The Viking Battle Swords of Darksword ArmouryDarksword Armoury make some serious Viking Battle swords. Somewhere between a reenactment blade and a cutter, with a few minor modifications these swords can go either way. But one thing is constant – they are easily some of the most beautiful Viking age swords available for under the US$300 price point.
Out of all the various Viking battle swords I have seen on the internet, there is little doubt that this is one of the most strikingly attractive pieces around.
And I have to say that pictures don’t really do it justice. This is a sword you really have to see for yourself to appreciate. Now I have mentioned Darksword Armoury scabbards before – at the time of writing, they are nothing more than a free add on. Very basic, generic and in short – ugly. And in the case of these Viking battle swords, the scabbards REALLY clash with the rest of this design.
Indeed, if they made a matching scabbard with the same kind of leather wrap and embellishments as the hilt, the overall impression of this sword would be increased ten fold. Because the hilt furniture is something is some very special eye candy indeed.
With traditional Viking patterns that are said to represent the Nordic God Odin, the pommel itself is perhaps the most visually stunning part of this sword.
In the smallest way, the effect is slightly diminished by the fact that on the undersides, the absence of the pattern looks a little strange at first. But somehow, on closer inspection, the contrast works. The dark brown leather wrapped wooden handle looks superb. Consisting of a solid piece of leather, overlaid by a criss crossing strip of separate leather – it completes the hilt very nicely. Again though, I found that the cross wrapped leather strip was not as tight as it could have been and starts to shift a little in the hand with extended usage – bunching towards the pommel. While this is more of a cosmetic issue than anything else, it is a little annoying. The hilt assembly itself is extremely tight as I have come to expect from Darksword. Ideally, and traditionally, true Viking battle swords were peened, but Darksword have done the next best thing. Though the tang is threaded, they heat up the tang and the pommel until both are white hot and then firmly screw the tang to the pommel before quenching it, effectively setting it together as one piece, therefore the changes of it loosening during normal usage, as opposed to a purely theaded tang, are greatly reduced.
Like most Viking age swords, the 1308 is more or less an Oakeshott Type X, and while purists may find the profile taper seemingly a little too pronounced, and the point just a little too acute – it is within variations that were found in historical Viking battle swords. As with all Darksword Armoury blades, the edge is unsharpened – but at 1.5mm is narrow enough to be readily sharpened if so desired. "As usual, the finish of these Viking Battle swords is a little scuffed here and there, and shows obvious hammer marks from the hand forging – but it suits this practical blade well... There is some distal taper in the 31” blade, with the thickness at the base starting at around 5.8mm and becoming 4.7mm as we near the end of the fuller, which as with any historically referenced Type X sword, terminates a few inches from the tip. Extremely stiff and strong, the 1060 carbon steel blade is beautifully tempered – and when flexed (with some difficulty I might add) always returns to true.
Weighing in at 3lbs 4oz, the 1308 is perhaps around 5oz heavier than what most experienced sword collectors would be used to. But that doesn’t mean that there was not a historical precedent as there were historical Viking battle swords up to around 3lbs 6oz that would be dismissed by some modern collectors as being too heavy... But the Vikings who used them clearly didn’t think so! The balance point at 6.5” however does make this sword feel a little blade heavy. But again, it is not so far outside of the historical precedents to be unrealistic. When dry handling this sword, it definitely feels quite heavy. But the slight pause in recovery time is more than made up for the fact that each blow it delivers feels intensely powerful.
The feeling of blade heaviness lends it to increase momentum, speed and power as it passes on the fulcrum point. And I would HATE to be on the receiving end of one of this Viking battle swords full power blows...
As you may know from the previous destructive testing of a Darksword Armoury sword on SBG, these are extremely, extremely tough blades. And as they are not shipped sharpened, there is little point in demonstrating what they can cut as that really only shows how the sword was sharpened. But I can hardly finish a SBG review without something interesting and dramatic! ;-) So to test this Viking battle swords blade strength and overall structural integrity to the limit, I found a suitable target in a dying tree that had been poisoned for the disgusting habit of its roots entering the sewer system and wreaking havoc... Now naturally enough, such a target would be impossible to cut through with one blow (outside of anime that is) ;-) And striking a solid target like this at full power is a sure way to determine both the blades strength and temper as well as the integrity of the hilt components. More or less like taking several hundred steel on steel training sessions and compressing it into a few strikes to find any weaknesses.
I delivered three stepping blows, with the second one a full power ‘killing’ strike – which you can hear from the video landed quite hard. As the tree wasn’t going anywhere, the force of the blow travelled down the blade and into the hilt, though the positioning of the nodes within the sword meant that I did not feel a jarring impact.
A scary, scary sword indeed...
CONCLUSION
What can I say. These Darksword Viking battle swords are as tough as nails – but like the Vikings, surprisingly complex with its poetic fittings.
Compared to the higher end Viking swords on the market, it may be a little heavier and less wieldy, but no so much that it isn’t practical or completely outside of the realm of historical accuracy.
But, like the Vikings, it packs one heck of a wallop! Highly recommended.
WHERE TO BUY I am very proud to announce that the 1308 Viking Sword and a hand picked selection of Darksword Armoury swords are now available here at the SBG Sword Store for, as always, the best price on the internet...:-) Normally US$250 + around $37 shipping via UPS to the US for a total of $287 (or $250 + $15 sales tax + $30 shipping in Canada!) - you can get it at the SBG Store for a flat US$249.99 with FREE SHIPPING in the USA and Canada! (other countries, please contact me for my best quote). Check out these Viking battle swords and the other DSA swords here- all have either fully or partially absorbed shipping costs and save a minimum $25 of the total cost of ordering direct from the manufacturer - plus of course, by buying at SBG you are helping us find MORE swords like these ones that can pass my rather brutal standards... ;-)
I hope this review of Darkswords Viking battle swords has been helpful. To return to Modern Replicas of Viking Swords from The Viking Battle Swords of Darksword Armoury, click here
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With richly embossed swirling knots throughout the 5 lobed pommel and thick solid crossguard, the fittings of this sword have a presence that pictures simply cannot do justice to.
THE BLADE
