VALKYRIE III
Gyuto chef’s knife for vegetables, meat, fish and everyday prep · 73-layer Damascus, cobalt-bearing VG10 core
1.496,00 kr. incl. tax
The making
VALKYRIE III was designed by Jacob Bech and Shanru Lin, from the first sketch to the finished edge. Every detail was tried, argued over, and tried again. Each of the six knives in EX-ANIMO III has its own finish. That is by design, not by chance.
On VALKYRIE III, that finish is the long line: the Damascus layers drawn out along the full length of the blade, the runes cut into the steel, and a handle of red oak and blue G10 that is never the same twice.
- The steel73 layers in total, including a cobalt-bearing VG10 steel core; the Damascus layers on both sides are 316L stainless steel.
- The linesThe long Damascus lines run the length of the blade, drawn out along the blade as the layers are ground and etched.
- Oil quenched and temperedHardened and tempered to 62 HRC. The figure comes from our production testing.
- Deep acid etchingThe layers respond differently to the acid, leaving the long lines as raised and recessed areas you can feel on the flat of the blade.
- The markThe runes falla í orrustu, eigi níð and the RICEKNIFE name are engraved directly into the right side by EDM. The RICEKNIFE and LINBECH logos are stamped into the left side.
- The handleStabilised red oak, blue G10 and brass. The wooden sections are hand-finished with organic Danish beeswax and food-grade mineral oil. No two handles are the same.
- Ground by hand, then approvedEvery edge is ground by hand. Jacob examines each finished knife before it is approved. A numbered certificate comes with the knife.
I have worked on its shape and balance for repeated use at the chopping board. With VALKYRIE III, I want to remind you to stand by who you are and what you believe in, even when life is difficult.
73 layers. One cobalt-bearing VG10 core.
The steel, certified
- IA documented core. We keep the mill certificate for our cobalt-bearing VG10 core and publish its recorded composition, so you can see which steel forms the cutting edge.
- IILayers you can feel. Deep acid etching leaves a relief in the steel itself, not a pattern printed or lasered onto the surface.
- IIIA mark engraved, not lasered. The motif and name are cut by EDM to avoid deforming the blade. It costs more time, labor and electricity.
- IV62 HRC, tested. Oil quenched and tempered; the hardness comes from our production testing, not from the certificate.
- VAn edge ground by hand. Ground by Jacob and his team in the workshop, not on a production line. Every knife examined by Jacob before approval.
The certificate describes the annealed raw bar, 236 HB, and does not certify layer count or finished hardness; the 62 HRC comes from our own testing after heat treatment. No single element makes a knife; the core, the heat treatment and the geometry do.
Falla í orrustu, eigi níð.
In the old Norse stories, the Valkyries did not fight. They chose. They rode over the battlefield and decided who had lived and died well enough to be carried home. The name means “chooser of the slain.”
That is what this knife is named for: not the fight, but the choosing. What you stand for. The sentence is cut into the right side of the blade, in Younger Futhark, the runes the Vikings used from around 800 to 1100 AD: falla í orrustu, eigi níð. It is not a decoration. It is a reminder, in the hand, on an ordinary Tuesday.
The first release includes 200 VALKYRIE III knives. Each comes with a numbered certificate.
The longer, lighter chef’s knife.
Long enough for a full slice through a fish or a roast, light enough that the weight sits in your hand, not at the tip. Of the two chef’s knives in EX-ANIMO III, this is the one for people who cut fast and cut a lot.
Runes cut into the steel.
VALKYRIE III is finished by hand. The long Damascus lines run the length of the blade, and deep acid etching leaves them as raised and recessed areas you can feel on the flat, away from the edge. Turn the blade in the light and the lines move.
The five words are cut into the steel by EDM, in one pass, no laser. Run a finger over them and you will feel the edges. They will not fade, and you will not forget them. Give this knife to someone who is standing their ground, and the blade says what you might not manage to say out loud.
Red oak, blue G10, brass.
