Troyblade Hand Forged Stainless Steel Greek Replica Sword | 40 Inch Overall with 33 Inch Blade | Collector Cosplay and Display Gift | RK-683

The Troyblade takes the leaf shaped profile of the ancient Greek sword and scales it up into a forty inch display piece, with a thirty three inch stainless blade and a seven inch grip. It is a collector replica made for display, collection and costume, and the shape of the blade is the whole reason to own it. Broad through the middle, narrowing at the shoulder and again to the point, it looks like nothing else on a wall of straight swords. If this would be your first, how to buy a first sword is worth ten minutes.

That shape is one of the oldest deliberate blade designs in Europe, and it came out of casting rather than forging. Bronze pours into a mould, so a Bronze Age smith could put metal exactly where it was wanted, and what they wanted was mass out towards the striking area with enough of a point left to thrust. The result was the leaf blade, and the so called Naue II type carrying that profile spread across the Mediterranean and into central Europe around 1200 BC and stayed in use for centuries. The Greek xiphos inherited it. Genuine xiphos blades were short, usually somewhere between twenty and twenty five inches, so a blade of thirty three inches is a heroic scaling of the form rather than a museum reproduction, and we would rather say that than pretend otherwise.

This piece is finished, fitted and inspected in the Czech Republic, and it ships as a bare sword in protective packaging. There is no scabbard and no stand included.

Specifications

Why the leaf shape, and what it does

A leaf shaped blade is an argument about where to put the metal. Widen the blade a third of the way down from the point and you move mass forward, which on a cutting blade means more momentum arrives at the target for the same swing. Then narrow it again towards the tip and you keep a usable thrusting point instead of ending in a blunt paddle. Narrowing it once more at the shoulder near the hand takes weight out of the part of the blade that contributes least, which pulls the balance back so the sword is still controllable.

Every one of those decisions is visible in the outline, which is why the shape survived the transition from bronze to iron even though iron could easily have been forged straight. Smiths kept making leaf blades because they cut well. On a display piece the effect is visual rather than mechanical: the widest part of the blade catches the light and the profile reads instantly as ancient rather than medieval, which is exactly what you want if this is going on a wall beside a Corinthian helmet or a hoplite shield.

Why stainless on this one, and the honest downside

The forge normally runs on 1095 high carbon and forge welded Damascus, and on a knife that gets used we would argue for those every time. A display sword reverses the calculation. It sits in a fixed position for years absorbing the humidity of the room, the dust in the air and the fingerprints of everyone who lifts it off the bracket, and it almost never gets oiled on any kind of schedule. Carbon steel answers that neglect with permanent staining.

Stainless does not. It stays bright with a dry cloth, ignores damp hands and comes through a humid summer unchanged. What it costs you is hardness and edge behaviour, because stainless will not harden to the level a properly heat treated carbon blade reaches and will not take or hold as fine an edge, and there is no forge welded pattern in it because the alloy gives an etch nothing to bite differently. On a piece meant to be seen those are not real losses. The full argument is in Damascus versus stainless.

The grip and handling it

Seven inches of grip is enough for a full hand with room behind it, and the fittings behind the hand act as a counterweight, which is what stops a forty inch sword pulling its own point towards the floor. For photography, costume and display that is the practical difference between a sword you can hold up and one you can only lean against a wall.

Handle it dry or with cotton gloves. Fingerprints will not rust stainless, but on a broad polished leaf blade they show badly and they pull dust onto the surface. A microfibre cloth is all it takes. Mount it where it cannot be knocked down, and keep it out of reach of children, because a sword of this length and mass is hazardous regardless of how the edge is finished.

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. The widest section of a leaf blade gives you more usable flat than almost anything else in the range, so longer inscriptions sit comfortably here. See the engraving page for lettering and layout.

Care and sharpening

There is very little to do. Wipe the flats with a dry microfibre cloth after handling, dust it when you dust the room, and keep the sword away from bathrooms, basements and unheated garages where cold steel gathers overnight condensation. Stainless needs no oil film to sit safely in storage, which is exactly why it is the right choice on a display piece. General principles for keeping steel are set out in steel care.

Sharpening is not something we recommend here. This is a display and cosplay replica finished with a blunt display edge, and no amount of stone work would make it a sword that is safe to cut with, because the build is not a cutting build. It would only put a keen edge on an ornament in a room where people pick it up. If you want a blade you can genuinely sharpen and use, the hand forged 1095 and Damascus knives in the range are made for it, and the method 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 North Babylon, New York 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 Troyblade is made and finished by hand rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. The polish across the wide part of the blade, the tone of the fittings, the exact curve where the leaf narrows and the seating of the grip all vary slightly, because every 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 a historically accurate Greek sword?

It is inspired by the shape rather than measured from an original. Real Greek xiphos blades were short, generally twenty to twenty five inches, and were cast or forged with a much stouter profile. This is a heroic scale display replica that borrows the leaf outline, not a museum reproduction.

Can I cut with it?

No. It is a display and cosplay piece with a blunt display edge and it is not built for impact. Do not test cut, spar or strike anything solid with it.

Why is the blade widest in the middle?

Because that is what a leaf shaped blade is. Widening the blade forward of the hand puts mass where a cut lands, and narrowing it again keeps a usable point and pulls the balance back towards the grip. It is one of the oldest deliberate blade profiles in Europe.

Does it come with a sheath or a stand?

Neither. It ships as a bare sword in protective packaging. Brackets and stands rated for a forty inch sword are widely available and are the usual way a piece this size gets displayed.

Can I have a name engraved on it?

Yes. The broad flat of a leaf blade takes lettering better than most shapes. Use the rune converter for an Elder Futhark line, or choose your own design in the engraving option and tell us where you want it.

How long does it take to arrive?

Processing runs one to two weeks because pieces are finished and personalised in the shop. Shipping within the United States is free, and returns are accepted within seven days of delivery.

What is in the box

• One Troyblade full size Greek style replica sword
• Protective packaging
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See what else sits alongside it in Gladius, Short Swords, Fantasy and Movie Swords and Swords. The material detail and the display care advice are collected in the guides.

If this one is not it

Also in this group is the Lionheart sword, 40 inches overall. Sitting beside it in the catalogue is the Powerblade sword, 40 inches overall. Another in the same line is the Runecage sword, 42 inches overall.

For a different piece from the same family, look at the Knotbriar arming sword. Pick the steel, the length and the fittings yourself on the custom Viking sword page.