Thorvaldr's Seax

I've been working on this seax for about year now.  Luckily the customer who commissioned it was very patient and we agreed up front that there was no set delivery date - it took as long as it took.

It's made in the style of baltic war knives from the Viking Age/Migration Era/Dark Ages - however you want to refer to the period of european history from about 500-1000AD.

 The blade is 10" and the handle is 6".  The blade is forged from 1084 carbon steel.  It's a full 1/4" thick at the spine and is flat ground.   The shape is referred to as a "broken-back", and as you can probably guess this is the great, great grandfather of the bowie knife.  The tang of the blade is a bit over 1/2" wide and 1/4" thick and extends all the way to the back of the handle, so it's a very sturdy knife.

I hand sanded this blade starting at 220 grit, and finished at 600grit.  It is inlaid with younger futhark runes that are a transliteration of "Thorvaldr owns me" on the right side, and "MHB made me" on the left.  They've actually found a number of viking weapons with inscriptions of a similar nature.  I guess that's one way not to loose your spear or knife ( "Dude!  Of course it's mine.  It's got my freaking name right on it!").  I used 18ga jewelers bronze wire for the inlay.  It's a bit brighter than regular bronze and just looks better against the polished steel.

The handle has a bronze plate that I cast up next to the blade.  It has a boar on one side of the blade and a serpent on the other.  The back plate is likewise something I carved and cast in bronze, with a design pulled from the handle carving.  The white spacers are moose antler that I carved a braid into using a dremel and burrs.  The main handle is a piece of cherry from a tree I felled myself about 5 or more years ago.  I carved a design found on a viking sled into the handle, with some changes so it fit the handle shape.  It's finished with 6 coat of Waterlox wiping varnish.

The sheath is 8oz top-grade tooling leather that I carved/embossed and dyed.  The design on the blade section is probably too complicated for leather, but I wanted to see if I could do it.  It came out fairly well, but I think the details are just a bit to small.  The beast on the handle section is really about the level of detail that is right for leather.  It has nice, clear delineation of the details.

The metal work on the sheath is all hand-stamped 20ga bronze, except for the rings which I carved & cast.  I made sure on this seax that I used the same alloy of bronze for all the metal parts 90% copper/ 10% tin.  That way the parts should all age to the same patina.

It's finished with a braided leather tassle & bone beads.