Viking Long Sax (Seax) with Jellinge Style Bone Handle, 10th Century

Discover Viking Long Sax (Seax) with Jellinge Style Bone Handle, 10th Century.

Long Sax (Seax), Viking Sax (Seax) knife, bone handle with Norse Jellinge motif, 10th century.
This Viking Age sax (seax) knife, or skramasax, has a long EN45 spring steel blade with a strong back and pointed tip. Directly below the spine is a double groove that runs approximately two-thirds of the blade's length on both sides.
The beautiful and striking handle is made of polished bone. It is decorated with engravings in the jelling or jellinge style, a 10th-century Norse art style typically characterized by intertwined, ribbon-like animals with striped bodies, often depicted in profile. The motif (two dragons or snakes entwined in an S-shape) originates from the famous 10th-century silver jelling cup, which gave its name to this particular Viking art style and is now part of the collection of the Danish National Museum in Copenhagen.
The Viking Long Sax (Seax) comes with a beautiful sheath made of 3mm thick vegetable-tanned leather with brass fittings (antique finish), including three hanging rings. The lower metal strip, ending with an animal head (possibly a wolf's head), is based on an 8th-century Middle Anglo-Saxon find recovered in the 19th century from the Thames in London and probably part of the sheath fitting for a Sax (Seax) knife. It also has a runic inscription that has not yet been satisfactorily interpreted. The original piece is in the British Museum (no. 1869.0610.1).
This Viking knife is designed as a collector's item, decorative object, or accessory. The blade tip is not rounded, and the edge is not sharpened but ground (approximately 0.5 to 1 mm thick).
Details:
- Blade material: EN45 spring steel (carbon steel, not stainless)
- Handle material: animal bone handle, handguard and pommel made of blackened steel.
- Total length: approx. 62.5cm
- Blade length: approx. 48 cm
- Handle length: approx. 14.4 cm (handle section approx. 10.5 cm)
- Blade width: approx. 3.3 cm at the base / 4 cm at the widest point
- Blade thickness: approx. 4 mm (approx. 2 to 2.5 mm in front of the tip)
- Center of gravity: approx. 10 cm in front of the guard
- Weight: approx. 770 g (approx. 1155 g with case)
- Leather and brass case with carrying rings
The above specifications may vary slightly from copy to copy.
The steel used here is not stainless and may show slight signs of corrosion. We recommend regular maintenance of the blade, for example with Ballistol, a universal oil ideal for preserving steel products.
Please note that bones are a natural product, and variations in color and/or grain are completely normal. Since the knife is entirely handmade, the decorations may vary slightly from one piece to another. Therefore, no two handles of this Viking Sax (Seax) are alike, and the images above are for illustrative purposes only.

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