[Jesse Belsky]

Just finished putting this together.....this is a steel viking-style hilt mounted on a sharp Hanwei-Tinker Viking blade. The hilt is older, and i redid some of the pommel detailing and the grip and put it together with a new blade to see if i can find it a home. The grip is simple black leather over a poplar core. The hilt is decorated with simple file-work and the pommel is in two pieces held together with screws (not rivets), and steel wire details. The tang is threaded 5/6-18 and secured with an allen-nut. The Hanwei-Tinker blade is very nice, very sharp, and balances well. It was easy to work with and mount up....just some work on the tang-end and some cleanup on the shoulders. The stats are as follows:


Overall Length: 37”
Blade Length: 31”
Hilt Length: 6”
Grip Length: 4”
POB: 5.25” from base of blade
COP: 21.25” from base of blade


The sword handles well, lucky for me since the hilt wasn’t designed specifically for this blade. The blade has good presence in dry handling, but its easy to control and redirect in a cut. I imagine it will cut well, though i haven’t done any test cutting with it.

More pics etc. as well as the price tag at http://www.jessebelsky.com/stageswords in the FOR SALE section if you're interested.

[Jeremiah Swanger]

[Adam Smith]

Good job, I can truly appreciate the effort you put into it but I must say its much to modern and bright looking to me. Edges on Hilt are very angular and sharp looking, maybe you should consider rounding them a little and capping or filling in those screws. No offence intended, I think it has great potential with a little more work .

[Adam S.]

I like this. It has a very "Art Sword" look to it.
Like an intentionally modern, almost art-deco look.
Like something that would look good in stained glass.

As a historical piece, not so much, but you know that.
The fact that you're not trying to pass it off as historical makes it even more appealing to me.

[Boris R.]

looks extremely functional. try cutting and thrusting with it

[Jesse Belsky]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. I'm glad to have a bit of a discussion...i've posted some things in the past without starting much of a conversation. This is definitely not a historical replica.....in truth it started out as an exploration of the proportions of viking hilts with the materials and tools i had available to me at that moment. I wasn't able to work in the more fluid, organic shapes that so many historical examples have and folks like Peter Johnsson recreate so beautifully, so i did my interpretation on the theme with more angular shapes.
Some viking artifacts do have pretty "sharp" corners, although its difficult to get a sense of the original radii from pictures. Even in really good color photos in books like Ian Peirce's Swords of the Viking Age its hard to tell what the original surfaces might have been like before corrosion got to them. From the looks of other people's replica work, sharp edges (where the planes of hilt parts meet) are not uncommon on this type of sword, but that may also be a trick of the camera. Its not uncomfortable to hold in an un-gloved hand, as long as you use the "handshake" grip that keeps the wrist clear of the pommel (which is otherwise quite uncomfortable on this type of hilt, rounded or not).

With the second viking hilt i built, in the pictures below, i tried to be more true to the forms of the originals i was looking at. Still, its a modern amalgamation, not a replication of any real weapon. I think its a bit closer to a "historical" decorative syle, and all the parts are riveted together (although the pommel is separate from the upper guard) but it's still subject to my own limitations as a craftsman. I made it over a year ago, and looking at it now the grip proportion feels wrong. Also, please ignore the blade its mounted on and all the fasteners....its really just there to hold the hilt together. This hilt, like the first one, takes a 5/16" allen nut recessed into the pommel.

[Jean Thibodeau]