Knotmarch Hand Forged 1095 Steel Knotwork Arming Sword | 34 Inch Overall | Brown Leather Grip and Lobed Steel Pommel | Norse Reenactment Gift | RK-1857

The Knotmarch is a single handed sword in the Norse tradition, carrying a deep panel of cut ring chain interlace at the base of the blade where a smith would once have set a maker inscription. The grip is brown leather wound in a close spiral over a shaped wooden core, the cross is a plain steel bar of flattened section, and the pommel is a lobed steel form peened over the tang. A brown leather scabbard is included.

Interlace is the single most recognisable thing the Norse left behind, and it was not decoration for its own sake. A continuous band that passes over and under itself with no beginning and no end was a way of saying something about permanence, and the same logic runs through Insular manuscript borders, Pictish stones and Scandinavian metalwork of the same centuries. This sword is forged, ground, hardened, cut and fitted in Memphis, Tennessee, and ships in the scabbard shown.

Specifications

Reading Norse interlace

Scandinavian ornament of the Viking centuries is usually sorted into a run of named styles, and they are easier to tell apart than people expect. Borre, which is roughly the late ninth and tenth century, is built from a gripping beast and a ring chain, a repeating braid of interlocking loops that reads almost like a woven strap. Jelling is thinner and more ribbon like, with beasts that shrink to an S shape. Mammen fattens the animal back up and fills the field with tendrils. Ringerike stretches those tendrils into long lobes, and Urnes finally dissolves everything into a single narrow beast looping through itself.

The panel on this blade belongs to the ring chain family. Follow one strand with your eye and it passes under, over, under, over and comes back to where it started without ever ending. Cutting that cleanly is harder than it looks, because the crossings have to hold a consistent depth or the strand appears to break where it should pass beneath.

The panel sits in the strongest part of the blade, immediately above the guard, which is deliberate. That is the section of a sword that does the least cutting and takes the least stress, which is why historical inscriptions and inlays are found there and almost never out toward the point.

Steel, wood and a wound leather grip

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel at 54 to 58 HRC. It is a simple alloy and a well understood one, and in a sword that is exactly what you want, because toughness matters more than the last few points of edge retention. The narrow fuller lightens the blade through the middle without giving up stiffness.

The grip is built the historical way. A wooden core is shaped to the tang first so the hand is holding wood rather than steel, then leather is wound around it in a tight spiral and set. The spiral is not styling. A wound grip gives the palm something to key against, so the hand does not rotate under a cut, and it can be rewrapped decades later without touching the rest of the sword. The lobed pommel above it is peened, which is a mechanical joint that gets tighter with age rather than a threaded nut that works loose.

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 sword the ring chain panel at the ricasso is that design, so a rune inscription is cut in its place. Placement and line length are covered on the engraving page.

Handling and balance

The sword weighs a little over two and a quarter pounds with the balance point roughly four inches forward of the cross. It feels quick at the hand and gathers weight into a cut, which is the behaviour a shield fighter needs, since the sword has to come back to guard as fast as it went out. The wound grip and the lobed pommel together stop the hand travelling backward under acceleration.

This is a hand finished collector, display and reenactment dress sword. It is not sold as full contact sparring equipment and should not be used blade against blade.

Point of balance is one of the few numbers worth caring about on a sword. Too far forward and the blade drops into every cut and refuses to come back. Too far back and it feels lively in the hand but lands with nothing behind it. Four inches ahead of the cross on a twenty eight inch blade is the compromise the Norse arrived at and it is the reason a sword of this shape can be used all day behind a shield without wrecking a wrist.

Care

Wipe the blade after handling and keep a light film of mineral oil on the steel. 1095 will spot if it is left damp or if fingerprints sit on it. Take particular care to work oil into the cut interlace with a soft brush, because the crossings hold moisture. Do not leave the sword in the scabbard for months. Feed the grip and the scabbard with leather balm once or twice a year. Our steel care page has more on oiling, spotting and cleaning cut detail.

Forged in Memphis

Forged, ground, fullered, heat treated, engraved, fitted and peened in our Memphis, Tennessee shop, with the wooden grip core turned and wrapped and the scabbard built in the same building. Nothing here comes out of an importer catalogue with a new name attached. Because each sword is made individually, allow one to two weeks of processing before it ships. Shipping inside the United States is free, returns run seven days, and the lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings has no end date and needs no receipt.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand made, not machine made and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Interlace cut by hand is never identical twice. The strand widths, the depth of the crossings, the tension of the leather spiral and the exact shape of the lobed pommel all shift a little. Leather tone varies with the hide. The dimensions, the steel and the build stay the same every time. The character does not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the knotwork cut or printed?

It is cut into the steel by hand. Run a fingernail across it and you can feel the strands.

Does the sword arrive sharp?

It comes with a clean cutting edge. Ask in your order notes and we will finish it blunt for reenactment dress or display.

Can I use it for full contact reenactment?

No. It is suitable as a dress and display sword only. It is not sparring equipment.

Can the grip be rewrapped later?

Yes. A wound leather grip over a wooden core is designed to be replaced without disturbing the blade or the fittings.

Will my knotwork match the photograph exactly?

It will be the same ring chain pattern, cut by hand, so the strands and depth will be very slightly your own.

When will it ship?

One to two weeks of processing, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• One Knotmarch knotwork arming sword in 1095 high carbon steel
• One brown leather over wood scabbard
• A light protective oil film on the blade
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

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