Valkbraid Hand Forged Damascus Viking Sword with Valknut Lobed Pommel | Vegvisir Etched Blade | Brown Leather Grip and Steel Mounted Scabbard | Norse Collector Gift | RK-2054

The Valkbraid is a Viking sword built around two engraved symbols. On the crown of the five lobed steel pommel sits a Valknut, three interlocked triangles cut and darkened so the weave reads clearly against the polish, and on the blade just below the guard is an eight spoked Vegvisir stave. Between them the sword is straightforward and correct: a broad double edged pattern welded blade with a shallow fuller running most of its length, a straight steel lower guard, a brown leather grip over a full tang, and a brown leather scabbard mounted with a polished steel throat and a rounded steel chape.

Worth knowing before you buy: the two symbols are not from the same century. The Valknut is genuinely early, cut into the Stora Hammars picture stones on Gotland and carved on the Oseberg ship burial, and it appears in contexts tied to Odin and to the dead. The Vegvisir is much later, first recorded in an Icelandic grimoire of the 1860s, and calling it a Viking rune compass is a modern habit rather than a historical fact. It is a beautiful stave and we are happy to put it on steel, but we would rather tell you what it is. This sword is made by hand in the Czech Republic, imported and checked by Ransack Viking, and shipped from our Chicago, Illinois warehouse with the scabbard shown.

Screen Norse kit gets the sword wrong more often than it gets it right, and the screen arms rated for accuracy rates the ones you have seen. The valknut is the three interlocked triangles, and what we actually know about the valknut is a shorter list than the internet suggests. A board from the round shields is what usually stands beside one.

Specifications

What the Valknut actually is

The Valknut is three triangles woven into one figure so that no triangle is complete without the other two. The name is modern, coined from Norwegian words for slain and knot, and nobody knows what the Norse called it. What we do know is where it turns up: on Gotlandic picture stones showing scenes of death and horsemen, on the Oseberg ship burial, on the Nene River ring, and repeatedly in company with Odin, ravens and horses. The reasonable reading is that it belonged to Odin in his role as the receiver of the slain, which is why it carries the weight it does today.

Putting it on the pommel rather than the blade is deliberate. The pommel is the part of a sword an owner sees every time it is picked up and the part that faces out when the sword hangs, so it is where a maker in any century put the mark that mattered. On this hilt the pommel is a five lobed casting, one tall central lobe with two lower ones on each side, seated on a curved upper guard with the tang passed through and peened over.

Pattern welded steel, the fuller and the stave

The blade is forge welded from alternating layers of 1095 high carbon steel and 15N20. The nickel bearing layers survive the etch bright while the high carbon layers darken, so the folded structure appears as a long running grain. Hardened and tempered the steel sits at roughly 58 to 60 HRC. Because every billet is drawn out by hand there is no repeating unit in the pattern, and the grain on your blade will not match the photographs.

The fuller is the shallow groove running down the centre of the blade, and it is not a blood groove whatever the internet says. It is a stiffening rib turned inside out. Removing steel from the middle of the flat, where it contributes least to resisting a bend, drops weight without dropping much stiffness, in the same way an I beam is stiffer per pound than a solid bar. Viking blades are fullered almost without exception, and it is one of the clearest ways to tell a serious reproduction from a flat ground wall hanger. The Vegvisir stave sits just below the guard, etched into the flat where a maker’s mark would go.

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 means a rune line takes the place of the Vegvisir stave on the blade, and the engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives. The Valknut on the pommel is cut before assembly and stays as it is. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Single hand Viking swords are short in the grip on purpose. The hand is meant to be locked between the lower guard and the pommel rather than sliding along the handle, and the heavy lobed pommel pulls the balance back from a broad forward heavy blade. The result is a sword that turns quickly around the wrist and hits harder than its length suggests.

Treat this as a collector and display piece and as a reenactment prop for drill and photography. It is not built for full contact sparring and should not be brought edge to edge against another blade. If you display it in the scabbard, hang it so the scabbard carries the weight and the leather is not left in a permanent bend.

Care

Etched Damascus is more sensitive to damp than a plain polished blade because the etch leaves the surface microscopically open. Wipe the blade down after handling, since salt from skin is the usual cause of the first rust spot, then lay on a thin film of mineral oil or a light gun oil. Take particular care in the fuller, where oil runs out and moisture collects. If a spot does appear, lift it with oil on a soft cloth rather than abrasive paper, which cuts through the etch and leaves a bright patch. Our steel care guide covers it fully.

The scabbard is brown leather over a wooden core with a leather suspension strap. Feed the leather once or twice a year with a neutral conditioner, keep it out of direct heat and sunlight, and do not store the blade in it for months at a time in a humid room. The polished steel throat, chape and pommel come back with a metal polish on a cotton cloth.

Damascus wants oil more than plain steel does, because the etch that shows the pattern also opens the surface, and caring for a Damascus pattern covers what to use.

Made in the Czech Republic

Blade, hilt and scabbard are all made by hand in the Czech Republic. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. Ransack Viking buys the pieces, inspects them in Chicago and ships them from our own warehouse with free shipping inside the United States. Processing takes one to two weeks because every sword is checked and any engraving is cut before it leaves. Returns are accepted within 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

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. Every Damascus blade shows a different grain because the billet is folded and drawn by hand. The depth of the Valknut cutting, the darkness of the etch, the exact profile of the five pommel lobes and the colour and grain of the brown leather all move a little from one piece to the next. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Valknut really a Viking symbol?

Yes. It is one of the few Norse symbols with genuine archaeological backing, appearing on Gotlandic picture stones and on the Oseberg burial. The Vegvisir on the blade is the later one, first recorded in an Icelandic manuscript in the 1860s.

Is the blade sharp out of the box?

It arrives with a working edge rather than a razor edge, which is normal for a display and reenactment sword and safer in shipping. A fine stone will take it further if you want.

Can I get the Valknut changed to another symbol?

Not on the pommel, since that is cut before the hilt is assembled. Any symbol or rune line you order goes on the blade instead, replacing the Vegvisir stave.

What is the groove down the blade for?

It is a fuller. It removes weight from the centre of the blade where the steel does the least work, which keeps the sword light without making it floppy. It has nothing to do with blood.

Does the scabbard come ready to wear?

It comes with a leather suspension strap and steel fittings but no belt. Most owners hang it from a baldric or a scabbard belt of their own, or mount it on a wall bracket.

How long does shipping take?

Processing is one to two weeks while the sword is checked and any engraving is cut. Shipping inside the United States is free and ships from our Chicago warehouse.

What is in the box

• One Valkbraid pattern welded Damascus Viking sword with an engraved Valknut pommel
• Matching brown leather scabbard with polished steel throat and chape
• Elder Futhark rune engraving or your own Viking design where ordered
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Chicago, Illinois warehouse

Explore the range

See more in Viking swords, Damascus swords and swords, or read the guides.

If this one is not it

In the same category sits the Bindoath Viking sword, 36 inches overall. A near match for this one is the Ravenmark Viking sword, 36 inches overall. Closest to this in the range is the Stavelight Viking sword, 35 inches overall.

Fitting out further, the Valkcrest longsword belongs with it. Pick the steel, the length and the fittings yourself on the custom Viking sword page.