Additional information
An old legend has it that a Nordic smith named Ulfberht developed the first all steel blade. This crucial development achieved near-mythical status among warriors, making this one of the most important swords in the study of medieval weapons. Several of these blades from slightly different time periods exist, some engraved in gratitude and reverance with Ulfberht’s hallowed name. Prior to the Ulfberht swords, all iron age European swords were of the pattern welded variety. Soft iron bars were welded together with strips of steel, forged into a blade shape, then a steel edge was welded onto the sword. But, the Ulfberht sword was a quantum leap in both technology and design. Not strips, but good carbon steel blades with enough carbon content to produce excellent swords. Not only was the material better, but the design of the sword was a definite improvement. The blade tapered more sharply to the point than did previous blades. This put the balance of the sword closer to the hand, making a sword that was faster on both the stroke and recovery than previous blades.
The Ulfberht Sword features engravings on both sides of the blade exactly as the original. The blade is unsharpened high carbon steel and beautifully balanced. The grip is wood wrapped with leather. The stout crossguard is steel, and the pommel is of the brazilnut shape that was quite popular at the time, both with Vikings and the rest of Europe. A beautiful and important sword. Includes a leather scabbard.
Kibbi Hansen –
/(o3o)/ if ur a beginner and want a cheap but good sword to start whit i would suggest buying this sword it is pretty good. but i miss a belt attatchment for the scabbard. and the crossguard needs to be rounded more because when i tested the sword i cutted myself on the crossguard, sounds amazing doesnt it?. The handle is a littlebit to thin but it still works. i tried to hit the sword on a knife just to see if it would take damage but it didnt really take that mutch damage so this sword will not exsacly be broken quicly.
matthew wells –
the word is spelt wrong it is actually spelt +ulfberh+t is the correct spelling +ulfberht+ is a remake around the same time
Khan N. –
+ulfberht+ I received the sword today and I’m in love with it already.
There might be an issue with the leather wrapping of the hilt near the pommel but a Little bit of braided brass wire will fix it and add a personal touch.
Very /excellent for the Price.
Friedrich –
I would give this 4.5 stars – has minor issues This is a great sword for the money – a solid buy that I do not regret. The sheath looks nice and has a nice chape and throat. The metal throat has a tiny patina spot but nothing to worry about (it’s very good condition to come from India). The throat has leather inside, holds the sword tight (upside down) and no metal touches the blade. The sheath is a bit flimsy but appears to be a wooden sheath underneath the leather wrapping – no complaints as many swords don’t come with sheaths although I feel all swords should. The sword seems solidly constructed with great fit and finish. The length is a nice size for my big hands. The grip wrap looks nicely done and should hold up OK. The pommel peen is excellent and a bit polished (not an invisible peen like an Albion but it has no hammer marks). The blade is sizable and hefty. On mine, the point-of-balance is at 4.5″ past the guard, which is more than what KOA advertises and makes it a bit forward heavy but in a good way – after all it’s a viking sword! I love the spatula tip, which looks durable and good for slicing cuts but still narrows to somewhat of a tip (more than 10th century viking swords). The blade has a hammer forged look, which I like (e.g. not machined). There are a couple tiny scuffs on the blade but nothing most people would notice or care about. The Ulfburt etchings look good. The guard fits around the blade well (there is a slight bit of space on the flat side of the blades but it’s filled with something and not noticeable – the fit on the edges is pretty good). The fuller is nice looking but looks about 1/8″ off center near the tip – but it’s OK and I’m fine with it. There is one minor problem that is a bit more noticeable if looking down the edge of the blade, towards the end of the blade the blade edge profile has a dip inward of about 1/16″ along a 2 or 2.5″ section. In other words the blade profile / taper isn’t perfectly symmetrical – but it doesn’t bother me and I will certainly keep the sword. I think it’s from the factory and not related to the sharpening service. The sharpening service I paid extra for looks great. It’s not quite paper cutting sharp but it catches paper and will cut an inch or two into it roughly – this is perfect for me as I’m clumsy and have cut myself before and I don’t want it any sharper than this. But if you did it would be very easy to finish it up with some sharpening stones and get it razor sharp. Overall I’m very content and confident with this sword. It’s not fit for a king perhaps but I think Vikings or soldiers of the day would have loved it. It’s about as heavy a sword as you’d want to carry on a belt. I’d like to wear it in the woods or camping. I plan to do some light cutting tests with it soon, on some meats and vegetables perhaps, maybe some water jugs and milk cartons too. But I plan to treat it well and not abuse it.
