Anglo-Saxon Scramasax (Royal Ontario Museum)

"The Shieldmaiden" Seax: Replica Swedish Viking Fighting Knife

"The Shieldmaiden" is a handmade replica of the large Swedish-style of fighting knife used by the Rus Vikings, and is similar to the one found in the grave of the female warrior found in Birka.

In keeping with the technology of the Viking Age, I forged this blade in a charcoal forge with a hammer and anvil.  The handle is ash wood that was wild-grown in the woods of Michigan, and carved by hand with a draw-knife.

The leather sheath comes with copper hardware and leather suspension straps that allows you to wear the knife horizontally, as well as don and doff the sheath without removing your belt.

Belt not include.

Blade length: 11.5"

Overall length: 16"

Handle length: 4.5"

Blade width: 3/16" 

Knife weight: 11oz

Knife and sheath weight: 15oz 

"Hravn" Hunter, Viking Butcher Knife

You can buy this knife here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/664124932/viking-butcher-knife-hravn-hunter-7?ref=shop_home_active_1

"Hravn" is the Old Norse for "raven", and I dubbed this knife with that name because of the black finish left on it from the heat treatment process of quenching the blade in deer tallow.  This blade is also perfectly suited to butchering tasks, food processing, and kitchen chores because of it's long, thin, blade.  The knife would also be useful for filleting fish, making the "Hravn" and all-around outdoorsman's knife, well suited for any modern Viking.

The blade is hand forged from a car coil spring, and has been quenched and tempered for remarkable strength and durability.  The handle is hand-hewn from white ash, and carved to its final shape with a draw-knife in the same manner as the Viking would have done one thousand years ago.  The sheath has been wet-molded to perfectly fit and retain the blade, and it comes with two leather jesses that allow the sheath to be suspended horizontally from the belt. The manner of the construction is such that the sheath can be removed from the belt without having to undo the belt, just remove the toggles from the copper rings.

All my knives are one-of-kind pieces, and every component was wrought with my own hands in the tradition of the bladesmiths of old.  This knife has a part of the craftsman in it as well as a bit of old-world soul.

Blade length: 7.25"

Overall length: 12.5"

Overall weight: 5.6oz

Knife weight: 9.2oz

Viking Krumkniv

These are all finds from Norway, dated to the Viking Age.  "Krumkniv" translates to "curved knife", due obviously to their shape.  I have no information as to their function or use during antiquity, but I surmise they would have been used for food preparation or as a herb knife, as the curve of the blade is well suited to slicing vegetables and the upward sweep of the handle keeps the wielder's knuckles from striking the cutting board. Here is the link to the historical museum website where I found the photographs: http://www.unimus.no/foto/#/search?q=krumkniv

C16900 (Telemark)

B1492

B6755b

C5191

C7511

C22582b

C38647

"Equinox" Viking Knife (photo set)

Buy this knife here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/613348749/viking-scramasax-hand-forged-with-an-ash?ref=shop_home_active_2

Forged out of a coil spring on the last day of winter, I have come to call this one the "Equinox". The six-inch drop-point blade was forged from a coil spring into a scramasax style inspired by Norwegian archaeological finds. In an effort to keep the knife as historically accurate as possible, I used mainly hand tools such as files to shape the edge bevels and a draw knife to carve the handle. The sheath is hand-stitched leather, dyed with homemade birch oil and coated with a beeswax-based leather conditioner to give it some water-resistance. 

The sheath is set up for a horizontal carry method, as in the Viking Age large knives like this would have been worn on the front of the belt. The belt loops are held in place with copper fittings in the style of some Swedish examples.

The handle is a beautiful ash wood, stained with linseed oil to bring the most out of the dark grain. It has a good feel in hand, with a slightly oval shape to it. Fairly light and well-balanced, the weight favors the blade to make it nimble in use and it would excel for hunting or camping chores. It would also serve well as a food or utility knife around the homestead. 

This is a a one-of-a-kind knife, and while I may make another one similar, there will never one quite like this one.

Viking Saxes with Drop Points (Museum Photos)

It seems that there are a great many people who think that a "Viking" knife had to have a sheepsfoot/wharncliff type point.  From my research, this blade style seems to have been found mainly in England, which leads me to the conclusion that the type of blade associated with Scandinavians warriors are in fact Anglo-Saxon in origin.

Here are a few photographs from museum collections in Norway: http://www.unimus.no/arkeologi/#/collectionView?

Example from Ringerike 

Telemark

Nordland

Romsdal

Nordland