Emberdisc Hand Forged 1095 Steel Arming Sword with Red Set Stones & Etched Knotwork Band | 36 Inch Overall | Disc Pommel and Black Leather Scabbard | Medieval Collector Gift | RK-1990

Emberdisc is a single hand arming sword built to the medieval European pattern that dominated from the eleventh century through to the fourteenth. The blade is double edged with a narrow fuller running down from the shoulder, the guard is a slim straight bar with rounded quillon tips, and the pommel is a broad polished disc. Four polished red cabochons are set into the hilt, one at each quillon tip, one at the centre of the guard where the blade enters, and one on each face of the disc pommel. A recessed band of Norse plaitwork is etched into the flat of the blade just above the ricasso, with a small maker roundel struck above it.

The disc pommel is not decoration. On a sword of this length the pommel is a counterweight, and a wide flat disc carries its mass further from the centre line than a ball or a brazil nut shape of the same weight. That pulls the balance point back toward the guard and makes the point easier to lift, stop and redirect from the wrist alone. Medieval cutlers understood this, which is why disc pommels turn up again and again on riding swords and arming swords of the high medieval period, when a mounted man needed a blade that answered instantly in one hand. This sword is hand made in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports it, checks the grind, the fittings and the stone settings, and ships it from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse. It arrives with the black leather covered scabbard shown, fitted with a polished steel throat and a matching chape.

If you have seen the phrase battle ready and wondered what it covers, display or battle ready explains it. Knotwork carried meaning as often as it was pure decoration, and our note on Norse symbols works through the recurring shapes. The medieval helmets are the obvious thing to hang beside it.

Specifications

Why the fuller and the disc pommel belong together

The groove down the centre of the blade is a fuller, and the old museum label calling it a blood groove is simply wrong. A fuller is a stiffening and lightening feature. Forging or grinding a channel down the middle moves steel out of the neutral axis, where it contributes almost nothing to stiffness, and leaves it concentrated at the edges and the spine where bending resistance actually comes from. The result is a blade that keeps its rigidity in the cut while losing a useful fraction of its mass. On this sword the fuller is narrow and stops well short of the point, so the last third of the blade keeps its full section and stays stiff where a thrust loads it hardest.

The disc pommel finishes the job at the other end. Take mass out of the blade with a fuller and add mass behind the hand with a wide disc, and the balance point moves back toward the guard. That is the whole design logic of a high medieval arming sword: a blade long enough to reach, light enough to recover, and hung on a hilt that makes the point feel closer to your hand than it really is. Pick this one up and the difference from a heavier pommel is immediate, particularly when you change the line of the point rather than swing it.

1095 high carbon steel and what the heat treat gives you

The blade is 1095, a simple high carbon steel with roughly one percent carbon and very little else. There is no chromium to speak of, so it is not stainless and it will show its age if you neglect it, but the plain composition is exactly why it has been the default choice for hand made blades for a very long time. It moves predictably under the hammer, it quenches cleanly, and it takes an edge that a smith can control rather than fight.

This blade is taken to 54 to 58 HRC. That band is chosen deliberately for a sword rather than a knife. Push a long blade harder than about 58 and it gains edge holding but starts to trade away the toughness that keeps it from chipping or taking a set when it meets something solid. Sit in the mid fifties and the steel bends and returns rather than cracking, which is what a blade of this length needs across its whole span. The fittings are polished steel and the red cabochons are set in bezels that are burnished down over the stone rather than glued in place.

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 that matters, because the etched knotwork band is the obvious place for a rune line and the two cannot share the space. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, so nothing is cut until you have chosen it. See the engraving page for placement options and how the rune line is laid out.

Handling and balance

This is a one hand sword and the grip length says so. There is room for a full fist between the guard and the pommel with a little space left over, which is what lets you shift your hand back against the disc for a longer cut or forward against the guard for tighter control. The balance point sits close to the guard because of the pommel mass, so the sword feels lighter in motion than its weight on a scale suggests.

Treat it as a collector and display piece rather than a sparring sword. It is a real forged blade with a real heat treat and it is built honestly, but it has not been proofed for full contact work against another blade, and the set stones in the guard and pommel are bezel set decorative cabochons that are not intended to take impact. Handle it, hang it, draw it for people who ask about it. Do not test it on anything.

Care

1095 is not stainless. Wipe the blade down after handling, because the salt and moisture in a fingerprint is what starts a rust spot, and put a thin film of oil on the steel before it goes back in the scabbard or on the wall. Mineral oil, camellia oil or any light gun oil all work. Do not store it sheathed for months in a damp room, since leather holds moisture against steel. The polished fittings and the red cabochons want nothing more than a dry microfibre cloth, and the leather grip and scabbard benefit from a light leather conditioner once or twice a year. Fuller guidance is in our steel care notes.

If it is going on a wall, hanging swords and axes safely covers mounts, fixings and what not to do.

Made in the Czech Republic

This sword is hand made in the Czech Republic by people who make blades for a living. It is not pulled off an importer catalogue page and relabelled. Ransack Viking brings the pieces in, opens every one, checks the grind, the tang fit, the guard seating, the stone bezels and the scabbard fit, and only then does it go on the shelf in our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse. Processing runs one to two weeks, longer if you have asked for engraving, because the engraving is cut here in the United States after the sword arrives and before it ships to you. Shipping within the United States is free. Returns are accepted within seven days. There is a genuine lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

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 etched knotwork band is cut to the same pattern every time but sits a fraction differently on the flat. The red cabochons are polished glass, so the depth of colour and the way each one catches light varies from stone to stone. Polish tone on the fittings, the exact profile of the quillon tips and the grain of the leather on the grip and scabbard all shift a little from one piece to the next. The steel, the dimensions and the build are the same every time. The character is not, and that is the point of buying something worked by hand.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp out of the box?

It arrives with a working edge rather than a razor edge. That is normal for a sword of this class and it is what you want on a display piece. If you would rather it came blunt for a household with children, say so in the order notes and we will take the edge back before it ships.

Are the red stones real rubies?

No, and we will not pretend otherwise. They are polished red glass cabochons, bezel set into the guard and the pommel. They look excellent and they are secure, but they are not natural gemstones and they are not priced as though they were.

Can I use this for sparring or reenactment combat?

No. It is a sharp forged blade with decorative set stones and it has not been proofed for full contact work. Buy a purpose built blunt if you need to fight with it. This is a collector and display sword.

Is the scabbard included?

Yes. The black leather covered scabbard shown in the photographs comes with the sword, with its polished steel throat and chape fitted. There is no separate charge for it.

Can I have runes cut into the blade instead of the knotwork band?

Yes. Choose the engraving option, use the rune converter to build your line in Elder Futhark, and your engraving replaces the existing band rather than sitting next to it. Tell us in the notes if you would rather it went on the scabbard throat.

How long until it reaches me?

Processing is one to two weeks from our Memphis warehouse, and a little longer if engraving is added because that work is done here in the United States after the sword arrives. Shipping inside the United States is free.

What is in the box

• Emberdisc arming sword in 1095 high carbon steel
• Black leather covered scabbard with polished steel throat and chape
• Protective wrap and a padded shipping carton
• Care card covering oiling and storage
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

Explore the range

See more in arming swords, the wider sword range, our scabbards and sheaths and sword stands and displays. Background reading lives in the guides.