Discthane Hand Forged 1095 Carbon Steel Knightly Arming Sword | 38 Inch Overall | Steel Wheel Pommel and Brown Leather Scabbard | Medieval Reenactment Gift | RK-2031

Discthane is a knightly arming sword of the high medieval pattern, the everyday side arm of a mounted man from roughly the twelfth century through to the fourteenth. It is a single hand sword with a long blade that tapers steadily from a broad shoulder to an acute point, a narrow fuller running most of that length, a straight steel cross guard with softly flared ends, and a heavy steel wheel pommel with a raised central boss. The grip is dark brown leather over a wooden core with a pair of raised risers, and a small struck mark sits on the flat of the blade just below the guard.

The wheel pommel is the detail that dates it. Earlier swords used lobed and brazil nut pommels that sat wide across the back of the hand, and around the eleventh century smiths began cutting them down to a simple disc instead. The reason was not fashion. A disc puts the counterweight tight on the centre line of the grip rather than out to either side, which makes the sword easier to stop and turn over at the end of a cut, and it gave the hand something flat to press against when the point was driven forward. Armour was getting better at the same time, mail was giving way to plate at the joints, and blades were being drawn out into narrower profiles that could find a gap. The wheel pommel then stayed in use for three hundred years, which is a long run for any piece of design. This sword is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports it, checks the grind, the seat of the guard and the peen on the tang, and ships it from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. It ships with the brown leather scabbard shown here.

If you have seen the phrase battle ready and wondered what it covers, display or battle ready explains it. For where 1095 sits on the hardness scale and what that buys you, see the steel and hardness page. The medieval helmets are the obvious thing to hang beside it.

Specifications

Dimensions are nominal. Each sword is finished by hand and figures move a little from one piece to the next.

How to read a medieval blade profile

Pick up two medieval swords that look similar at a glance and the difference is almost always in the taper. A blade that keeps its width nearly to the tip is built to cut, because the mass stays out where the edge meets the target. A blade that narrows steadily from the shoulder, like this one, is a compromise design that still cuts well but puts a usable point on the end, and it is the profile that came in as armour improved. The fuller tells you the same story from the other direction. A wide shallow fuller running two thirds of the length belongs to an earlier cutting sword. A narrower fuller stopping short of a long stiff point belongs to a later one. Ewart Oakeshott built an entire typology on exactly these two observations in the nineteen sixties, and collectors still argue about type numbers using his letters today. You do not need the jargon to use it, but once you have seen the pattern you will not be able to unsee it on a museum wall.

Steel, hardness and fittings

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel taken to 54 to 58 HRC. On a long blade that hardness range is the sensible place to be. Push carbon steel harder and it holds an edge longer but it becomes brittle in a way that matters when something a yard long gets knocked sideways. Keep it in the mid fifties and it flexes and returns. Carbon steel is not stainless and it is not meant to be. It darkens with handling, it takes a patina, and it will spot if it is put away damp. The guard and pommel are steel with a brushed satin finish rather than a mirror, which suits the period and hides fingerprints. The tang is peened over the pommel, so the hilt is held together by upset metal rather than by a nut you could undo. The grip is leather over wood with risers underneath, which is both a grip aid and the traditional way of doing it.

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. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, which is why we can send you a proof and change it before anything is cut. On a sword like this the two places that read best are the flat of the blade in the first few inches below the guard, and the outer face of the wheel pommel, where a short rune line or a single mark sits nicely in the disc. The scabbard leather takes a stamped or cut line very cleanly as well. See the engraving page for the letter by letter conversion and its limits.

Handling and balance

This is a one hand sword and it wants a relaxed hand. The wheel pommel does most of the work of balancing the long blade, so the point of balance sits a few inches forward of the guard rather than a foot down the blade. That is what makes a knightly sword feel quick compared with its length. The flared ends of the cross guard give the hand a reference point in the dark, which is more useful than it sounds when you are drawing from a scabbard on a belt. Grip it with the fingers rather than the palm, let the pommel rest against the base of the hand, and let the sword rotate rather than clamping it.

This is a display and reenactment piece. We do not describe it as battle ready and we do not suggest full contact sparring with it. If you want a sword for a fight group or for cutting practice, buy something built and rated for that job and hang this one on the wall.

Care

Carbon steel needs three minutes of attention now and then and nothing else. Wipe the blade after handling to get the salt off, then run a cloth with a thin film of mineral oil, gun oil or camellia oil down both faces. Once a month is enough indoors. If a rust freckle turns up, fine steel wool or a green scouring pad with a drop of oil will lift it without touching the polish underneath. Do not leave the sword sheathed for long storage, because vegetable tanned leather holds moisture and its tanning salts work against bare steel. Stand or hang the two separately. Feed the scabbard with a neutral leather cream once or twice a year and keep it out of direct heat, which dries leather out and cracks it. More on rust, patina and oiling is on steel care.

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 made by hand in the Czech Republic. It is not drop shipped from an importer catalogue and it is not stock we have never handled. Ransack Viking brings the pieces in, looks at every one, and keeps them in the Memphis warehouse until they sell. Processing runs one to two weeks, which is the honest figure, and an engraved order sits at the longer end of that because we proof the artwork with you first. Shipping within the United States is free. Returns are open for seven days. 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

Every one of these is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so the sword that arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The boss on the wheel pommel will stand a shade higher or lower. The two risers under the grip leather will sit a few millimetres apart from where they sit here. Leather is a natural material and the brown on the grip and the scabbard shifts between batches, running from a cool chocolate to a warmer walnut. Grind lines, polish direction and the precise curve of the guard ends all vary because a person made them. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a one handed or a hand and a half sword

One handed. The grip is sized for a single hand with the pommel resting against the heel of the palm. A hand and a half sword has a noticeably longer grip that leaves room for a second hand behind the first.

Does the scabbard come with a belt

No belt is included. The scabbard has leather straps at the throat that will take a belt or a suspension rig of your own, and most reenactors run their own belt through them or fit a sword frog.

Is the blade sharpened

It arrives with a finished edge that is not honed to a shaving edge. It is built as a display and reenactment piece rather than a cutting tool, and we do not call it battle ready.

Will it rust

It can, because 1095 is a carbon steel and not stainless. A wipe and a film of oil every few weeks keeps it clean, and most owners come to like the darker patina that builds up over a year or two.

Can I have a name cut into the pommel

Yes. The flat face of the wheel pommel is one of the better spots on this sword for a short rune line or a single mark, and we will send a proof before we cut it.

How is it packed and how long does it take

It ships oiled and wrapped in a carton sized for the blade. Processing is one to two weeks from Memphis plus transit, and shipping in the United States is free.

What is in the box

• One Discthane knightly arming sword with a steel wheel pommel and a dark brown leather grip
• One brown leather scabbard with a steel throat, a steel chape and belt straps
• A protective film of oil on the blade for transit
• Wrapping and a carton cut to length for the sword
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

Explore the range

Look through the arming swords, the longswords, the sword stands and displays and the guides before you decide.