Foehammer Hand Forged Stainless Steel Fantasy Replica Sword | 40 Inch Overall with 33 Inch Blade | Collector Cosplay and Display Gift | RK-679

What arrives in the box is a forty inch sword with a thirty three inch stainless blade and a seven inch grip, finished to be looked at. The Foehammer is our Glamdring sword replica, a full size elven longsword built for display, collection and costume work. Foe hammer is the name the orcs gave Glamdring in the writing of Tolkien, and it is the name we put on the piece. It has the presence a wall piece needs, and it is honest about what it is: a collector replica rather than a functional cutting sword. Where Tolkien got the shapes from is covered in the real blades behind them.

The longsword proportions this piece borrows are not invented. Europe produced a very large body of technical literature on the sword between roughly 1300 and 1600, the fighting manuals now known as Fechtbücher, and they are far more detailed than most people expect. They cover grappling, half swording where the off hand grips the blade itself, and striking with the pommel and cross. What they almost never describe is the heroic overhead swing. Real longsword technique is close, economical and quick, which is only possible because the sword is light and balanced near the hand rather than heavy and nose weighted.

The Foehammer is finished, fitted and inspected in the Czech Republic, and it ships as a bare sword in protective packaging with no scabbard and no stand.

Specifications

What a Glamdring sword replica is modelled on

Glamdring belongs to a small group of named swords that readers picture clearly without ever being given a full description. In the writing of Tolkien it is an elven blade of Gondolin, recovered from a troll hoard and carried by Gandalf. The version most people now hold in their heads comes from the Lord of the Rings films: a straight double edged longsword with a wide fuller, a guard that flares away from the blade rather than crossing it squarely, and a long grip finished with a heavy pommel.

This is our own interpretation of that outline in stainless with cast fittings, finished by hand in the Czech Republic. It is not a licensed reproduction and it is not taken from studio measurements, so read it as a well made piece in a recognisable shape rather than an exact copy. For most buyers that is the point: a glamdring sword replica at full size, with the proportions right at the distance a wall piece is actually looked at.

Weight, balance and why we do not put a keen edge on this one

Two numbers tell you almost everything about how a sword handles, and neither of them is length. The first is mass. The second is where that mass sits, usually described as the balance point measured forward from the guard. Move the balance point out towards the tip and the sword hits harder but turns slowly and tires the wrist. Bring it back towards the hand and the sword becomes quick and controllable. On a display piece, bringing it back is what lets you hold a pose for a photograph without shaking.

The edge is the other half of the honesty here. This is a display and cosplay replica, and it is finished with a blunt display edge rather than taken to a keen cutting bevel. That is deliberate. A sharpened edge on a piece that is going to be handled at conventions, passed between people and hung within reach of a room is a hazard with no upside, and no edge would turn this into a sword you could safely cut with anyway, because a cutting sword is a different build from tang to pommel. Do not use it for test cutting, for contact with another blade, or for striking anything solid. Use it for what it is made for and it will last decades.

Why stainless here, and where stainless falls short

Most of the forge runs on 1095 high carbon and forge welded Damascus, and for a working blade we would argue for those every time. For a piece that lives on a wall the calculation inverts. A display sword sits in one place for years absorbing whatever the room does, and carbon steel responds to that by spotting and staining unless somebody oils it on a schedule. Very few people keep that schedule.

Stainless removes the problem. It stays bright with nothing more than a dry cloth, it shrugs off humid summers and damp fingerprints, and it does not punish neglect. The honest cost is that stainless does not harden to the same level as a properly heat treated carbon blade, will not take or hold the same fine edge, and shows no forge welded pattern because there is nothing in the alloy for an etch to bite differently. On a display piece none of that matters. On a knife you actually cut with, all of it does, and we set the comparison out in Damascus versus stainless.

The grip and handling it safely

Seven inches of grip is enough for a full hand with room behind it, or for a hand and a half hold with the heel of the off hand on the pommel, which is the position most people fall into naturally with a sword this length. The fittings sit behind the hand and act as a counterweight, which is why forty inches of sword does not feel like forty inches of scaffolding.

Handle it dry or with cotton gloves. Fingerprints will not rust stainless but they mark a polished surface and pull dust onto it. A wipe with a microfibre cloth after anyone picks it up keeps it looking as it did in the photographs. Store or hang it somewhere it cannot be knocked, and keep it out of reach of children, because length and weight alone make it dangerous regardless of whether the edge is sharp.

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. A thirty three inch blade gives you an unusual amount of flat to work with, so long inscriptions that would not fit on a knife will sit comfortably here. See the engraving page for lettering and layout.

Care and sharpening

Care amounts to dusting and the occasional wipe. Use a dry microfibre cloth on the blade after handling, and keep the sword out of bathrooms, basements and unheated garages where condensation forms on cold steel overnight. Stainless does not need an oil film to survive long storage, which is the entire reason it is used on display pieces. The general principles of storing steel are in steel care.

On sharpening, we do not recommend it. This piece is finished with a display edge and it is not built to be used for cutting, so putting it on a stone would not make it a functional sword and would only make a display object more dangerous to have in a room. If you want a blade you can genuinely sharpen and use, the hand forged 1095 and Damascus knives in the range are the ones to look at, and the method for those is in sharpening with a whetstone.

Made in the Czech Republic

This piece is made by hand in the Czech Republic, in a workshop that still works the old way. The steel is forged, ground, heat treated and finished by smiths who learned the trade from the people before them, and the wood, horn and leather are cut and fitted by hand rather than pressed out on a line. That is also why no two pieces come out exactly the same.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import these pieces ourselves, check every one when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, so your runes or your own design go on before it leaves for you.

A note on handmade variation

The Foehammer is made and finished by hand rather than machine made or bulk produced, so the sword that arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. The depth of the polish, the tone of the fittings, the exact seat of the grip and the fine line of the taper vary a little from one to the next, because each one is worked individually. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this Glamdring sword replica an official or licensed product?

No. It is an independently made collector replica, hand made and finished for us in the Czech Republic, with no connection to, endorsement by or affiliation with any studio, publisher or rights holder. It is sold as a hand finished display sword and nothing more.

Does it arrive sharp?

No, and deliberately so. It is finished with a blunt display edge because it is a display and cosplay piece that will be handled and photographed. It is not intended for cutting and should not be used for it.

Can I take it to a convention?

Many people buy pieces like this for exactly that, but every event sets its own prop policy and some do not permit metal props of any kind. Check the rules for your specific event before you travel, and transport it in a case rather than carried in the open.

Is a scabbard or wall mount included?

No. It ships as a bare sword in protective packaging. Wall brackets and table stands for a forty inch sword are easy to find separately and are the usual way people display a piece this size.

What is the difference between this and one of your Damascus swords?

Purpose and steel. A hand forged Damascus sword is high carbon, hardened to 58 to 60 HRC, carries a forge welded pattern through the blade and needs oiling. This is polished stainless, built and finished for display and costume, and needs almost no maintenance.

Will mine look identical to the photograph?

The proportions and the build will match. The polish, the tone of the fittings and the fine details of the finish are done by hand and shift slightly between pieces, which is the difference between something made and something moulded.

What is in the box

• One Foehammer full size fantasy replica sword
• Protective packaging
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

More from the forge: Fantasy and Movie Swords, Longswords, Bastard Swords and Swords. Background reading on steels, fittings and display care lives in the guides.