Arrowward Handcrafted Damascus Steel Pendant Pair with Leather Cord | Viking Jewellery Gift for Men and Women | RK-645

The Arrowward is a pair of Damascus steel pendants in the shape of an arrowhead, each set with three domed studs down the centre and forged from the same 1095 and 15N20 billet that goes into our blades and then worked down to jewellery scale. Each measures 35 mm wide by 59 mm tall by 5 mm thick and weighs about 26 grams. One hangs on a fitted ring from the leather cord, and the other has a drilled hole for a chain or cord of your own. It is jewellery rather than a cutting tool, and it is neither sold nor sharpened as a blade. What the marks actually meant, and which are genuinely Norse, is covered in Viking symbols and what they mean.

The arrowhead shape carries more Norse weight than most people realise, and it is because of a rune. Tiwaz, the rune of the god Tyr, is drawn as an upright shaft with an arrowhead on top, and it is the rune specifically associated with victory. Sigrdrifumal, one of the heroic poems in the Poetic Edda, is essentially a lesson in runic magic delivered by a valkyrie, and it instructs the listener to know victory runes, to carve them on the hilt and the guard of a sword, and to name Tyr twice. Archaeology backs it up. Tiwaz runes appear on blades and on cremation urns across the Germanic world, sometimes repeated in rows. An upward pointing arrow is one of the oldest pieces of symbolic shorthand in northern Europe, and this is a wearable version of it.

Every Arrowward is forge welded, cut, ground, etched and finished in a Czech Republic workshop. Shipping inside the United States is free, processing takes one to two weeks, and returns are accepted within seven days.

Specifications

Damascus at pendant scale, and why the size changes things

A blade gives the pattern room to breathe. A knife with a six inch grind shows long sweeping bands, and the eye reads the whole shape at once. A pendant does not have that luxury. At 35 by 59 millimetres you are looking at a small window into the billet, so the layer count and the tightness of the pattern matter far more than they do on a blade.

That has a real consequence in the workshop. The billet used for jewellery is drawn out further and folded more, so the layers sit closer together and the pattern stays legible at close range. Then the etch has to be judged more carefully than on a blade, because a deep aggressive etch that looks dramatic on a knife turns into a muddy grey texture when you shrink it to thumb size. The contrast you can see on this piece is a deliberately controlled etch rather than the deepest one possible.

Five millimetres of thickness is also unusual for a pendant. Most steel jewellery is between one and two millimetres because it is stamped or laser cut from sheet. This is forged stock, and the extra thickness is what gives it its 26 gram weight and the solid feel when you pick it up. It also means the pattern is visible on the edges of the piece as well as the faces, which is the clearest possible proof that the layering is structural and not printed on.

Why Damascus and not stainless

Real pattern welded Damascus is made by stacking alternating sheets of two steels, bringing them to welding heat and hammering them into one solid bar, then folding and drawing that bar out repeatedly. Here the two steels are 1095, a plain high carbon steel, and 15N20, which carries around two percent nickel. When the finished piece is etched in acid, the 1095 darkens and the nickel bearing 15N20 resists, and the difference between them is the pattern. It runs through the full five millimetres of thickness.

Stainless steel jewellery is cheaper, more common and completely maintenance free, and it also cannot do this. You cannot forge weld a visible pattern into 316L in any practical way, which is why almost every patterned stainless pendant on the market is laser etched or printed. That surface layer wears off. This does not.

The cost of choosing Damascus is that it is carbon steel and it will react to moisture, including the moisture on your own skin. That is a real maintenance requirement, not a footnote, and it is covered below. The full comparison is in Damascus versus stainless. One practical note as well. Because 15N20 contains nickel, anyone with a strong nickel sensitivity should be aware of that before wearing any pattern welded steel against the skin.

Material, construction and wearing it

The pendant is cut from forged stock rather than stamped from sheet, and the faces are ground flat and true before the piece is etched and finished. The ring is fitted through the top so the arrowhead hangs point down and sits flat against the chest rather than twisting on the chain.

