The ax - along with other sharp iron objects (knife, sickle, scythe, etc.) - is a talisman and a repellent against evil spirits and diseases. Among the Eastern Slavs, the ax was placed under the feet of cattle during the first pasture to protect it from damage and predators ; for the same purpose in the Russian North, a shepherd walked around the herd with an Ax; Bulgarians hammered an ax into a tree to protect themselves from wolves.

In Polesie, the Ax was placed under the threshold so that the vampire could not enter the house; in Ukraine and among the Western Slavs, an Ax was placed under the bed of a woman in labor and under the cradle of a newborn, along with other iron objects, to protect them from damage and evil spirits. To protect the living from the influence of death, the Ax was placed under the bench where the deceased lay, or on the bench after the body was removed. The Serbs placed the Ax near the threshed grain left outside the barn to protect it from the night demons. In the Carpathian wedding ceremony, the groom, leading the newlyweds into the house, hit the door crosswise with an ax in order to neutralize possible damage. In the Russian North, it was believed that a merman could not harm a person if he mentioned out loud the Ax and other sharp objects. The ax was used to stop the hail, symbolically “cutting” the hail cloud.

To protect a newborn child from evil forces, the Serbs made an amulet for him in the form of a small Ax. It was made at midnight on the eve of Friday by a husband and wife who stripped naked and remained silent. The child for whom the amulet was made was supposed to wear it all his life as a talisman.

An ax, an object made of iron, is used in magical practice to impart strength and health to man and cattle. In Western Ukraine, going to bed on New Year, they placed an Ax near the bed, and in the morning they stood on it so that their legs were healthy and strong. To make the wound on the leg heal faster, an Ax was placed under the feet. For the same purpose, the Czechs in the morning at Good Friday stood barefoot on the Axe. To make childbirth easier, Serbian women drank water in which a sharp Ax was washed. In Polesie, after the deceased was taken out of the house, an Ax was thrown over the threshold so that the remaining family members would be healthy.

In folk beliefs, the Ax was associated with masculine. In Belarus, if the couple wanted to have a boy, they placed an Ax at the head of the bed, and if they wanted a girl, they placed a sickle. Among the Eastern Slavs, it was customary to cut off the umbilical cord of a newborn boy using an Axe. According to Polesie agricultural customs, before starting plowing, you need to stick an Ax into the ground to ensure a good harvest.

Sometimes the blade of the Ax was associated with the sharp teeth of rodents and predators, so the Bulgarians were forbidden to touch the blade of the Ax and other sharp objects on the first day of Lent, so that pests would not attack the fields.

In the Ukrainian Carpathians and Eastern Slovakia, ritual hatchets were used, which served as a sign of power and magical power senior shepherd

The earthly embodiment of the glorious weapon of the great Perun was widespread in Rus' no less than the sword. One often hears that an ax is a purely gangster weapon (remember the children's song: “knife and ax workers, romantics from the high road”) and in ancient Rus' it was wielded only by robbers. This is a misconception. In fact, the ax, along with the sword, was in service with the princely squads. The ax was also an indispensable tool for erecting military mechanical devices, fortification barriers, and for clearing roads in the forest. The fact that this weapon is rarely found in the epic heroic epic is extremely simple: the ax was the weapon of an exclusively foot warrior, while the Bogatyr from the epic has an obligatory companion - a faithful horse (for the same reason, many Bogatyrs in the epics have a saber instead of a sword). Foot soldiers revered and loved the axe, especially since the cult of the great God of War is associated with it. The ax was convenient in battle with heavily armed warriors; in good hands it could easily split a shield or tear chain mail.

There is an opinion that the battle ax was enormous in size compared to the working one. For example, there are many paintings where in the hands of a Slav or a Viking there is a huge ax, with a blade almost as long as a warrior’s elbow. This is a delusion, an exaggeration of artists. In fact, the weight of the battle ax did not exceed 500 grams and only real Bogatyrs could afford a larger ax. Of course, the larger the ax, the greater its destructive power, but is it worth neglecting speed for the sake of the monstrous force of the blow, because while the warrior is swinging his huge weapon, a nimble opponent will be able to blow off his head three times, for example, with a light saber. Battle axes resembled workers in shape, but were somewhat smaller. Slavic warriors were familiar with a huge number of forms and designs of the battle ax. Among them there are those that came from the east, for example, hammered axes, more similar to a pickaxe than an axe, the Scandinavians gave the Slavs the same ax or wide-bladed axe, and an ax in those days was mainly called a working, carpenter's ax. However, their proportions are somewhat unusual.

We are used to seeing in movies and paintings a semi-wild warrior holding a huge ax on a short ax handle - everything is just the opposite. The ax handle sometimes exceeded a meter in length, while the ax blade was 17-18 cm long and weighed on average 200-450 g, while the weight of a peasant poleaxe (axe) was 600-800 g. Such axes spread throughout the Northern Europe at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. Another interesting type of ax is with a straight top edge and a blade pulled down. Such axes spread to Norway, Sweden and Finland in the 7th-8th centuries. In Rus' and Finland they appear in X-XII centuries and find great popularity here: such an ax not only chopped, but also cut.

The purely national type of ax, ideal for combat and combining all the best qualities of a weapon, was as follows: its blade is curved towards the bottom (so it could also cut), and the inclination of the blade is such that the efficiency of the blow tends to unity: all the force, applied by the warrior, goes precisely to the blow and is concentrated in its middle part, which gave the blow enormous power. “Cheeks” were placed on the sides of the butt, the back part was strengthened with “toes”, both of which were intended for urgently securing the ax to the ax handle (wooden handle), moreover, they protected it when a deeply embedded ax had to be rocked in order to be pulled out.

Axes of this shape were used both for combat and for work. Since the 10th century, they have spread to Rus' and become the most widespread type of ax. Other nations, of course, also appreciated Russian invention: archaeologists find such axes all over Europe (however, these finds date back no earlier than the 11th-11th centuries, which proves the Slavic origin of such an ax).

An ax is one of the first human-made tools. A sharpened stone tied to a stick helped primitive man dig root crops from the ground, cut down trees, hunt and defend himself from enemies. Later, axes were made of copper, bronze, and steel. Their form was improved, various variations of this instrument appeared, both combat and peaceful. Axes were widely used for combat in Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Persia. Since those ancient times, the design and methods of using these weapons have remained almost the same as they were conceived by our ancestors.

Weapons that don't change

Simplicity of perfection - these are exactly the words that can be used to describe battle axes. Photos of samples of ancient weapons found in ancient mounds confirm this fact.

Their basic forms have not changed much over the past thousands of years. Scythian sagaris, Greek labrys - their recognizable outlines are repeated in medieval Romanesque axes, and in Viking battle axes, and in the weapons of the Russians. It's not a lack of imagination. There are simply things that no longer need to be improved, because they are already perfect. This doesn't mean they are necessarily difficult. There is nothing simpler than a wheel, but no one has improved it. Not a single inventor contributed anything fundamentally new to its design. Whether made of wood or stone, with or without hubs, a wheel is always a wheel.

