Pseudo-Viking knife

I just finished this knife this week.  It's one of those knives that started out not knowing what it was going to be.  The original intent was to see if I could forge & heat-treat a long knife out of 1/8" steel and keep it straight.  I managed to do that.  The blade is 9" of perfectly straight 1084.

But then I wasn't sure what to do with it.  I had at least two very different designs for the handle before the carving bug bit me again and I carved a handle inspired by some viking art out of cherry.  As you can probably tell from the way the light reflects off the handle in the second picture the handle is finished with a blade - not sanding.  I really prefer the dappled surface produced by a sharp carving tool as opposed to sanding.