I know a dealer whos trying to get rid of a Hanwei Damascus steel Godfred viking sword he's offered it to me for 250 euro
which is almost half the recomended asking price but I'm unsure I've heard mixed things about hanwei's stuff. The only experience I have with swords is my Generation 2 Celtic sword iso can some one check the link and tell me would it be worth buying
http://www.casiberia.com/product_details.asp?id=SH1010

I owned this one. It was decent. I'm not sure about that price. You can find them on ebay around $250-299 in US dollars so (not remembering where the Euro to USD currently is) I would say that seems high. The MSRP for Hanwei stuff is usually much higher than anyone is actually selling it for.

It depends how historical you want. The pommel is one as opposed to two peices, the grip is too long, the belt hooks are not on any original, etc.
Personally I think you could do better for the price

I agree with Nathan.. Ive seen them alot cheaper on ebay. Im not too keen on this, if anything I prefer the paul chen practical viking. Plus Ive read a few articles online from people who said the blade was heat treated wrong and it easily snaps.

what do you want this for, is it a wall hanger, cutter or re enactment?

It's an attractive sword, and handles well, with very nice weight and balance that are within historical specs. Nice to look at and swing about a bit.

As noted, it's not quite accurate, historically speaking. The grip is not only long, but thick. It has an odd feel about it that offsets the otherwise fine handling qualities.

And the blades do tend to be rather soft. I've seen a couple Godfred blades take a set after being flexed just a little bit (can't tell you the exact percentage or degree of blade flex, but it wasn't much). Maybe the newer blades have a better temper (other later Hanwei blades do show highly improved heat treatment, in terms of improved strength and flexibility), or maybe it's simply a function of the cheaper "damascus" steels, I don't know. But I'd be hesitant to cut with this sword.

Thanks for all you input unfortunatly my PC ended up in the repair shop so I didnt get a chance to reply to you and after you told me the price was steep I was going to settle for fr a mammen axe but in the end I got the sword the reason being was that it was a steal the deal was closing down and desperate to so he sold me it and a mammen axe for 170 euro ( I love getting the upper hand once in a while)

Like you guys said it isnt historically accurate but that doesn't bother me too much when it's a budget sword if it were a top of the line sword it would be a different matter altogether I'm actually pleased with it. It's light and fast compaired to my Celtic short sword which is smaller and which also turned out to be a Hanwei too (the sales assistant in the same shop told me it was generation 2 but they dont sell thoes)

David Willson wrote:

The grip is not only long, but thick. It has an odd feel about it that offsets the otherwise fine handling qualities. Maybe the newer blades have a better temper (other later Hanwei blades do show highly improved heat treatment, in terms of improved strength and flexibility), or maybe it's simply a function of the cheaper "damascus" steels, I don't know. But I'd be hesitant to cut with this sword.

I agree with your point on the handle it does have for lack of better words to describe,an off feel I would prefere if it wasnt as thick but I actualy like the length that 1cm between my hand and the pommel is good for when I follow through a strike into another.

I decided to try some cutting my Celtic short sword and spear (both hanweis) held up fine so I thought the Godfred might hold up just as well despite having a thin blade with more flex. I started off with some white deal skirting boards and had no problem then I tried it out on a beam of piranha pine it had no problem biting into it and the blade didnt suffer I called it quits their I wasnt going to try anything hard I had lying around like MDF or oak. I dont know if this goes some way to confirming what you heard about hanwei blades and I dont consider myself to be suitable to make a judgement on the matter

Hello

I've handled this sword before, as a friend of mine has it. Now I'm not very familiar with the proper "feel" of viking swords, so I'm not a good judge, but it was pleasant to handle. It's a very good pumpkin and other vegetable cutter. My friend called her sword "slaw-maker" :)

The problem with Hanwei is quality control* - once in a while, you get a "lemon". Hanwei will only offer a refund to the person it sold it directly to (ie, the retailer). So if you have a trusted retailer who is willing to do good post sale customer service, it's not an issue (because Hanwei WILL replace stuff). However, some retailers who are less scrupulous will sell those lemons on e-bay (or other channels), and if you have a problem with it, well, tough luck.

I'm glad you are enjoying your purchase,

Pierre

*Mind you, they are serious about improving, so it could be that those issues are no longer existent.