The same is true with an axe. It can be stone, bronze or made of the best steel. It may be German, Chinese or African. But it is impossible to confuse an ax with another weapon. Different countries, dissimilar cultures, independently of each other, came to the creation of this ingenious weapon. Simple, cheap and extremely practical, it was equally applicable in everyday life and in battle. Actually, sometimes it is difficult to say for what exact purposes these weapons were used. Yes, specialized axes created exclusively for warriors cannot be confused with household tools. It’s just that the pattern doesn’t work in the opposite direction in this case. Any ax suitable for chopping firewood instantly becomes a combat ax; you only need to want to chop something other than pine logs. Or anyone.

Why were axes popular in Rus'?

Viking battle axes are practically legendary. There is not a single film about the harsh northerners in which a sharply sharpened ax of impressive size would not flash in the frame. Moreover, in Europe at the same time they mostly used swords, and in the East - sabers. That is, the territory in which one could see an ax in the hands of a warrior with the same probability as a sword was not so large. Why? If the ancient battle ax was so bad that few people used it, then why was it used at all? Weapons are not a reason to show off your originality. There is no time for external effect, this is a matter of life and death. And if the ax was good in battle, then why did the sword clearly dominate?

In fact, there are no bad or good weapons. Unusable tools simply disappear from use forever. Those unfortunate people who trusted the promises of the inventors die, and the rest draw conclusions. Weapons that remain in active use are, by definition, quite convenient and practical. But it remains so only under certain conditions. There is no universal weapon that would be appropriate everywhere and always. What are the advantages and disadvantages of an axe? Why were the battle axes of the Slavs and Normans not widespread in Europe?

First of all, it should be noted that an ax is a weapon of a foot warrior. It is much more convenient for a rider to work with a sword or saber, depending on the situation. This is why Viking seafarers so often used axes, unlike European or Eastern cavalry. Rus', which traditionally had close cultural ties with the Viking northerners, could not help but adopt these features of combat. And there were a large number of foot soldiers in Rus'. Therefore, many preferred the battle ax.

Ax and sword - what's the difference?

If we talk about the comparative characteristics of a sword and an ax in equal conditions, in this case in a foot fight, then each type of weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages. The ax has much more power blow, it easily cuts through armor, but a sword is unlikely to cope with such a task. The ax can be thrown. In addition, these weapons are much cheaper. Not every warrior can buy good sword. But the axe, even if devoid of decorative elements, will be affordable for anyone. And this type of weapon has many more functions. The sword is only good for war. The ax can also be used for its intended purpose, that is, to chop and chop a tree, and not an enemy. In addition, the ax is more difficult to damage. It does not chip as much as a sword, and such damage is of little significance. This is why battle axes were valued. You could replace the damaged butt with your own hands by simply attaching a suitable shaft. But to put the sword in order, you need a forge.

Compared to swords, battle axes have two main disadvantages. Due to the center of gravity falling on the metal part of the weapon, they are less maneuverable. But it is precisely this design feature that gives the ax blow its crushing force. But it is more difficult for them to fend off an enemy attack, so warriors who prefer this type of weapon almost always used shields. And the ax is not capable of a piercing blow, and in battle this can turn out to be a serious problem. A lunge always occurs faster than a swing; a warrior with an ax in such a situation loses in speed to an opponent with a sword. After the heavy, durable armor fell out of use, the latter type of weapon gave way to the much lighter and swifter sword. In the same way, battle axes retreated to the much more maneuverable fencing technique. There weren't many Viking seafarers left, for whom cheapness and practicality were decisive. But at the same time, our ancestors still used such weapons.

What did a battle ax look like in Rus'?

One way or another, this weapon was very popular in Rus'. Even in written evidence dating back to the 8th century, there are references to this type of military equipment. A huge number of axes found were made between the 9th and 13th centuries. This was due to the technological leap that occurred during this period. The number of axes found in burials and ancient settlements is amazing. More than one and a half thousand copies have survived to this day. Among them there are obvious battle axes, such as coined ones, and universal ones, suitable for both war and peaceful work.

The specimens found vary greatly in size. Conventionally, they can be divided into two-handed and one-handed, just like swords. Small axes in economic use could be a tool for coopers and carpenters. The larger ones were used by carpenters and lumberjacks.

Often in films, battle axes are depicted as huge, almost impossible to lift, with monstrously wide blades. This, of course, looks very impressive on the screen, but has little to do with reality. In fact, no one would use such a pointlessly heavy and clumsy machine in battle. Slavic battle axes found in military burials are quite compact and light in weight. The length of the handle of such a weapon is on average about 80 cm, the length of the blade varies from 9 to 15 cm, width - from 10 to 12, weight - within half a kilogram. And this is quite reasonable. These dimensions are sufficient, they provide an optimal combination of impact force and maneuverability. Battle axes made in such modest, “non-cinematic” proportions are quite capable of cutting through armor and inflicting a mortal wound. Create unnecessary difficulties for yourself with your own hands by weighing down effective weapon? No warrior would do such a stupid thing. Moreover, archaeological finds prove that the warriors also used even lighter hatchets, weighing from 200 to 350 grams.

Military weapons in ancient Slavic burials

Working axes, which served as an indispensable attribute of the burial of Russian men, were larger. Their length was from 1 to 18 cm, width - from 9 to 15 cm, and weight reached 800 g. However, it should be noted that the classic funeral decoration of both a warrior and a civilian in Rus' implied his readiness not so much for battles, but to a long journey through the halls of the afterlife. So they put into the mounds what might be needed on the campaign. The ax turned out to be indispensable in this regard. It could perform the functions of both a weapon and a tool at the same time.

However, one can also dispute theories about the purely peaceful or exclusively combat use of specific axes. Judging by the coinage and rich decorations, some large specimens were clearly status weapons - no one would put such insignia on a wood chopping tool. This probably depended on the personal preferences and physical capabilities of the warriors.

The famous Arab traveler Ibn Faddlan noted in his notes that the Russian warriors he met had swords, axes and knives with them, and never parted with these weapons.

What types of axes are there?

First of all, you need to decide on the terminology. What is the name of this or that type of battle ax? Axe, cleaver, chaser, halberd, glevia, guisarma, francisca... Strictly speaking, all these axes are blades mounted on a shaft, capable of chopping. But at the same time they differ greatly.

A mint, or klevets, is a small hatchet whose blade is made in the form of a sharp, beak-like protrusion. The blow with this part of the weapon is exceptionally powerful. High-quality chasing can be used to pierce not only armor, but also shields. On the side of the butt there is a small hammer.