This listing covers both pendants, the fitted ring and the leather cord shown in the photographs. Either pendant will also take a standard chain, and the choice there is worth a moment of thought. At 26 grams this is a substantial pendant, so a very fine chain will look and feel wrong under it and is more likely to fail. A heavier link chain, a snake chain of reasonable gauge, or a plain leather thong all suit it better. If you are unsure, message us before ordering and we will tell you what our customers usually pair it with.

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 or the handle. 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 whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On a pendant this small, keep the text short. Initials, a two or three letter rune group or a single date read cleanly on the face. A long phrase will not. Most people put the engraving on the back and leave the Damascus pattern uninterrupted on the front. See the engraving page for what fits.

Care and upkeep

This is the section that matters most on a piece of carbon steel jewellery, because a pendant is worn against skin and skin is salty. Sweat will mark bare Damascus faster than rain will.

Wipe it with a dry cloth at the end of the day, every day it is worn. Take it off before you shower, swim or exercise hard. Do not wear it in a pool or in the sea. Once every few weeks, put a very thin film of a light oil, a paste wax or a proprietary blade wax on it with a cloth and buff it off. That film is what stands between the etched surface and the moisture in the air. The general routine is in steel care.

If a rust spot does appear it is not a disaster. A little oil and a fine abrasive lift it, though hard rubbing will lighten the etch contrast in that spot. There is no cutting edge on this pendant and nothing on it to sharpen, but if you own blades from the range the whetstone method for those is in sharpening with a whetstone.

Made in the Czech Republic

The work behind this piece happens in a Czech Republic workshop that has kept to the old methods. Steel is forged and heat treated by hand, the grind is taken down by eye rather than by machine, and the handle, fittings and sheath are cut and finished one at a time. Because of that, every piece carries small marks of the hand that made it.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import direct, check each piece when it reaches us, and ship from our Chicago, Illinois warehouse. Engraving is added here in the United States after arrival, so the piece you receive is finished to your order.

A note on handmade variation

The Arrowward is hand forged. It is not machine made and it is not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The pattern depends entirely on where in the billet this particular piece was cut from and how that billet moved under the hammer, and the etch takes slightly differently every time. Pattern, contrast, tone and the exact finish vary from one pendant to the next because each is worked by hand. The dimensions, the steel, the hardness and the build are the same every time. The character is not, and on a Damascus pendant that variation is the entire point.

Frequently asked questions

Is the pendant sharp?

No. It is jewellery in the shape of an arrowhead, not a blade, and it is not sold or finished as a cutting tool.

Does it come with a cord?

Yes, a leather cord comes with both pendants and the fitted ring. Either pendant also takes a standard chain, and at 26 grams it suits a reasonably substantial one rather than a very fine chain.

Will it rust against my skin?

It can if you neglect it, because this is carbon steel rather than stainless. Wipe it down at the end of each day, take it off for showers and swimming, and wax or oil it every few weeks. Treated that way it stays clean indefinitely.

Is the pattern real or printed on?

Real. The layers are forge welded through the full five millimetres of thickness, which is why you can see the pattern on the edges of the pendant as well as on the faces.

Can I have runes cut into it?

Yes, and the back is the usual choice so the pattern stays clean on the front. Keep it short. Initials, a date or a two or three character rune group work at this size.

Is it suitable for someone with a nickel allergy?

15N20 contains roughly two percent nickel, which is what creates the bright bands in the pattern. If you have a known nickel sensitivity, be aware of that before wearing it directly against the skin.

What is in the box

• Two Arrowward Damascus steel arrowhead pendants, one with a fitted ring
• Leather cord
• Protective packaging
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

Related collections: Damascus Steel Jewelry, Viking Knives, Viking Seax and Viking Hammers. The steel and the runes are explained in the guides.

If this one is not it

Another in the same line is the Thricebound Norse pendant. Next along the rack is the Thunderclasp Mjolnir pendant. For a straight comparison, see the Thunderknot Mjolnir pendant.

The Meadhorn Viking beer mug covers the other half of the same kit. Pick the steel, the length and the fittings yourself on the design your own page.