Gildwolf Hand Forged Hunting Hanger Short Sword with Engraved Brass Basket Hilt & Wolf Motif | About 28 Inches Overall | Leather Grip and Tan Scabbard | Display Gift | RK-2197

The Gildwolf is a hunting hanger, the short single handed sword that hung at the hip of European huntsmen, foresters and ship officers from the late sixteenth century right through to the nineteenth. A hanger was never meant to be a duelling blade. It was the practical side blade of a man who spent his day outdoors, short enough to swing in thick cover without snagging, heavy enough in the forward third to finish game or clear a path, and worn on a simple frog rather than a formal belt rig. The name has nothing to do with hanging anything. It comes from the way the scabbard hung loose from a single strap so the blade swung clear of the leg while walking.

This one is built around a polished 1095 carbon steel blade with a narrow central fuller and a broad double edged profile, and the hilt is where the money went. The basket hilt and the ball pommel are polished brass, and the main plate of the basket carries a cut engraving of a running wolf. The grip is wrapped in tan leather over a shaped core. Every one is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports them, inspects the hilt assembly and the scabbard fit at our Chicago, Illinois warehouse, and ships from there. A plain tan leather scabbard is included.

A cage around the hand changes how a sword carries, and how to buy a first sword covers what to weigh up. Wolves in this tradition point at Fenrir, and Fenrir and his siblings is the background. For a Scottish blade with more mass behind it, look at the claymores.

Specifications

What the basket hilt is actually for

Look at the hilt and you will see a cage of brass bars wrapped round the hand, with a solid plate set into the outside of it. The bars stop a blade sliding down onto your knuckles from almost any angle, and the plate gives the same cover where a cut is most likely to land. Inside, a leather lining keeps the brass off the back of the hand, and the upturned rear quillon catches anything that gets past the cage.

The ball pommel at the back is not decoration either. Its weight is what stops a blade this broad from feeling nose heavy. Take the pommel off a hanger and the whole thing turns into a club. That balance is the difference between a hilt designed by someone who used one and a hilt copied from a picture. On this piece the whole hilt is cast and finished in brass, then polished, which is exactly how period hangers were made, because brass does not rust in a damp game bag and it is easy for a village founder to cast.

1095 carbon steel and the brass hilt

The blade is 1095, a simple high carbon steel with roughly one percent carbon and nothing exotic added. It is the steel the whole traditional cutlery world settled on because it is predictable in the forge, it hardens deeply in oil and it takes a mirror polish without fuss. Drawn back to 54 to 58 HRC, the blade keeps enough spring to flex and return rather than take a set. That range is deliberately a little softer than a knife would be run at, because a sword is long and a long blade that is too hard is a brittle one.

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, and it is used on hilts for reasons that are entirely practical. It casts cleanly at a low temperature, it takes an engraved line crisply because it is soft enough to cut but hard enough to hold the cut, and it will not rust. Left alone it will tone down from bright gold to a warm honey colour over a year or two. Some owners polish that back, some prefer the aged look. Both are correct.

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 hanger the engraved brass plate is the natural place for it, and the wolf already there can be replaced by whatever you choose. Full detail is on the engraving page.

Handling and display

Be clear about what this is. It is finished as a display and collector piece. The edges are left unsharpened and the point is rounded, so it is not a cutting sword and it is not built for full contact sparring or any kind of contact drill. What it is very good at is being handled, shown and hung. The hilt fills an adult hand properly, the balance sits a few inches ahead of the guard, and the whole thing has the short, brisk feel that made hangers popular in the first place.

For display, the brass hilt looks best against dark wood or plain plaster where the polish has something to bounce off. Hung horizontally on a pair of hooks it reads as a piece of furniture rather than a curiosity. If you hang it by the scabbard rather than the blade, make sure the strap takes the weight at the throat, because leather stretches over years if it is loaded near the tip.

Care

Carbon steel and a warm room are fine together. Carbon steel and a damp garage are not. Wipe the blade down with an oiled cloth every couple of months, more often if you handle it, because fingerprints are slightly acidic and will etch a polished blade if they are left. Mineral oil, camellia oil or a light machine oil all work. The brass needs nothing at all unless you want it bright, in which case any non abrasive metal polish and a soft cloth will do it. Keep polish off the leather. Feed the grip wrap and the scabbard twice a year with a neutral cream. Store the sword out of the scabbard for long periods so the leather is not holding moisture against the steel. There is more in our knife care guide.

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 hanger is made by hand in the Czech Republic and imported by Ransack Viking. It is not drop shipped out of an importer catalogue. Every piece comes to our Chicago warehouse first, gets unpacked, gets the hilt checked for tightness and the scabbard checked for fit, and only then goes on sale. That is why processing runs one to two weeks. Shipping inside the United States is free, returns run for seven days, and 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 is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what turns up will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Cast brass varies in tone from batch to batch and hand polishing leaves its own soft directional grain. The wolf engraving is cut rather than stamped, so the line weight and the depth shift slightly between pieces. Leather takes dye unevenly by nature, so one grip wrap can be a shade warmer than another. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not, and that is what you are paying for when something is worked by hand.

Frequently asked questions

Is this sword sharp

No. It is supplied with an unsharpened display edge and a rounded point. It is a collector and display piece rather than a cutting sword, and we would not describe it as anything else.

Can I use it for reenactment or sparring

Not for contact work of any kind. Group standards for contact drill are strict and specific, and this piece is not built or certified to them. It is fine for static display, photography and costume where nothing is struck.

Will the brass tarnish

Yes, slowly, and that is normal. Bright brass tones down to a warm honey colour over a year or two indoors. A soft cloth and a non abrasive metal polish will bring it back whenever you want it bright.

Is the scabbard included

Yes. A plain tan leather scabbard comes with every one. It is friction fit at the throat, so it holds the blade without a retaining strap.

Can the wolf be replaced with my own design

It can. Choose the engraving option and tell us what you want on the brass plate. Your chosen design replaces the wolf rather than sitting next to it.

How long does delivery take

Processing takes one to two weeks because each sword is checked at the Chicago warehouse before it ships, then standard United States shipping on top. Engraved pieces take a few days longer.

What is in the box

• Gildwolf hunting hanger short sword
• Tan leather scabbard
• Care and warranty card
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Chicago, Illinois warehouse

Explore the range

See more in short swords, swords, Norse arms and engraved and personalised pieces, or read the guides.

Worth a look beside this

If this one is not quite right, there is the Emberguard shell hilt sword, 37 inches overall. Also in this group is the Vegcage shell hilt sword, pattern welded Damascus. Sitting beside it in the catalogue is the Nightcage shell hilt sword, 37 inches overall.

From the same corner of the shop, there is the Ebonguard rapier. Or start from a blank sheet on the custom Viking sword page.

Anyone moving from display pieces to sparring can start with the Ostrevak steel dussack, and our HEMA sabre range fills in the rest.