The handle is stabilised red oak with rings of blue G10 and brass. The wooden sections are hand-finished with organic Danish beeswax and food-grade mineral oil before the knife leaves us. Stabilisation fills the wood with resin under vacuum, making it far less likely to crack, swell or take on smells than untreated wood; routine oiling is not required. The blue G10 is a glass-fibre laminate: the colour runs through the material, so it does not wear off, and it does not care about water.
At the end of every handle sits a solid brass butt. It is not decoration. VALKYRIE III has a long, thin blade, and without the weight at the back the knife would tip forward. The brass pulls the balance point back to where your fingers hold it, so the knife feels light and quick instead of blade-heavy. Every EX-ANIMO III knife with a Japanese-style handle is weighted this way.
The oak is cut from different parts of the board, so the grain and the colour are never the same twice.
About the edge
Warning: this knife arrives sharper than most people expect. Unpack it with care and keep it away from children.
The core is a cobalt-bearing VG10 steel, oil quenched and tempered to 62 HRC, then hand sharpened on stones by Jacob and his team in the workshop. In the film above, at the very end, he tests it the way we test every knife: a sheet of printer paper, no pressure, one clean cut.
Cut on wood or suitable plastic, never on glass, stone or metal. No bones, no frozen food, no twisting in the cut. Wash by hand and dry straight away.
In detail
- Type
- Damascus gyuto chef’s knife
- Blade
- 23.7 cm. Blade height 54 mm at the heel. Overall 380 mm, handle 143 mm
- Weight
- 204 g
- Steel
- 73 layers in total, including a cobalt-bearing VG10 steel core; the Damascus layers on both sides are 316L stainless steel
- Core
- Cobalt-bearing VG10 steel: C 1.10 · Cr 14.56 · Mo 0.84 · Co 1.54 · V 0.25 · W 0.11%
- Hardness
- 62 HRC after tempering, oil quenched
- Making
- Finished by hand
- Surface
- Long Damascus lines, brought out in relief by deep acid etching
- Right side
- RICEKNIFE and the runes falla í orrustu, eigi níð, engraved directly by EDM
- Left side
- RICEKNIFE and LINBECH logos stamped into the steel
- Handle
- Stabilised red oak, blue G10 and brass
- Edge
- Ground by hand
- Edition
- First release of 200. Numbered certificate included. Further production possible
- Gift
- Engraving and gift wrapping on request
- Collection
- EX-ANIMO III 2026
Designed in Denmark by RICEKNIFE. The cobalt-bearing VG10 core is documented by a mill certificate we keep. Read about the steel
Buy
1.496,00 kr. incl. tax
- Limited edition. First release of 200, numbered certificate included.
- Ground and finished by hand. Jacob examines every knife before approval.
- Engraving and gift wrapping on request.
Ask JacobAsk Jacob anything: a knife, a stone, a gift, or your own sharpening. We do our best to be here around the clock and to reply within the hour during the day, Copenhagen time, or first thing next morning if you write at night.
WhatsApp +45 20 46 46 90 · Instagram @riceknife_denmark · [email protected]
We keep evolving.
EX-ANIMO III is the third generation of the series, and every generation has been a step on from the last. EX-ANIMO III has a cobalt-bearing VG10 core with a mill certificate we can show you, a motif and name engraved by EDM instead of laser, a deeper etch you can feel, and an edge ground by hand by Jacob and his team. We do not release a new series until we are sure it is a step forward. This is the best we have made so far, and the next one will have to beat it.
The collection
Knife care
Keep it this sharp
A knife this sharp stays sharp only if you maintain it. Jacob spent five years on the sharpening system below, and made a video for each set. Start with the set that matches how often you cook, not how good you think you are.
The full system, Jacob’s story and all the videos: Jacob’s Sharpening
Questions
Is VALKYRIE III a gyuto?
Yes. Gyuto is the Japanese name for a chef’s knife with a curved edge and a pointed tip. VALKYRIE III is a 23.7 cm gyuto chef’s knife in Riceknife’s own design, with a cobalt-bearing VG10 core and a handle in stabilised red oak, blue G10 and brass. The knife is finished by hand.
What do the runes say?
