Viking Seax Knife – 11.5" Rosewood, Forge-Finished Blade

Where the numbers land

Blade 7.5 inches, handle 4 inches, 11.5 inches overall. The stock is 4.5 mm thick at the spine and the blade is hardened to 56–58 HRC. That is the working middle of the range for a plain carbon steel: hard enough to hold an edge through a day of cutting, soft enough that an ordinary stone brings it back instead of a diamond plate, and tough enough that the tip is not the first thing to go.

At 11 oz on a short 4-inch handle, the weight sits back over the hand rather than out at the point. That is the full tang doing its job.

Why plain carbon steel

1075 carries about three quarters of one percent carbon and no chromium, so it behaves the way a smith expects: it hardens evenly, it grinds thin without chipping, and a few passes on a stone put the edge back. What it will not do is ignore water. Left damp it will spot, so dry it after use and keep a film of oil on the flats. The dark scale will deepen on its own with handling, and that patina is protection rather than damage.

The blade is finished in two halves

The spine side keeps the black forge scale it came out of the fire with, rough and mottled, and only the bevel along the cutting edge is ground bright. The line between the two runs roughly parallel to the edge. It is a working finish rather than a mirror polish, so expect the black to vary from knife to knife.

The profile is a straight-edged seax: a level spine out of the handle with a single square step at the shoulder, then a long gradual taper to the point. No belly, no recurve.

Full tang, rosewood scales

The blade and the handle core are one piece of steel from the point to the butt, with the rosewood fitted as two scales and pinned through in three places. You can see the steel as a thin line all the way around the wood. There is no socket and no weld, so there is no join to work loose.

Rosewood is dense and oily, dark brown through to near-black, and it takes a satin finish rather than a gloss. Grain and tone vary from piece to piece, so your handle will not match the photographs exactly. The butt swells into a hook that stops the hand sliding back.

The sheath

Cowhide, dyed dark brown, stitched in a contrasting tan thread with a tooled border running inside the seam. A single folded belt loop closes over the handle on one snap. It is cut for right-hand carry.

Make it yours

The blade flat and the sheath can both be engraved to order. A name, a date, or a short line in runes. Engraving is hand-etched and adds a few days to dispatch.

See the rest of the Viking seax collection, or start with our guide to what a seax actually is.

Sold to adults 18 and over. This is a bushcraft and hunting knife, not a kitchen knife. Handle, store and carry it responsibly and in line with your local laws.