The hammered hatchet is a separate type of weapon, a direct descendant of the Scythian sagaris. It has a narrow blade and also a hammer on the butt.

A poleaxe is not just a huge axe. This is a structurally different weapon, differently balanced, therefore the technique of fighting with an ax is fundamentally different from that when using an ax. The blade of the ax is usually arched, sometimes it can be double-sided.

Franziska - a small throwing hatchet used by the Franks. This is a relative of the Indian tomahawk. The length of the Francis handle was no more than 80 cm. True, there were also large types of this weapon, not intended for throwing, but they are less remembered.

Halberd, gisarma, glevia are a kind of hybrids of an ax and a spear. The blade, reminiscent of that of a poleaxe, was combined either with the tip of a spear or with a sharpened hook and was mounted on a long shaft. If the ax is a chopping type weapon, then such hybrids should also stab, and, if necessary, even cling and pull the enemy from the saddle or rampart.

All these types of bladed weapons were used in Rus'. Some were more popular, some less. We generally imagine the guards of the times of Ivan the Terrible exclusively with halberds, and, for example, the legendary knights - with huge axes. Craftsmen, making modern battle axes, copy these classic examples as far as possible, usually choosing the most spectacular ones in appearance. Unfortunately, it is the ax that makes a weak impression on a person who has little knowledge of edged weapons due to its inconspicuousness. But it was he who was the most common weapon of medieval Rus'.

Classic typology

Although in Rus' there was no pronounced classification difference between these types of weapons, the following types of battle axes can still be distinguished.

1. Weapons for combat purposes - hatchets, hammers, peckers, which physically could not be used in household work. This also includes expensively decorated axes. By the way, only 13 copies of such weapons survived, 5 of them were lost, 1 was later discovered in a foreign collection.
2. Small hatchets for universal use. These specimens look like ordinary work axes, they are simply inferior in size. The shape and dimensions of such weapons have already been described above.
3. Massive, heavy axes primarily for household purposes. They were obviously rarely used as weapons by warriors.

Mentioning the features of battle axes, we will focus only on the first two types described. The fact is that the third type is exclusively a working tool. Different versions of halberds or guizarms should not be included in the list either. They undoubtedly belong to the category of striking-cutting weapons, but the length of the shaft does not allow them to be considered an adequate replacement for an ax.

Axes exclusively for military purposes

The classical classification of A. N. Kirpichnikov divides battle axes into 8 types.

• Type 1. These axes have a triangular, narrow and elongated blade, sometimes slightly curved downwards. The jaws of the butt are triangular in shape, and the hammer attachment always produces a square in cross section. They were common in the X-XIII centuries. It is this type that the coin, the most popular battle ax among warriors in Rus', belongs to. It is the coins that are usually found in squad burials. Judging by their exceptional numbers, these axes were not expensive imported weapons, but were made by local craftsmen.
• Type 2. Another version of the coinage. Its blade is long, trapezoidal in shape, and on the back of the butt there is a narrow lamellar “beak”. This version of the ax is found only in burials dating from the 10th and first half of the 11th century. Similar models were discovered during excavations in Latvia, Poland, Sweden and Hungary.
• Type 3. A combat hatchet with a narrow blade, very common. Such models were found in burials of the 10th-11th centuries throughout Russia. A lot was extracted from the Vladimir mounds. But in the north of the country this type of ax is not particularly widespread. Considering the number of hatchets of this type found in Russia and other countries, and the time of their manufacture, we can conclude that this model was created by local craftsmen, and from here it migrated to neighboring states.

Axes used both in battle and for household needs

• Type 4. A version of the ax with a carved, elongated butt and a wide triangular blade extended downward. The upper edge of the blade is straight. Often the lower part of the blade had a truncated shape, this made it possible to carry the weapon on the shoulder, resting the blade against the back. Two notches on the cheeks provided the blade with reliable fixation on the butt. Archaeologists found these axes in both combat and working versions, in a ratio of almost 50/50. Some household axes were found complete with weapons and may have been used as a universal tool, suitable for both work and battle. The axes found date back to the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries. Often this weapon was the only one that archaeologists discovered with a warrior, and this is not surprising. The exceptionally successful shape of the ax and the reliable, strong butt, secured with triangular jaws, made this weapon surprisingly effective; its efficiency approached unity. Slavic craftsmen knew how to make battle axes practical and formidable weapons. This type of weapon was suitable for a strong vertical blow; the curved edge of the blade made it possible to deliver cutting blows - a property useful not only in battle, but also in everyday life.

Such axes are also considered an exclusively Slavic invention: in Russia, similar finds date back to the 10th century, and foreign analogues were created no earlier than the 11th century, that is, 100 years later.

• Type 5. A type of ax with a significantly drawn down blade and a pronounced notch. The cheekbones have only one lower notch. Such axes were in use in the 10th and early 12th centuries. In the north of Rus', these particular guns were extremely popular; significantly more of them were discovered than other models. And this is quite logical, because Scandinavian culture gave a similar blade shape to the Russians. There were many battle axes of this type; they actively came into use three hundred years earlier.
• Type 6. It differs from the model described above by its characteristic double cheeks. At first, these axes were used as combat axes (from the 10th to the 11th centuries). But their characteristics were significantly lower than those of the 4th type, and by the 12th century axes became predominantly working. They were usually not combat tools, but household tools, which is why the butt was attached so securely.

Wide-bladed and narrow-bladed universal tools

• Type 7. Axes with a symmetrically expanding large blade. The cutting edge of the blade of such a weapon is usually significantly beveled towards the shaft. Such axes are found mostly in the north of the country, which is quite logical, because they were borrowed from the Scandinavians. They were popular with Norman and Anglo-Saxon foot soldiers, as some documentary evidence has survived. But at the same time, this type of ax was actively used in everyday life, even more often than for combat purposes. In Rus', such weapons were often found in peasant burials.
• Type 8. It is very reminiscent of type 3, but its butt design is different. This is an outdated form of a heavy splitting axe, rarely used in combat conditions. Such instruments were popular as weapons in the 5th-9th centuries, later they were replaced by more advanced forms.

An ax - along with other sharp iron objects (knife, sickle, scythe, etc.) - is a talisman and a repellent against evil spirits and diseases. Among the Eastern Slavs, the Ax was placed under the feet of cattle during the first pasture to protect them from damage and predators; for the same purpose in the Russian North, a shepherd walked around the herd with an Ax; Bulgarians hammered an ax into a tree to protect themselves from wolves.

In Polesie, the Ax was placed under the threshold so that the vampire could not enter the house; in Ukraine and among the Western Slavs, an Ax was placed under the bed of a woman in labor and under the cradle of a newborn, along with other iron objects, to protect them from damage and evil spirits. To protect the living from the influence of death, the Ax was placed under the bench where the deceased lay, or on the bench after the body was removed. The Serbs placed the Ax near the threshed grain left outside the barn to protect it from the night demons. In the Carpathian wedding ceremony, the groom, leading the newlyweds into the house, hit the door crosswise with an ax in order to neutralize possible damage. In the Russian North, it was believed that a merman could not harm a person if he mentioned out loud the Ax and other sharp objects. The ax was used to stop the hail, symbolically “cutting” the hail cloud.

