward, around seven inches ahead of the guard, and the sword tells you what it wants immediately. It wants a long draw cut with the wrist relaxed, letting the mass carry the edge through rather than driving it with the arm. It does not want to be flicked, and it does not thrust in any meaningful sense.

This is a display and collector sword with a proper edge and heat treat. It is not sold for sparring and it should not be used in contact work against another person or another blade.

Care

1095 is not stainless. Wipe the blade after handling and keep a thin film of mineral oil or paste wax on the flats. The inside of the curve is the spot people miss, so run the cloth along it deliberately. Store the sword out of the scabbard if the room ever gets humid, because leather is tanned with salts that will shadow a bright blade left in contact for months. The steel care page has the full routine.

Feed the grip wrap and the scabbard with a neutral leather balm once or twice a year, and let wet leather dry slowly at room temperature.

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 Memphis, Tennessee 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 scimitar is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The curve is forged and the widening grind is steered by hand, so the exact point at which the blade begins to flare and the precise sweep of the tip are your sword’s own. The knotwork band on the guard is cut by hand. Black leather takes a burnish differently from hide to hide. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a historically Norse piece

The blade shape is not. Widening curved blades belong to the Turkish, Persian and Central Asian tradition rather than to Scandinavia. The hilt decoration here is Norse and the sword is sold as a crossover display piece rather than as a reconstruction.

How sharp is the flared section

The whole outer curve including the flare is sharpened. The false edge along the top of the flare is left unsharpened, which is normal for the type and keeps it safer to handle.

Is it heavy

It feels heavier than it weighs because of the forward mass. Most people find it satisfying in a swing and tiring to hold out straight, which is exactly what a forward weighted cutting sword should feel like.

Will the scabbard take the flared tip

Yes. The scabbard is built around this blade including the widest part of the flare, which is why it is as broad as it is at the toe.

Can I hang it on a wall

Yes, and it displays well curve upward with the scabbard below. Use hooks that cradle the blade rather than clamp it, and support it at the ricasso and again before the flare.

How long until it ships

One to two weeks of processing while the blade is ground and the sword is fitted, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• One Moorsweep Viking scimitar with engraved knotwork guard
• Long brown leather scabbard
• Protective oil film on the blade
• Care card for high carbon steel and leather
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See more in viking swords, swords and fantasy swords, or read the guides on curved blades and points of percussion.