Hand-Forged Medieval Falchion Sword, Ball Pommel

It is a spherical pommel — a true ball, rather than the flattened forms that dominate medieval swords. Pommel shape is worth understanding because it is not decoration. Every pommel is a counterweight, but where the mass sits within it changes how the sword feels. A wheel or disc puts its weight out at the rim, which gives you the most counterbalance for a given mass; a brazil-nut spreads it along the axis of the blade; a sphere concentrates it compactly and close in. In practice a ball pommel of the same weight counterbalances slightly less than a disc, so it tends to be made a little larger, and the result is a sword that feels solid and settled in the hand rather than quick at the tip. It also gives a distinctive silhouette, which is a fair reason to choose it. Other forms are available to order, and each will change the balance a little.

It is more involved than it looks. The core is shaped wood fitted around the tang, and before any leather goes on, raised bands called risers are built up at intervals along it — you can see them as ridges under the wrap. Those risers are what stop your hand sliding along the grip in use and what give a wrapped hilt its texture; a grip wrapped over a smooth core feels dead by comparison. The leather is then cut, wetted, stretched over the whole assembly and stitched or bonded along a seam, so it shrinks tight as it dries. Done properly the wrap grips the core with no adhesive doing the structural work. The trade-off against a bare wood or horn grip is maintenance: leather is a natural material that dries, stretches and eventually wears through, where a rosewood grip lasts indefinitely. If you would rather have the durability, ask for a bare wood grip.

It is the most decorated of the group. This one has a 25-inch blade on a 6-inch grip, a swept guard with turned ball terminals, a spherical pommel, and a green leather-wrapped hilt with a matching green scabbard. Our fluted-pommel falchion is close in size at 24 inches but goes the other way on styling: dark forged fittings, a deeply fluted pommel, and a bare rosewood grip with a brown buckled scabbard. Our plain medieval falchion is the restrained period pattern. And our fantasy falchion is a different animal entirely — a 30-inch blade on an 11-inch two-hand grip with a dark forge finish and a ring pommel. Buy this one for colour and character, the fluted for visible forge work, the plain one for period simplicity, and the fantasy falchion if you want a two-handed chopper.

The blade is; the hilt is not. A medieval falchion carried a plain cross guard and a simple pommel, and the leather on a period sword would have been undyed or vegetable-dyed in muted colours rather than a bright green. What is accurate here is the blade — broad, single-edged, deep through the belly with a long clip toward the point — and the single-hand proportions, which are right for the type. It is also genuine falchion construction rather than a Messer: a full tang running through to a pommel, where a Messer uses a slab tang with riveted scales. Treat it as a modern sword in the falchion tradition. Plain period fittings and undyed leather are available if you want the restrained version.

One-handed, which is correct for a falchion — it was a sidearm carried with a shield or buckler in the other hand. The 6-inch grip is generous for a single-hand sword, which is useful: there is room to shift your hand back toward the pommel for extra leverage on a heavy cut, or forward for control, without the sword becoming a hand-and-a-half. It is not long enough for a genuine two-handed grip. If you want that, our fantasy falchion has an 11-inch grip.

Yes. It is hand-forged from 5160 high-carbon spring steel, full tang, oil-tempered, and sharpened to a true cutting edge before it ships. The guard and pommel are solid steel and the tang is peened over the pommel rather than glued or threaded. It handles tatami mats, water bottles and light green targets well. Do not use it on bone, metal, seasoned hardwood, or anything you would not put a good knife through.

The blade is forged from 5160 high-carbon spring steel, the same alloy used in heavy-duty truck leaf springs, prized for toughness and edge retention. It is oil-tempered for a hard cutting edge backed by a flexible, shock-absorbent spine. On a broad single-edged blade the thick back carries much of the structural load, but the edge still has to take impact, and 5160 gives you an edge that rolls rather than chips.

Yes. The tang runs the full length of the hilt and is peened over at the pommel, so the guard, risers and grip are mechanically captured on the tang itself. There is no rat-tail, no weld, and no glued-in stub. On a wrapped grip this matters more than it might seem, because the leather hides the construction underneath — a hollow handle with a stub tang inside looks identical from the outside until it fails.

Dyed leather needs a little more attention than natural, and green fades faster than most colours because the pigments used to reach it are less lightfast than browns and blacks. Keep the sword out of prolonged direct sunlight, which is the main cause of fading — a display position across the room from a south-facing window will hold its colour for years, one on the sill will not. Treat the grip and scabbard two or three times a year with a neutral leather conditioner rather than a coloured one, and avoid saddle soap and anything alcohol-based, both of which lift dye. If the grip gets wet, let it dry at room temperature rather than near heat. Some colour transfer onto light-coloured hands or cloth is normal on new dyed leather and settles after handling.

Yes, sharpened as standard along the main edge, finished by hand; the clip along the top of the point is left unsharpened. If you need it blunt for reenactment, larp, stage use, display, or to satisfy import rules where you live, choose the display-blunt option or tell us in your order notes. There is no extra charge either way.

Yes to all three. A plain medieval cross and a simple pommel with undyed leather gives you a restrained period sword instead of this one; wheel, disc, brazil-nut and fluted pommels are all available and each shifts the balance slightly; and the wrap and scabbard can be black, brown, oxblood or natural. Blade length and width are adjustable too. Tell us how you want the sword to look and handle rather than only the dimensions, and we will tell you honestly what each change does.

Yes. We ship worldwide from Nepal by DHL or FedEx in 7 to 14 business days with tracking. In-stock specs dispatch within 2 to 3 business days; fully custom builds take roughly 4 to 6 weeks to forge first. Import and blade laws vary by country, so please check your local rules before ordering.