To protect a newborn child from evil forces, the Serbs made an amulet for him in the form of a small Ax. It was made at midnight on the eve of Friday by a husband and wife who stripped naked and remained silent. The child for whom the amulet was made was supposed to wear it all his life as a talisman.

An ax, an object made of iron, is used in magical practice to impart strength and health to man and cattle. In Western Ukraine, when going to bed on New Year's Eve, they placed an Ax near the bed, and in the morning they stood on it so that their legs were healthy and strong. To make the wound on the leg heal faster, an Ax was placed under the feet.

For the same purpose, the Czechs stood on the Ax with their bare feet on the morning of Good Friday. To make childbirth easier, Serbian women drank water in which a sharp Ax was washed. In Polesie, after the deceased was taken out of the house, an Ax was thrown over the threshold so that the remaining family members would be healthy.

In folk beliefs, the Ax was associated with masculinity. In Belarus, if the couple wanted to have a boy, they placed an Ax at the head of the bed, and if they wanted a girl, they placed a sickle. Among the Eastern Slavs, it was customary to cut off the umbilical cord of a newborn boy using an Axe. According to Polesie agricultural customs, before starting plowing, you need to stick an Ax into the ground to ensure a good harvest.

Sometimes the blade of the Ax was associated with the sharp teeth of rodents and predators, so the Bulgarians were forbidden to touch the blade of the Ax and other sharp objects on the first day of Lent, so that pests would not attack the fields.

In the Ukrainian Carpathians and Eastern Slovakia, ritual hatchets were used, which served as a sign of the power and magical power of the older shepherd.

The earthly embodiment of the glorious weapon of the great Perun was widespread in Rus' no less than the sword. One often hears that an ax is a purely gangster weapon (remember the children's song: “knife and ax workers, romantics from the high road”) and in ancient Rus' it was wielded only by robbers. This is a misconception. In fact, the ax, along with the sword, was in service with the princely squads. The ax was also an indispensable tool for erecting military mechanical devices, fortification barriers, and for clearing roads in the forest. The fact that this weapon is rarely found in the epic heroic epic is extremely simple: the ax was the weapon of an exclusively foot warrior, while the Bogatyr from the epic has an obligatory companion - a faithful horse (for the same reason, many Bogatyrs in the epics have a saber instead of a sword). Foot soldiers revered and loved the axe, especially since the cult of the great God of War is associated with it. The ax was convenient in battle with heavily armed warriors; in good hands it could easily split a shield or tear chain mail.

There is an opinion that the battle ax was enormous in size compared to the working one. For example, there are many paintings where in the hands of a Slav or a Viking there is a huge ax, with a blade almost as long as a warrior’s elbow. This is a delusion, an exaggeration of artists. In fact, the weight of the battle ax did not exceed 500 grams and only real Bogatyrs could afford a larger ax. Of course, the larger the ax, the greater its destructive power, but is it worth neglecting speed for the sake of the monstrous force of the blow, because while the warrior is swinging his huge weapon, a nimble opponent will be able to blow off his head three times, for example, with a light saber. Battle axes resembled workers in shape, but were somewhat smaller. Slavic warriors were familiar with a huge number of forms and designs of the battle ax. Among them there are those that came from the east, for example, hammered axes, more similar to a pickaxe than an axe; the Scandinavians gave the Slavs the same ax or wide-bladed axe, and at that time an axe

ena was primarily called a working, carpenter's axe. However, their proportions are somewhat unusual.

We are used to seeing in movies and paintings a semi-wild warrior holding a huge ax on a short ax handle - everything is just the opposite. The ax handle sometimes exceeded a meter in length, while the ax blade was 17-18 cm long and weighed on average 200-450 g, while the weight of a peasant poleaxe (axe) was 600-800 g. Such axes spread throughout the Northern Europe at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. Another interesting type of ax is with a straight top edge and a blade pulled down. Such axes spread to Norway, Sweden and Finland in the 7th-8th centuries. They appeared in Rus' and Finland in the 10th-12th centuries and found great popularity here: such an ax not only chopped, but also cut.

The purely national type of ax, ideal for combat and combining all the best qualities of a weapon, was as follows: its blade is curved towards the bottom (so it could also cut), and the inclination of the blade is such that the efficiency of the blow tends to unity: all the force, applied by the warrior, goes precisely to the blow and is concentrated in its middle part, which gave the blow enormous power. “Cheeks” were placed on the sides of the butt, the back part was strengthened with “toes”, both of which were intended for urgently securing the ax to the ax handle (wooden handle), moreover, they protected it when a deeply embedded ax had to be rocked in order to be pulled out.

Axes of this shape were used both for combat and for work. Since the 10th century, they have spread to Rus' and become the most widespread type of ax. Other nations, of course, also appreciated the Russian invention: archaeologists find such axes throughout Europe (however, these finds date back no earlier than the 11th-12th centuries, which proves the Slavic origin of such an ax).

On the territory of our country, swords have appeared in the burials of ancient Slavs since the end of the 9th century. Their first scientifically recorded finds were made in the 70s of the 19th century, when archaeologists had already thoroughly studied the swords discovered in Scandinavia, mainly in Norway. Our swords turned out to be very similar to them both in the characteristic shape of the blade and the type of handle. It was no secret, however, that the Scandinavians were not the inventors of the heavy cutting sword: according to reviews of foreign scientists, the culture that gave birth to them was no more Scandinavian than Slavic. This type of sword was formed by the 8th century in Western and Central Europe: experts were able to trace the previous stages of its development.

Nevertheless, Russian finds with enviable persistence were declared to be entirely Scandinavian in origin. In the historical science of the 19th century, Normanism dominated - the theory according to which the Vikings were “conquerors and colonizers of the Slavic plain”, who brought all the signs of civilization to the “wild” lands. In accordance with such views, the best part of swords was unconditionally recognized as “imported from Sweden” and only bad or unusual specimens were relegated to the role of inept “native” imitations.

At the same time, they completely did not take into account that the “Slavic plain” was inhabited not by savages, but by a talented and proud people, the owner of a powerful culture, behind which, like all neighboring tribes, stood centuries of traditions - military and craft.

Time and scientific research, fortunately, have put everything in its place. It turned out that the Vikings did not conquer us, and our blacksmiths-gunsmiths in their workshops created not pathetic imitations, but real masterpieces.

Modern scientists divide the swords of the 9th-11th centuries, found on the territory of Ancient Rus', into almost two dozen types with subtypes. However, the differences between them come down mainly to variations in the size and shape of the handle, while the blades are almost the same type. Average length the blade was about 95 cm. Only one “heroic” sword with a length of 126 cm is known, but this is an exception. He was actually found along with the remains of a man who had the status of a hero.

