Viking woman's knife from Gotland.

This is my second project that was inspired by small knives found in Viking graves. 
This one is a pretty close copy of a very well preserved knife found in a woman's grave on the island of Gotland in the Baltic. Unlike the first project of this type, this time I had access to several very high quality pictures of the knife and sheath, taken to scale. Here are thumbnail versions of some:

The blade is about 2 3/4" long and relatively wide. It is made of 1095 carbon steel, flat ground and almost razor sharp (one of the first blades of my own making, BTW).

The handle is 4" long, made just a little thicker than the original which looked thin enough to be in danger of splitting. Just as the original, it is wrapped with thin silver wire in front. I used Macassar Ebony wood for its looks and the nice contrast it provides with silver. Not historically accurate, of course, but you could pretend it was some European hardwood stained very dark...

The sheath is constructed exactly as the original (the picture below shows some construction details up close).
I used thin brass sheet for the edge cover, riveted in place with brass rivets. The decorative "stepped" cutouts and engraved lines are authentic.

The knife is set up to be hanged by a leather strap from the belt, and will hang almost horizontally (the sheath holds it very securely).
Some period finds show that these knives were often worn by women, suspended on chain connected to a big brooch.

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