Rootcrown Hand Forged Damascus Arming Sword | 37 Inch Overall | Black Leather Grip and Brass Wire Bands with Yggdrasil Pommel Medallion and Brown Leather Scabbard | Norse Gift | RK-2103

The Rootcrown is a single hand arming sword with a pattern welded Damascus blade and the world tree cut into the face of its pommel. The hilt is deliberately quiet against the busy steel. Black leather over a wooden core, three narrow brass wire bands wound around the grip, one at each end and one across the middle, a crossguard whose arms sweep gently toward the blade, and a broad rounded pommel carrying the engraved Yggdrasil medallion inside a circle.

The arming sword was the everyday sidearm of medieval Europe for roughly four hundred years, worn at the hip with a shield or a buckler while the longer swords stayed with the mounted and the wealthy. Its proportions are the reason it lasted. Long enough to keep a spear point honest, short enough to draw fast in a press. This one is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports it, checks the etch, the grip binding and the hilt fit, and ships it from our Chicago, Illinois warehouse with the brown leather scabbard shown.

If you have seen the phrase battle ready and wondered what it covers, display or battle ready explains it. Yggdrasil is the ash that holds the nine worlds together, and the world tree covers what the sources say. The medieval helmets are the obvious thing to hang beside it.

Specifications

What the world tree on the pommel means

Yggdrasil is the ash that holds the Norse cosmos together. Its three roots reach into three separate wells, one of them Mimir’s, where Odin traded an eye for a drink. A stag crops its leaves, a serpent gnaws its roots, and a squirrel called Ratatoskr runs up and down the trunk carrying insults between the two. The point of the image, in the surviving poems, is not decoration. It is that everything is connected and everything is under strain at once, and that the tree survives anyway.

The version engraved here is the familiar circular form, roots and branches mirroring each other inside a ring. That circle enclosing the tree is a later artistic convention rather than a Viking age carving, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. It reads well on a pommel because a pommel is a disc, and it is the part of a sword a person actually sees when the sword hangs at your side.

Pattern welded steel and brass banding

The blade is forge welded from 1095 and 15N20, folded and drawn to build the layer count, then ground and acid etched. The bright lines are the nickel bearing 15N20, which resists the etch, and the dark ones are the 1095. Nothing about the pattern is a coating. Cut the blade in half and the same swirls would run through the cross section. It is hardened to 58 to 60 HRC, which suits a sword that has to hold a long edge without being brittle.

The brass bands on the grip are wound wire, not glued trim. On a leather grip they do real work. They stop the wrap creeping under a hard cut and they give your hand a positional reference, so you know where you are on the grip without looking. Brass also ages. It will darken toward a warm honey colour over the years, and a wipe with a brass cloth takes it back to bright whenever you want.

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, so a rune line ordered for the pommel takes the place of the Yggdrasil medallion. The flat of the crossguard is the other obvious spot for a date or a short name. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

An arming sword of this size balances close in, roughly two inches ahead of the guard. That is what makes it quick. Point control is immediate, the tip changes line with a movement of the fingers rather than the whole arm, and recovery after a cut is fast. The swept guard is not just a shape. Arms that curve toward the blade catch and hold an incoming edge that slides down your own, rather than letting it run straight onto your hand.

This is a hand forged sword with a real edge, made for display, collecting and controlled cutting on soft targets. It is not sold as a full contact sparring sword and should not be crossed with other steel.

Care

Damascus built from carbon steels will rust and pitting destroys pattern contrast, so wipe the blade down after handling and keep a thin film of mineral or camellia oil on the steel. Store the sword out of its scabbard if it is going to sit for months, since leather traps humidity. Brass needs nothing but an occasional polish if you dislike the patina. Feed the scabbard and grip with leather balm two or three times a year. Our steel care notes cover oiling, rust removal and re etching in detail.

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

The Rootcrown is made by hand in the Czech Republic. It is not an importer catalogue line drop shipped to your door by a company that has never touched it. Ransack Viking buys these outright, brings them into the United States, unpacks and inspects every sword, and keeps stock in our Chicago, Illinois warehouse. Small hand worked batches mean one to two weeks of processing before your order leaves us. Shipping inside the United States is free, and the lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings applies with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

Hand made is not machine made or bulk produced, so the sword you receive will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. No two Damascus blades carry the same pattern, because the swirls record how one smith moved that particular billet. The brass bands sit at slightly different heights, the leather takes dye unevenly, the depth of the pommel engraving varies with the hand that cut it, and the sweep of the guard moves a fraction. The dimensions, the steels, the heat treat and the build are consistent every time. The character is yours alone.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a one handed or two handed sword

It is balanced and weighted as a single hand arming sword, but the grip is long enough to take a second hand for a heavier cut, as in the photographs.

Is the Yggdrasil engraving historically accurate

The tree is genuine Norse mythology. The circular composition used here is a modern artistic treatment rather than a surviving Viking age carving, and we would rather be straight about that.

Does it arrive sharp

Yes, with a cutting edge. Say the word in your order notes and we will blunt it before shipping if you want it purely for display or reenactment.

Will the brass tarnish

It will darken with time and handling, which most owners prefer on a piece like this. A brass polishing cloth brings it back to bright in a minute.

Can I add runes without losing the tree

Yes, put the rune line on the crossguard rather than the pommel. Engraving ordered for the pommel replaces the Yggdrasil medallion.

How long is the wait

One to two weeks of processing, then free shipping inside the United States. Returns are accepted within seven days of delivery.

What is in the box

• Rootcrown arming sword with a 1095 and 15N20 pattern welded Damascus blade
• Black leather grip with three brass wire bands
• Swept steel crossguard and pommel with engraved Yggdrasil medallion
• Brown leather scabbard
• 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

Browse the other arming swords, the Damascus swords and the wider swords range, or read the background in the guides.

Other pieces in this group

Closest to this in the range is the Knotmere arming sword, pattern welded Damascus. If this one is not quite right, there is the Trineholt arming sword, 36 inches overall. Also in this group is the Awehelm arming sword, 35 inches overall.

If you are putting a set together, the Runewhet Viking sword sits alongside it. Nothing here exactly right, build one to your own spec on the custom Viking sword page.