The width of the blade at the handle reached 7 cm; towards the end it gradually tapered. In the middle of the blade there was a “full” - a wide longitudinal depression. In fiction, wanting to emphasize the “ferocity” of the era, the valley is sometimes called a “groove for draining blood.” In fact, it served to lighten the sword, which weighed about 1.5 kg. The thickness of the sword in the fuller area was about 2.5 mm, on the sides of the fuller - up to 6 mm. However, the processing of the metal was such that it did not affect the strength of the blade.

I would like to pay special attention to the rounded tip of the sword. In the 9th-11th centuries, the sword was a purely chopping weapon and was not intended for piercing blows at all. This is sometimes forgotten by authors who force their heroes, Vikings or Slavs, to constantly pierce someone with swords. If they did this, it was mostly in a hopeless situation, when despair gives strength. By the way, warriors sometimes committed suicide in this way, washing away the unbearable shame. “He stuck the hilt of his sword into the ice and leaned on the edge,” says the Scandinavian saga...

How did our ancestors make the blades of their swords, which were exported to the East in the 10th century and enjoyed exceptional popularity there, since, according to a Muslim author of those times, they could be “bent in half and when taken away, they return to their previous position”?

When talking about bladed weapons made of high-quality steel, we usually look at the Arab East. Everyone is familiar with the words “damask steel” and “damascus steel”. However, during the Viking Age, which is mainly discussed here, Islamic swords were not imported into Europe, because they were significantly inferior in quality to local ones. Remarkable steel was made a little further away, in Persia and India. As historians write, the name of the ancient kingdom of Puluadi, which occupied part of the territory of modern Turkey, Armenia, Georgia and Iran, where iron was produced since ancient times, was given by the Persian word “pulad” (steel), which in the mouths of our ancestors turned into “damask steel”.

Everyone has heard the word “damask steel,” but not everyone knows what it is.

In general, steel is an alloy of iron with other elements, mainly carbon. Bulat is a type of steel that has been famous since ancient times for its amazing properties that are difficult to combine in one substance. The damask blade was capable of cutting iron and even steel without becoming dull: this implies high hardness. At the same time, it did not break, even when bent into a ring.

As metallurgical scientists have found out, the contradictory properties of damask steel are explained by the high (more than one percent) carbon content and, in particular, its heterogeneous distribution in the metal. This was achieved by slowly cooling molten iron with the mineral graphite, a natural source of pure carbon. The blade, forged from the resulting metal, was etched, and a characteristic pattern appeared on its surface - wavy, twisting, whimsical light stripes on a dark background. The background turned out to be dark gray, golden or reddish-brown and black. According to some linguists, it is precisely this dark background that we owe to the Old Russian synonym for damask steel - the word “kharalug”: it is compared with the Turkic “karaluk” - “black steel”. Other scientists, however, cite the name of the Afghan tribe (Karluk, Kharluk, Kharluzh), which was famous for the manufacture of steel blades.

The damask pattern was white or light gray, matte or shiny. Damask steel with a black background was considered more fragile; experts preferred a golden-brown background. The types of damask steel also differed in the type of pattern. Large (sign top quality) the pattern reached 10–12 mm, the medium one was valued less – 4–6 mm, and the small one, 1–2 mm, was even less valued.

The design of the pattern also played a role. “Striped” consisted of straight, almost parallel lines: such damask steel was considered low-grade. When curved lines were found among the lines, damask steel was more expensive and was called “streamy”. Even better was the “wavy” pattern of solid curved lines. If they were woven into strands, it was a “mesh” pattern, which was highly valued. But the best of all was the “cranked” damask steel. The pattern on such a blade was arranged in strands, like on a “mesh” one, only in the form of transverse belts-“knuckles”, repeated along the entire length of the blade.

On the highest grades of Persian and Indian damask steel, a white “cranked” pattern is clearly visible - repeating clusters, balls, skeins and strands of fibers on a dark brown background with a golden tint. When the design of the pattern resembled a human figure, the sword truly had no price.

According to reviews of Central Asian authors of the 10th-11th centuries, cast damask steel was afraid of only one thing - severe northern frosts, which made it fragile. One way or another, not a single sword of this era has been found in Europe. However, damask steel with similar properties did it here too. Only not cast, but “welded”.

To obtain metal with an uneven carbon content, Western European and Slavic blacksmiths took rods or strips of iron and steel, folded or twisted them together one at a time and then forged them many times, folded them again several times, twisted them, assembled them with an accordion, cut them lengthwise, forged them. again and so on. The result was strips of beautiful and very durable patterned steel, which was etched to reveal the characteristic herringbone pattern. It was this steel that made it possible to make swords quite thin without losing strength; it was thanks to it that the blades straightened, being bent in half.

Often, strips of welding damask steel (“damascus”) formed the basis of the blade, while blades made of high-carbon steel were welded along the edge: it was previously subjected to so-called carburization - heating in the presence of carbon, which impregnated the metal, giving it special hardness. Such a sword was quite capable of cutting through the armor and chain mail of the enemy, because they, as a rule, were made of steel or iron of lower grades. They also cut the blades of swords made less carefully.

Experts emphasize that welding iron and steel - alloys with markedly different melting points - is a process that requires the highest skill from a blacksmith. And archaeological data confirm that in the 9th-11th centuries our ancestors were fully master of this skill, and not only “knew how to make simple iron objects,” as the Normanists believed!

In this regard, it is worth telling the story of the sword found in the town of Foshchevataya, in the Poltava region in Ukraine. It has long been considered “undoubtedly Scandinavian”, since the hilt has patterns in the form of intertwining monsters, very similar to the ornament of memorial stones of 11th century Scandinavia. True, Scandinavian scientists paid attention to some features of the style and suggested looking for the birthplace of the sword in the South-Eastern Baltic. But when in the end the blade was treated with a special chemical composition, clear Cyrillic letters suddenly appeared on it: “LUDOTA KOVAL.” A sensation erupted in science: the “undoubtedly Scandinavian” sword turned out to be made here, in Rus'!

It is curious that the buyer of those times, who intended to purchase a blade of real (that is, cast) or welding damask steel, had to be wary of a fake. The technique described above is very complex and, naturally, expensive. They bought a good damask sword for an equal amount of gold by weight and did not complain about the high cost: it was worth it. It is not surprising that roguish artisans sometimes indulged in cunning: they made the base of the sword from simple iron and covered it on both sides with thin plates of damask steel. In order not to be deceived, the buyer first checked the sword by ringing: a good sword made a clear and long sound from a light click on the blade. The higher and cleaner it is, the better the damask steel. They also tested it for elasticity: would it remain bent after it was placed on one’s head and bent (towards the ears) by both ends. Finally, the sword had to easily (without dulling) cut through a thick nail and cut the thinnest fabric thrown onto the blade. IN Western Europe they also let a lump of unspun wool float down the river onto a substituted blade - the most difficult test for a sword.

