Ripplehook Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Flamberge Sword | 35 Inch Overall Length | Blackened Hooked Guard with Knotwork Etched Wave Blade | Fantasy Gift | RK-2155

The Ripplehook is a flame bladed sword with an unusually busy hilt. The blade runs in even waves from the ricasso to a leaf shaped point, polished bright and carrying a small panel of woven knotwork etched into the flat just above the guard. Below that the sword gets interesting. The crossguard is blackened steel with arms that curve in opposite directions, and hanging from each arm is a second curved hook that sweeps back down towards the blade. The grip is black leather over a shaped core, banded with brass near the top, and the pommel is a faceted cone that tapers away from the hand.

The hooks are the reason the sword looks the way it does, and they belong to a real family of hilts. Once fencers began to loop a finger over the guard for better point control, the plain cross became a liability, and smiths answered with rings, side bars and hooks that protected the finger and gave the blade somewhere to be caught. This sword is hand made in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports it, checks the wave alignment, the hilt assembly and the scabbard fit when it lands, and ships it from the Memphis warehouse. It comes with the fitted brown leather scabbard shown in the photographs.

A wave cut edge is a display feature before it is anything else, and display or battle ready explains the difference. Interlace of this kind was the standard decorative language of the period, and the symbols guide covers the patterns that keep coming back. Thrusting blades with the same kind of hilt sit in the rapiers.

Specifications

Why a guard grows hooks

For most of the medieval period a sword guard was a straight bar and nothing more, and that was enough because the sword was used with a fist grip and usually alongside a shield. Two things changed it. Shields fell out of use in civilian carry, and fencers discovered that hooking the index finger over the guard onto the ricasso gave far finer control of the point. That finger was now exposed to any blade sliding down the opposing edge, so something had to cover it.

The answer arrived in stages across the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. First a simple ring on one side of the guard, then rings on both, then side bars, then the full swept hilt and eventually the cup. Along the way smiths tried hooks and forward curving arms, and the point of a hook is that it does two jobs at once. It shields the finger, and it presents a curve that an opposing blade running down your edge can be caught and turned in rather than simply sliding past. On the Ripplehook the hooks are decorative in intent rather than functional in practice, since this is a display sword, but the shape they copy was solving a genuine problem.

The steel, the blackening and the grip

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel at 54 to 58 HRC, polished bright so the waves catch light along the length. Forging and grinding a wave blade takes several times as long as a straight one, because every crest on one edge has to be answered by a matching crest on the other or the blade runs untrue and the point wanders off centre.

The guard, the hooks and the pommel are blackened steel. Blackening is a surface conversion rather than a paint or a plating, so it sits in the metal and cannot flake, but it will wear bright at high points that get handled over the years, which most owners consider an improvement. The contrast between a black hilt and a mirror blade is the whole design idea here. The grip is black leather over a shaped core with a brass band near the pommel, and the faceted cone at the end tapers away from your hand rather than flaring, which is a lighter counterweight than a disc or a wheel and keeps the sword feeling quick.

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 the Ripplehook the knotwork panel above the ricasso is the natural position and a rune line takes its place. The scabbard leather is the other good surface, and a name stamped there is easier to read than one lost against a mirror blade. See the engraving page for what fits.

Handling and balance

The tapering cone pommel is deliberately light, so this sword balances further forward than the disc pommelled swords in the range and swings with more presence and less flicker. Hold it with the pommel against the heel of your hand. Do not put a finger over the guard the way the historical hilt invites, because the hooks on this one are set close to the blade and there is not the clearance a real fencing hilt would give you.

Handle the wave blade with respect for its crests, which stand proud of the general line and are the first thing to touch anything you set the sword against. This is a display and collection piece. It is not built or tested for full contact against another sword, a shield or a target, and the hooks in particular are decorative shapes rather than tested structure.

Care

Wipe the blade with a lightly oiled cloth after handling and every few weeks on display, working along the crests of the waves where fingers land. A mirror polish records fingerprint etching in days. Store the sword out of the scabbard for the long term because leather holds moisture against steel. Fine steel wool and oil lift rust spots and a metal polish restores the shine afterwards. Do not use abrasive polish anywhere on the blackened guard, hooks or pommel, because it will strip the finish back to bright steel. Feed the grip and the scabbard with leather balm two or three times a year. Our steel care guide has the detail.

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

The Ripplehook is made by hand in the Czech Republic and imported by Ransack Viking. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. Each sword is unpacked in Memphis, checked for wave alignment, hook alignment, blade straightness, hilt tightness and scabbard fit, then repacked and shipped free within the United States. Processing is one to two weeks because a hilt with this many separate parts takes proper checking. Returns stay open for seven days, and there is a lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

These are 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. Wave blades vary by their nature because each crest is ground by eye, so the depth and rhythm of the waves will differ slightly. The two hooks are forged and set individually, so their sweep can sit at a marginally different angle from the pair shown. The blackening varies in depth, the etched knotwork panel is cut one at a time, and the scabbard leather will be a shade lighter or darker. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Are the hooks strong or just decorative

They are forged steel and solidly set, but they are shaped for the look rather than tested as fencing furniture. Do not hang the sword by them or use them to catch anything.

Is the sword sharp

Treat it as a display and collection sword. The edges carry a ground bevel and the point is real, so handle it with the care any full size blade deserves, and do not cut with it or use it against a target.

Will the black finish rub off

It will wear bright at the high points over years of handling, which is normal and generally looks good. It cannot flake, because blackening is a conversion of the surface rather than a coating on top of it.

Can I put a finger over the guard

No. The hooks sit close to the blade on this hilt and there is not the clearance a working fencing guard would give. Keep your whole hand on the grip.

Does it come with a wall mount

No, the scabbard is included but a mount is not. A two point horizontal mount suits this sword well because it lets the wave profile read across the wall.

How long does shipping take

One to two weeks of processing while the sword is checked and any engraving is cut, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• Ripplehook flamberge sword with blackened hooked guard
• Fitted brown leather scabbard
• Care card for polished high carbon steel, blackened fittings and leather
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

Explore the range

Browse the fantasy and movie swords, the full swords range, the arming swords and everything under engraved and personalised, or read the guides.