Tyler –
Good sword for the price This is a very good sword for this price very excellent when I do cut with. Very good sheath. The only problem I have with it is the Ulfbehrt is painted on so after some use I see it going away other than that it a very good sword for the price and it is very well construc. Nothing has come loose during the cut test or the abusive test.
mohammd a. –
not buy this sword i tried to swing with that but it hurts my hand the brazil nut is to big save more money and buy arming sword
Steven Merrill –
A bit of a specialized sword Like other reviews point out this is a good sword at a low price point. The spelling wasn’t considered incorrect when I bought mine several years back, as this really only was investigated in depth (at least for the public relatively recently). For better or worse it is painted or similar coated on. Also it has a period correct grip – style for the period and culture. It forces a hammer grip like a tulwar (talwar) or rondel dagger and like both seems intentionally made that way (might be to help keep the point up, use less muscle reduse fatigue? Or to keep the blade controlled when you perry, or hit a sheild, or to force what was cothen considered “proper form”? Or heck cuz it was considered cool back then…). Again not the only style of the period but a interesting one. But unlike a rondel you CAN hold it in a handshake grip if you put the pomel alongside your wrist and letting a finger over the gaurd helps this and these make fencing style thrusting easier vs rondel style techniques for thusting vis upward, or like a side hook, or reversing the grip for an ice pick grip. Admittedly I am still on the novice side though so I am sure I am missing something. But this is a fun, well built sword for the price. (But no, no I won’t ever confuse it for my Albion (I love), nor with my Condor – which I like too.) So yes it is a functional fun sword to learn some unique things with, at a great price.
Nathan r. –
Know what you’re buying. I’ve seen to many people review swords like this one negatively, just because it’s not the perfect sword they were hoping for. When you pay $200, don’t expect a $1000 sword. That being said, I purchased this sword knowing there would be some miner imperfections, I was remarkably surprised but what I received. The swords is amazing, for the price I payed I was expecting it to be essentially I high quality wall hanger. What I got was a blade that if it came down to it, I would trust to bring into battle. The edge needed a little touching up after the sharpening service but I had no problem with that. The only con I can list, is the scabard. Made out of press board (aka saw dust and super glue) wrapped in a thin layer of poor quality leather, I almost think it’s just painted black with a false seem to make it appear to be leather, the metal fittings on the scabard are decent quality, but the scabard itself leaves a dust on the blade when drawn, almost like when you shave a little bit of cardboard with a knife. This isn’t a issue for me since I have the resources and knowledge to make my own wooden one. But I understand why the scabard is so crappy, its part of how they can keep their prices low, they cut cost where it doesn’t matter as much, so they don’t have to cut cost where it does. The only things keeping it’s rating from being perfect are the scabard and the fact the the blade is etched a little to dark for my liking it’s to much like a faded black, I would rather it be more of a darker grey. I took away one star for the etching, but I rank the scabard at -2 stars.
Shaun W. –
Couldn’t be happier! I am loving this sword, it is very much what expected especially coming from KOA!
Bruce Johnson –
Completely Satisfied I scoured the internet reading and watching every review of this sword I could find, before I purchased it. It was the overwhelmingly positive reviews that helped to sell it. Despite everything that I had read or heard, it still managed to surprise me with just how agile and lively this sword truly is. I highly recommend this product.
Chris Schram –
Fantastic!!! I was looking at a few Viking swords offered here on KOA’s site as they are a premier retailer of swords and cool stuff. I chose the Windlass +Ulfberht+ and I am in sword shock. Thanks for the fast shipment and the beautiful sword and scabbard. Will buy more when needed.
J.T. –
Great buy As a great piece to my collection, it’s worth the money!
Izaak –
Great sword (obviously not literally lol) I purchased this sword about 2 years ago watched and read every review I could and eventually came to the decision this was what I wanted living in Australia we are very limited on availability and the exchange rate means we pay a lot more so with shipping this cost me a bit over $400 aud and I’m still happy with it the sharpening service was okay (makes the job easier if you want it sharper at least) I’ve done a lot of testing with this sword and it feels great in the hand it’s great aesthetically the lettering is etched and I believe with research the etching is actually filled with a type of wax so not not really “paint” and would be easy to re do if you wanted I personally liked the way it looked after a bit of polishing and dulled the lettering down a bit. Now I got a bit over confident and swung at a few tree trunks in the yard and the cross guard has come loose not very loose but I noticed the blade stopped “riniging” bit of thinly split bits of wood and some apoxy and its all good also gave me a chance to learn how to fix small problems on a sword and at this price point it’s really not a problem at all more of a learning curve before getting something more expensive for the collection all in all great sword would recommend!
Richard Miller –