Not every warrior had a sword - it was primarily the weapon of a professional. But not every sword owner could boast of a magnificent and monstrously expensive “haraluzhny” blade. Most had simpler swords. The Scandinavian saga tells about a Viking who had a hard time in battle because his sword kept bending: after almost every blow he had to straighten it by stepping on his foot. Differences in the methods of making swords of different quality can also be traced archaeologically: at all times there existed both “piece goods” and “consumer goods”. Some swords have steel blades welded to a base of simple iron.

For others, with steel blades, the base consists of three strips - two iron and one steel. Still others have both blades and steel bases of varying quality. The fourth has a steel base made of several plates. Still others have the entire blade made from one piece of iron, subsequently cemented...

“There were no technological difficulties or secrets in the production of sword blades that were not known to the Russian blacksmith-gunsmith,” states with legitimate pride a modern scientist, the author of a large special work on metalworking techniques in Ancient Rus'.

The hilts of ancient swords, as is easy to see, are richly and variedly decorated. The craftsmen skillfully and with great taste combined noble and non-ferrous metals - bronze, copper, brass, gold and silver - with relief patterns, enamel and niello. Our ancestors especially loved intricate floral patterns.

Scientists call a masterpiece of national craft the sword of the first half of the 11th century, whose bronze hilt is decorated with a remarkable floral pattern, highlighted in relief on a blackened background. An entire World Tree with a trunk, branches and leaves blooms on its handle...

They wore swords in sheaths made of leather and wood. In burials, only figured metal tips remain from them. Foreign scientists even write about the influence of the Russian production of scabbard tips on the Scandinavian one: in any case, from the second half of the 10th century, a floral pattern adopted in Rus' increasingly appears in the ornament of scabbard tips on Viking swords, which were previously characterized by images of animals.

As far as can be judged from the burial materials, the scabbard with the sword was placed not only at the belt, but also behind the back, so that the hilt protruded above the right shoulder. This method of wearing was common in the 10th century in many European countries, which is not difficult to understand if you remember the heaviness and meter-long length of the blade and how mobile a warrior must be. Riders readily used the shoulder harness. (Note that “sword belt” is a French word meaning literally “sword belt.”)

In the future, swords, like other weapons, change significantly. Maintaining continuity of development, at the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th centuries, swords become shorter (up to 86 cm), lighter (up to 1 kg) and thinner; their fuller, which occupied half the width of the blade in the 19th-19th centuries, occupies only a third in the 11th-12th centuries , so that in the 13th century it completely turned into a narrow groove. In the 12th-13th centuries, as military armor became stronger, the blade again stretched in length (up to 120 cm) and became heavier (up to 2 kg). The handle also becomes longer: this is how two-handed swords were born. Swords of the 12th-13th centuries were still mostly used for cutting, but they could also stab. Such a blow was first mentioned in the chronicle in 1255.

The sword is perhaps the most mythologized weapon.

The chapter “Forge and Mill” already talked about the importance that our pagan ancestors attached to iron. This metal, relatively new and very important for humanity, was considered a gift from the Gods. Similar legends about iron are common among many peoples: because of this, some scientists even came to the conclusion that ancient people first became acquainted with meteorite iron, and discovered the ore later. The master blacksmith, associated with the elements of fire and iron, appears throughout the world as an assistant and brother-in-arms of the light Gods. He helps them out of trouble, forges them weapons, and helps them defeat the terrible Serpent. The sacred power of a blacksmith also extends to the products of his hands: any iron object is a talisman, protection from evil spirits, which is why we still grab iron to this day, “so as not to jinx it.”

Of course, the power of such a talisman is greater, the more work and inspiration the master puts into it. We have already seen that preparing high-quality metal and forging a blade required a lot of time, effort and skill. In addition, a necessary part “ technological process“There were prayers, incantations and spells: the work of a blacksmith, like any artisan of antiquity, turned out to be a kind of sacred act. (Note that, according to some researchers, measuredly pronounced incantations and prayers also helped maintain the desired rhythm of the technological process.) Making a new thing, especially a complex one, meant for ancient man participation in the Creation of the World was a matter that required help from above. Our expression “work with soul” is just a pale reflection of what I’m talking about...

It is clear that a sword born under such circumstances could not be “just a piece of iron.” It was a living, intelligent creature. Moreover, he was something of a personality.

A mysterious connection arose between the sword and its warrior owner; It is impossible to say for sure who owned whom. And if you consider that in many languages ​​the word “sword” is feminine, it becomes clear that the sword was often not only a friend for a warrior, but also, as it were, a beloved girlfriend...

The sword was addressed by name. The sword of the legendary King Arthur was called Excalibur. The swords of King Charlemagne and his knight Roland were worn female names: Joyeuse ("Joyful") and Durendal. Viking swords had names: Hviting, Tyrving, Atveig and others. There is no reason to doubt that the Slavic warriors also named their blades with solemn and formidable names. It’s just a pity that these names have not reached us. Maybe the Slavs considered them too sacred and rarely said them out loud? Or maybe the chroniclers who worked in Christian monasteries considered this custom pagan and therefore kept silent about it?

Belief in the sacred power of swords is also felt in the legends about the origin of many famous blades. Other swords were considered a direct gift from the Gods. Powerful forces hand them over to warriors: thus, Excalibur, according to legend, was handed over to young Arthur by a supernatural hand raised from the lake. When Arthur's earthly journey came to an end, the same hand took the sword back into the abyss... Brave heroes of the Scandinavian sagas often retrieve their swords from ancient mounds, sometimes enduring a difficult duel with the ghost of the buried. And you can read about the circumstances under which Russian heroes acquired their treasure swords in any collection of fairy tales. Let us not forget, however, that a fairy tale is the same myth, only it has lost the meaning of “sacred history.”

No matter how the hero of the story gets the sword, this meeting is never accidental. Not only does a warrior choose a good sword, but a sword also looks for an owner to match it. Never will a sacred weapon give itself into unworthy, unclean hands. Possessing a wonderful sword often already means the hero’s chosenness. The future King Arthur grew up in obscurity, far from the capital. He proved his right to the throne by managing to pull out a sword that had been stuck into a stone by someone unknown. The enchanted weapon obeyed only him.

By the way, according to some versions of the legend, the sword was stuck into an anvil, which again leads us to the sorcerer-blacksmith...

Having chosen its owner, the sword serves him faithfully until his death. Or until the warrior dishonors himself, which is tantamount to death, if not worse. The Scandinavian leader Geirrod did not know defeat until he stained himself with a violation of the law of hospitality. And immediately his beloved blade fell out of his hand, and Geirrod “died without any glory, having impaled his chest on the edge”...

