Sword marking for ID

[Helleri]

These marks seem to be serif and somewhat random or unpredictable in their form. I wonder if this was meant to act in a similar fashion the cattle brand marks which were designed to ward against being modified. In the case of cattle branding it was an anti theft thing. In the case of blade making perhaps it's an anti counterfeit thing? Or perhaps they are compound alchemical symbols to denote alloy?