Description
This is Axe a collaboration piece between Petr Florianek and myself.
I made the axe and Petr carved the knot work Dragons and Dwarves and made the axe sheath.
Petr is a wonderfully talented smith based in the Czech republic; our collaborations are amongst the best pieces I make. I’m always exited to see what Petr has come up with. In our collaborations Petr and myself think of our work together like the work of the Dark elves from Norse myth ( Dökkálfar) or possibly the Dwarves or Elves from Middle earth. We are trying to make legendary pieces with the work of our hands that transcend the mundane and exist in the world of legends.
Petr has been doing some amazing carving on my axe heads. I wanted to give him more space to carve with this axe and he has done a fine job.
In Petr’s words ” The big area of the axe is well suited for bigger epic scenes, This time I chose dragon fights, by brave dwarves, inspired by Sigurd the dragon slayer motives, One side shows a spear wielding warrior, the other fighter with a sword. If their fight wasn’t victorious, maybe the axe would have been a better option.”
The Dane axe was one of the predominant weapons of the Viking age. This axe is forged with a body made from mild steel. The eye is formed by forge welding a piece of mild steel back on its self .There is then a blade of Damascus steel forge welded onto the mild axe body. This forms a thickened edge making the edge stronger while keeping the over all weight of the axe down. The pattern of the Damascus is formed from the many Hammer blows needed to form the axe . the hunderds of blows force some layers in the damascus below the others and give the wood grain rippled effect. This is a Dwarven Take on the classic Dane axe!.
The handle is oiled burned ash and there is a copper wrap below the axe eye, fixed with silver pins.
The axe is oil hardened and tempered and comes sharp.