If you believe the legends, the swords of ancient heroes jumped out of their scabbards of their own accord and jingled fervently, anticipating a battle. The Scandinavian saga has preserved a curious episode for us. One man delayed too long to take revenge for his murdered relative. Then this man's wife slowly trimmed the scabbard of his sword so that the sword kept falling out. The husband was not at all surprised to see how the sword “encourages” him to take revenge...

Other swords “forbade” their owners to draw them without a worthy reason; but being taken out, they “refused” to return to the sheath without tasting the enemy’s blood. They moaned pitifully and became covered with bloody dew if their master friend was destined to die. The sword could avenge the dead. When the great Cuchulainn, the beloved hero of Irish legends, fell, an enemy chief came to cut off his head. Then Cuchulainn’s sword suddenly slipped out of the dead palm and cut off the enemy’s hand...

In many military burials, his sword lies next to the person. And it often turns out that the sword - we remember this living creature! - before the funeral they “killed”: they tried to bend it, break it in half. However, it also happened that the sword “refused” to go into the mound, anticipating a meeting with a new hero and new glorious exploits.

At the beginning of this chapter it was already said that swords appear in Slavic burials from the end of the 9th century. Scientists write: this does not mean that until then the Slavs did not know swords. Most likely, more early times There was still a strong tradition according to which the sword could not be personal property: it was the heritage of the family, passed on from fathers to sons. How to put him in the grave?

Our ancestors swore with their swords: it was assumed that a just sword would not obey the oathbreaker, or even punish him. Western European knights, praying on the eve of battle, stuck their swords with cross-shaped handles into the ground and knelt before them.

Swords were trusted to administer “God’s judgment” - a judicial duel, which, according to the then “criminal code”, sometimes ended the proceedings. A similar thing happened among the ancient Slavs; they called a judicial duel a “field.” And one can imagine with what feelings the scoundrel and deceiver went to “God’s judgment” against the person he had slandered, sensing how the indignant sword was about to tremble and twist out of the criminal’s hand, or even break from the very first blow. After all, it, the sword, had just been placed in front of the statue of Perun and conjured in the name of the formidable and just God: “Do not let untruth be committed!”

The consciousness of being right gives strength and sometimes takes us out of seemingly hopeless situations. And in ancient times, not only the man himself fought for justice, but also his sword, endowed with reason and a moral sense...

The hero of one of the Slavic legends had the opportunity to expose his own mother in vile treason: the evil woman decided to destroy her son-hero and would have destroyed him if his beloved girl had not saved him. Shocked by the crime, the hero nevertheless refused to raise his hand against his mother.

“Judge us,” he said to the sword and threw it high into the sky. The criminal mother jumped up to her son and pressed herself as closely as possible, but all in vain: a just sword struck her to death...

One more custom should be mentioned. Famous swords at all times were distinguished not only by their magnificent blade, but also by their richly decorated handle. Most often, this is seen only as a desire for beauty and the vanity of a warrior, plus the desire of a master to make and profitably sell precious weapons. All this is true, although scientists prove that the rich attire of a warrior and expensive weapons was rather an additional challenge to the enemy: “Try to take it away, if you’re not afraid...”

However, first of all, precious jewelry was... a kind of gift to the sword for faithful service, signs of love and gratitude of the owner. That's how many amazing and mysterious things can be said about the sword. But only a few of the properties that were attributed to him are mentioned here.

It is no coincidence that even the characters of modern “space” action films, traveling on starships, very often resolve mortal disputes not with blasters, but... with quite medieval swords. Moreover, the sword of the positive hero is almost certainly some kind of “special”. What can you do - we can’t escape historical memory, moreover, from the deep memory of myth.

Those who wore swords had a completely different law of life and death, a different relationship with the Gods than ordinary peaceful people... Scientists also mention a curious hierarchy different types weapons that existed, for example, among the ancient Germans. The onion is in the very last place in it. This is understandable, because you can shoot the enemy from cover without going close to him and without being in danger. And at the highest level is the sword, the companion of true warriors, filled with courage and military honor.

In our minds, the saber serves as an integral attribute of the Muslim warrior. Nevertheless, Turkish archaeologists, who specifically studied this issue, established: from the 7th to the 14th centuries, the straight sword dominated among the Arabs and Persians, as in Western Europe. The shape of the blade was similar to the Western European one, differing mainly in the handle.

The saber first appeared in the 7th–8th centuries in the Eurasian steppes, in the zone of influence of nomadic tribes, where the main military force there were detachments of light horsemen operating in the open air. The homeland of the saber - the territory where archaeologists find the oldest curved blades - stretches from Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Northern Black Sea region to Altai and Southern Siberia. From here this type of weapon began to spread among peoples who, due to historical circumstances, had to deal with nomads.

Telling about the times of hoary antiquity, the Russian chronicle contrasts the Khazar saber with the double-edged Slavic sword. The Khazars, the chronicler says, went to the settlements of the Dnieper Slavs and offered them to pay tribute - otherwise, they say, it would be bad. The Slavs, after consulting, brought out to the uninvited guests... a sword “from the smoke,” that is, from each family. “This is an unkind tribute!” – looking at the formidable blades, the Khazars decided. And they left with nothing.

Another chronicle scene of the opposition of sword and saber is the famous episode of 968. The Russian governor “made peace” with the Pecheneg leader and exchanged weapons with him: he gave him chain mail, a shield and a sword. The Pecheneg presented the governor with a horse, a saber and arrows - the classic set of weapons of the equestrian steppe people.

Nevertheless, in the same 10th century, our ancestors gradually adopted the saber into service, and later it even somewhat replaced the sword. However, the point here is not at all that it was “in general” a more progressive weapon, as is sometimes written. Every weapon appears where it can be used most successfully, and when it is needed. The map of archaeological finds indicates that in the 10th–13th centuries (especially after 1000) the saber was very popular among the mounted warriors of Southern Rus', that is, in places where there were constant skirmishes with nomads. Experts write: according to its purpose, the saber is a weapon of maneuverable equestrian combat. Thanks to the bend of the blade and the slight tilt of the handle towards the blade, the saber in battle not only chops, but also cuts; with a slight curvature and a double-edged end, it is also suitable for a piercing blow.

On the other hand, the sword was a more ancient pan-European weapon; behind it stood the powerful force of tradition (see chapter “The Just Sword”). The sword was suitable for both horse and foot, while the saber was exclusively the weapon of the horseman. Apparently, the saber never gained an advantage over the sword in pre-Mongol times, at least in the central and northern regions. In the battle episodes of the chronicles, the sword is mentioned fifty-four times, the saber – ten times. According to scientists, the surviving miniatures depict two hundred and twenty swords, and one hundred and forty-four sabers. And in the 13th century, which was characterized by the strengthening of protective armor, the heavy chopping sword again came to the fore, and with it the weighted saber.

