Duskfuller Hand Forged 1095 Steel Blued Viking Sword | 36 Inch Overall | Leather Wrapped Grip and Lobed Pommel with Black Leather Scabbard | Norse Warrior Gift | RK-1931

The Duskfuller is a single hand Viking sword built on the broad, parallel sided pattern that fills Scandinavian grave finds from the ninth and tenth centuries. A set of narrow fullers runs from just below the guard almost to the point, and the whole blade has been taken to a dark blued finish rather than a bright polish. Above it sits a short lower guard, a leather wrapped grip and a lobed upper pommel, the arrangement that gives a Viking sword its very short and very positive hilt.

Blued steel is not a modern idea. A controlled black oxide layer has been used on European arms for centuries as a working finish, because it holds oil better than bare polished steel and because a dark blade throws back far less light than a bright one, which mattered a great deal to anyone carrying a blade at dusk. This sword is forged, ground, heat treated and finished in the Czech Republic, and it ships with the fitted black leather scabbard shown in the photograph.

Specifications

Why a Viking hilt is so short

The first thing most people notice when they pick up a Viking sword is how little room there is in the grip. That is deliberate, and it is the single detail that most clearly separates this family of swords from the later medieval arming sword. The distance between the guard and the pommel on an original is often barely wider than a closed fist. Your hand does not slide around inside the hilt looking for a comfortable spot. It is pinned in one place, with the heel of the palm pressed against the pommel and the index finger against the lower guard.

That lock does two things. It puts the hand in exactly the same place on every cut, so the edge lands aligned without the wearer thinking about it, and it turns the pommel into a lever. A Viking sword is cut with the wrist and the forearm rather than the whole arm, and the heavy lobed pommel sitting behind the hand is what allows the point to be pulled back into line at the end of a stroke. The lobes themselves are not just decoration. Splitting the pommel into three or five raised sections gave the smith a way to add mass high on the hilt without casting one solid block, and each lobe on an original was often a separate piece riveted or brazed to a base plate.

The short hilt also tells you how the sword was used. It is a one handed sword, and the other hand was carrying a round shield. Everything about the geometry, the broad blade, the wide fullers and the balance point close to the guard, is built around that pairing rather than around fencing at length.

1095 high carbon steel and the blued finish

The blade is forged from 1095, a simple high carbon steel with roughly 0.95 percent carbon and very little else. It is the honest choice for a sword of this type because it behaves the way iron and carbon behaved for the original smiths. It takes a keen edge, it responds well to a controlled quench and a careful temper, and at 54 to 58 HRC it sits in the band where a long blade will flex and return rather than take a set or chip.

Hardness on a sword is a compromise rather than a target. Push a 30 inch blade past 60 HRC and it becomes brittle along its length, which is the last thing you want in a piece this long. Bringing it back into the mid fifties keeps the edge respectable while leaving the spine tough enough to absorb a knock without cracking. The grind is a broad flat taper into a secondary bevel, with the fullers ground in before heat treat to lighten the blade without weakening the spine.

The blued finish is a magnetite layer grown on the surface of the steel. It is a genuine finish rather than a paint or a coating, so it will not flake, but it is not stainless and it is not rust proof. It slows corrosion and it holds a film of oil beautifully, and it will develop a slightly warmer, more mottled tone with handling over the years. That change is normal and most owners come to prefer it to the day it arrived.

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 natural places are the flat between the fullers, the face of the pommel or the leather of the scabbard, and cutting into a blued blade gives a bright line against the dark ground that reads very clearly. See the engraving page for how the work is laid out and what fits in the space.

Handling and balance

The balance point sits about four inches ahead of the guard, which is where a sword of this pattern should sit. In the hand that reads as light in the point and quick to recover, rather than head heavy. Bring it up into a guard and the blade wants to move on the horizontal, which is exactly what a broad cutting blade with wide fullers is for.

Be honest about what you are buying. This is a hand forged sword with a functional heat treat and a real edge geometry, sold for collecting, display, photography and controlled solo cutting practice by someone who knows what they are doing. It is not sold as sparring equipment and it should never be used for full contact work against another person or against another blade. If you want to swing it, swing it at a water bottle or a tatami roll on a stand, with clear space around you.

Care

Wipe the blade down after handling. Skin leaves salt and moisture behind, and a blued surface will spot under a fingerprint just as a bright one will. Keep a light film of mineral oil, camellia oil or a purpose made blade oil on the steel, and reapply it every few months if the sword lives on a wall in a humid room. Do not store it long term inside the scabbard, because leather holds moisture against the steel. Hang the sword and stand the scabbard separately.

The leather takes a wipe with a barely damp cloth and a light feed with a neutral leather balm twice a year. Keep it away from radiators and direct sun, which dry and crack the fibres. Full guidance is on our steel care page and it applies to plain high carbon steel just as much as to pattern welded.

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 sword is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The depth of the blued tone, the exact width of the fullers, the grain and colour of the leather on the grip and the scabbard, and the precise profile of the pommel lobes all vary a little because each one is worked by hand from natural materials. The dimensions, the steel, the heat treat and the build are the same every time. The character is not, and that is the point of buying from a forge rather than a factory.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp when it arrives?

It arrives with a working edge, keen enough to cut but not taken to a razor finish. Say so in the order notes if you would prefer it shipped blunt for display, and we will leave the edge unsharpened at no extra cost.

Will the blued finish wear off?

It is an oxide grown into the surface rather than a coating, so it will not peel or flake. High wear points such as the very edge and the areas your hand touches will brighten slowly with use, which is normal and is what an original would have done.

Can I use this for reenactment or sparring?

No. It is a sharp, hand forged sword and it is not built or certified for contact work against another person. Reenactment groups require blunt, thick edged rebated steel for that, and this is not it.

Does the scabbard come with a belt?

The scabbard is included but a belt is not. It is built with a plain body and a steel throat, so it will take a suspension rig or a baldric of your choosing if you want to wear it.

How long will my order take?

Processing runs one to two weeks because the sword is made after you order it. Shipping within the United States is free, and you will get a tracking number as soon as it leaves the shop.

Can I have runes cut into the blade?

Yes. A rune line down the flat between the fullers is the most popular option on this sword and it shows up strongly against the blued ground. Use the converter above the add to cart button to set the text.

What is in the box

• One Duskfuller blued Viking sword in 1095 high carbon steel
• One fitted black leather scabbard with steel throat and chape
• A light protective coat of oil on the blade for transit
• Care notes for high carbon steel and leather
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

More in this part of the workshop: Viking swords, swords, Norse arms and scabbards and sheaths. Background reading lives in the guides.