The inscription is written in Younger Futhark, the 16-rune alphabet of the Viking Age, in use in Denmark and Scandinavia from around 800 to 1100 AD. The words are Old Norse, falla í orrustu, eigi níð, and mean: to fall in battle, not in dishonor.
Is VALKYRIE III a good gift?
Yes, for someone who is going through something. VALKYRIE III is a 23.7 cm Damascus gyuto chef’s knife with a Viking rune inscription that means to fall in battle, not in dishonor. It is a gift for a new start, a graduation, a recovery, a hard anniversary, a parent who never gave up, Christmas, or for anyone proud of Nordic heritage. First release of 200, numbered certificate.
Who is VALKYRIE III for?
Someone who cooks and who needs a reminder of their own strength: a friend starting over, a partner in a difficult year, a son or daughter leaving home, a parent who never gives up. It is the lighter and longer of the two chef’s knives in the collection, 204 g and 23.7 cm.
Can VALKYRIE III be engraved or gift wrapped?
Yes. We can engrave a name, a date or a short line, and we can gift wrap the knife. Message Jacob on WhatsApp (+45 20 46 46 90) or Instagram (@riceknife_denmark), or email [email protected], when you order, to agree the text and the wrapping.
How does VALKYRIE III differ from AMOR II?
VALKYRIE III has a 23.7 cm blade with long Damascus lines and a handle in wood, G10 and brass; it weighs 204 g. AMOR II has a 23 cm blade with a heart pattern stamped into hot steel and a red and black G10 handle; it weighs 242 g. If you prefer a longer blade at a lower weight, choose VALKYRIE III; for more weight behind the edge, choose AMOR II.
Why does VALKYRIE III cost more than an ordinary VG10 Damascus knife?
The steel: not every steel sold as VG10 is the same, and ours is a cobalt-bearing VG10 that comes with a mill certificate, and we publish the figures on it. It is oil quenched and tempered to 62 HRC, and the edge is still ground by hand. The surface: the long lines are deep etched, so you feel a real relief under your fingertips, not a printed or lasered pattern. The finish: the runes and the name are engraved by EDM, every edge is ground by hand, and every knife is examined before it is approved.
Is VALKYRIE III laser engraved?
VALKYRIE III is finished by hand. The runes and the RICEKNIFE name are engraved directly into the blade by EDM, not laser. Deep acid etching gives the long Damascus lines a relief you can feel.
Is the VG10 in EX-ANIMO III standard VG10?
It is a cobalt-bearing VG10 steel, and it comes with a mill certificate that we keep. The certificate lists the core steel as C 1.10 %, Cr 14.56 %, Mo 0.84 %, Co 1.54 %, V 0.25 % and W 0.11 %. We publish these figures so you can compare them with any other knife yourself; we do not claim they are better than the standard.
Looking for a Japanese VG10 Damascus chef’s knife?
VALKYRIE III gives you what people look for in a Japanese VG10 gyuto: a 23.7 cm blade with a cobalt-bearing VG10 core at 62 HRC, 73-layer Damascus and a hand-ground edge. It is designed in Denmark by RICEKNIFE, not made in Japan.
Is VALKYRIE III a luxury knife? What makes it collectible?
A first release of 200, a numbered certificate with every knife, runes engraved into the steel by EDM rather than printed on it, a hand-ground edge and a documented cobalt-bearing VG10 core. We call it functional art for the kitchen.
Would you prefer a quieter Scandinavian knife set?
For a more affordable set with a quieter Scandinavian expression, see the Raw Oak six-knife set.
How do I sharpen it?
On diamond stones, following Jacob’s videos. We sell three sharpening sets, each with its own video: Beginner, Chef and Professional. Start with the set that matches how often you cook, not how good you think you are.
How do I care for the blade and the stabilised wood?
Wash by hand and dry after use. No soaking, no dishwasher. Wood or suitable plastic board. No bones, frozen food or twisting. The stabilised wood is already hand-finished with organic Danish beeswax and food-grade mineral oil, so routine oiling is not required; wipe the handle dry with the blade. Sharpen as needed on diamond stones; see Jacob’s videos.
Still have a question? Ask Jacob on WhatsApp. We usually reply within the hour during the day, Copenhagen time.