The Story of Winter’s Wolf:

(Inspired by the work of George R.R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire.)  Years after the Battle of the Long Night, Arya Stark commissioned Winter’s Wolf to be forged as a gift for John Snow.  Wanting to repay John for the childhood gift he bestowed upon her (which she named Needle), this blade is said to be endowed with the power of the children of the forest, who first carved the faces in the weirwoods that the Starks revered.  Being the only Stark that truly treated John as a true Stark, Arya also included the Stark family sigil both on the blade and the pommel of this great weapon. 

Actual Design and Construction:

The original blade blank was forged by Windlass Steelcrafts using 1085 high carbon steel.  I substantially altered the shape of the blade and added a wolf’s paw ricasso.  I hand etched my drawings of weirwood trees and the Stark family sigil on both sides of the blade.  The guard is fashioned from mild steel and combined with the first spacer the set is etched into the likeness of a weirwood tree.   I carved the handle from Central American Cocobolo wood.  The pommel which sits atop a second spacer is also formed from mild steel.  I etched the Stark family sigil into both sides of the pommel.  Finally, I carved the top finial out of mild steel and tapped it, so it threaded onto the tang and secured all the handle pieces.  This feature combined with steel line-up pins throughout the handle construction complete the blade’s take-down design. 

Specifications:

Blade length: 12 inches

Overall length: 19 inches

Hand grip length: 4 inches

Blade width at widest point: 1.5 inches

Guard width: 5 inches

Weight: 19.5 ounces

Balance point: At the guard

Sheath Construction:

The sheath is a traditional dagger design (wet formed to the blade with hand stitching down the back spine) constructed of 4-5 oz premium veg tan leather.  The body of the sheath is stained black.  The Chape and the throat are stained light brown.   I tooled the Stark Family sigil into the throat and colored it white for John Snow’s direwolf, Ghost.