This is the first sword I made for re-enactment. The blade shape is based on the Battersea Seax, an Anglo-Saxon langseax from the 9th-10th century. The fittings are Type C from Peterson's Typology of the Viking sword.

The blade is made by stock reduction (grinding) from a piece of high carbon steel I inherited from an associate and the fittings are brass. Having little more than an image to start with for the blade, I found a text reference describing the longest single edged Viking blade found and used that for length as it suited the blade shape and available width of steel. Several months of lunchtimes spend in the machine shop at work grinding away and I had a blade ready for tempering. On its return, a quick clean and fitting, originally the handle was made of leather disks, and we were ready to go.

About six months after her debut, I was at a joint training where a friend from another club asked about references for this piece. It turns out that the text reference for length refers to a Norwegian long sword and the longest seax is about 10 cm shorter than this. Bugger that, I am not giving her a trim, I like her the way she is. Also, the original leather disk grip was made out of chrome tanned leather and fell apart after a couple of years of weekly use. Rather than remove the pommel I fitted the wooden hand she wears today. The shape closely matches the shape of the tang with about 5 mm of wood all around.

As a footnote, when looking for a good sword, bigger is not better. Just shy of a meter long and weighing 1392 grams you need a lot of strength for control and to strike with any speed. Yes you have reach, but it is of little use if it gets there too late.

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