The sabers of the 10th-13th centuries are curved slightly and evenly. They were made in much the same way as swords: there were blades made from the best grades of steel, and there were also simpler ones. But the decorations and ornaments, with the exception of some precious specimens, are generally smaller. Apparently, due to the fact that the saber in those days did not have the same “aura” as the sword.

According to archaeologists, the sabers of that time resemble the 1881 checkers with a blade shape, but are longer and suitable not only for horsemen, but also for those on foot. In the 10th-11th centuries, the length of the blade was about 1 m with a width of 3.0–3.7 cm; in the 12th century it lengthened by 10–17 cm and reached a width of 4.5 cm, and the bend also increased. The same trends of change are also characteristic of the sabers of our nomadic neighbors - the Pechenegs, Polovtsians, and Hungarians.

They wore a saber in a sheath, and, judging by its location in the burials of warriors, both at the belt and behind the back, whichever was more convenient for whom. Archaeologists have found small buckles from narrow sword belts.

It is curious that the Slavs, who themselves adopted the saber from their neighbors, to some extent contributed to its penetration into Western Europe. According to experts, it was Slavic and Hungarian craftsmen who, at the end of the 10th and beginning of the 11th centuries, produced a masterpiece of weapons art - the so-called saber of Charlemagne, which later became a ceremonial symbol of the Holy Roman Empire. In general, the saber appeared in European military use later than in Rus': in France - in the middle of the 13th century, in Serbia - in the 14th century, in Germany - around 1500. It is also interesting that Slavic name This weapon entered many Western European languages, including French, German and Scandinavian. Where it came from to us remains an open question. Some philologists believe that it is from Hungarian, but other scholars dispute this.

So, the saber entered Europe from the East. But some types of weapons accepted there also came from Europe to Rus'. True, in our country they are not widely used due to the specifics of local conditions.

One of these weapons is the large combat knife, or skramasax. In the 5th - early 88th centuries, these knives, the length of which reached 0.5 m and the width - 2-3 cm, were the favorite weapons of the Franks - a group of Germanic tribes that gave the modern name to France. In the 6th–7th centuries, in some places in the north of continental Europe, the Scramasaxes even forced double-edged swords out of use. Another Germanic tribe, the Saxons, believed that they even owed their name to these combat knives, which terrified their enemies. Judging by the surviving images, they were worn in a sheath, which was located horizontally along the warrior’s belt. Skramasaxes were used both in Scandinavia and in Rus', but for the 9th-10th centuries this weapon was already archaic. Its finds in our country are few, and in the 11th century the scramasax apparently disappeared completely.

Scientists call all knives over 20 cm long “combat”, but it is impossible to say whether they were made specifically for combat or for universal use. One thing is clear: every warrior had with him a knife, a convenient household and camping tool, which, of course, could serve in battle. The chronicles, however, mention their use only in heroic martial arts, when finishing off a defeated enemy, as well as during especially stubborn and brutal battles, when not only knives, but any utensils that came to hand were used. The wearing of “boot” knives behind the boot, noted in literary monuments, has not yet been archaeologically confirmed.

Another type of bladed weapon that did not find widespread use in pre-Mongol Rus' is the dagger. For that era, even fewer of them were discovered than Scramasaxians. Scientists write that the dagger became part of the equipment of a European knight, including a Russian one, only in the 13th century, during the era of increased protective armor. The dagger served to defeat an enemy dressed in armor during close combat. hand-to-hand combat. Russian daggers of the 13th century are similar to Western European ones and have the same elongated triangular blade.

Judging by archaeological data, the most popular types of weapons were those that could be used not only in battle, but also in peaceful life: hunting (bow, spear) or on the farm (knife, axe). Military clashes occurred frequently, but they were never the main occupation of the people.

Spearheads are very often found by archaeologists both in burials and at sites of ancient battles, second only to arrowheads in terms of the number of finds. Scientists joke that when they finally decided to sort out the numerous finds and put them in systematic order, they literally had to “wade through a forest of copies.” Nevertheless, it was possible to divide the spearheads of pre-Mongol Rus' into seven types and for each we could trace changes over the centuries, from the 9th to the 13th.

When compiling a book, I more than once had to make sure that about each “point” of the material or spiritual culture of the ancient Slavs, be it the God of the Thunderstorm, a simple spoon or the laying of a new hut, you can write a separate large work - where it came from, how it developed, what it turned into further, as (about material object) did and with what beliefs they associated it. In this sense, spears are no exception. In order not to overextend this chapter and not to drown in abundant material, we will only talk about three misconceptions that for some reason have taken root in our consciousness and even penetrated into works that claim to be historically accurate.

Firstly, many are convinced that ancient Russian warriors, using spears, threw them at the enemy. Battle scenes of other historical novels are replete with phrases like: “a well-aimed spear whizzed by...” Secondly, when you ask someone what a spear is, people, after some thought, most often point in the air with two outstretched fingers - they say, something like a pitchfork or flyers. And thirdly, they love to depict the equestrian knights of our epics as prepared for a “knightly” ramming strike with a spear, without even thinking about the century in which such a technique appeared.

Let's start in order.

As described in the corresponding chapters, the sword and ax - melee weapons - were designed to deliver a slashing blow. A spear served as a piercing melee weapon. Scientists write that the spear of a foot warrior of the 9th-10th centuries with a total length slightly exceeded human height: 1.8–2.2 m. For a strong wooden shaft (“tree”, “shaving”, “oskepisch”) about 2.5–3 .0 cm thick, a sleeved tip up to half a meter long was mounted (together with the sleeve). It was attached to the shaft with a rivet or nail. The shapes of the tips varied, but, according to archaeologists, elongated triangular ones predominated. The thickness of the tip reached 1 cm, width - up to 5 cm, and both cutting edges were sharply sharpened. Blacksmiths made spearheads in a variety of ways; There were all-steel ones, and there were also those where a strong steel strip was placed between two iron ones and extended to both edges. Such blades turned out to be self-sharpening, since iron wears off more easily than steel.

Such a spear was not used for throwing. Very similar ones, by the way, existed among the Scandinavians. The Vikings often decorated the sleeve of the spear tip with a silver notch, which makes it possible to distinguish the Scandinavian spears found in our land: archaeologists do not trace such a practice among the Slavs. But the Scandinavian sagas have preserved for us colorful descriptions of copies and their combat use. The spear shaft was sometimes protected with a metal coating so that the enemy could not easily cut it. The Vikings called such a spear a “stake in armor.” And here’s how they fought: “...he threw a shield behind his back and, taking a spear with both hands, chopped and stabbed with it...” Old Russian documents, when mentioning a spear strike, use similar expressions. And Scandinavian archaeologists add: “Look at this wonderful notch. Can you imagine such an ornate weapon being used just once?”

For throwing, our ancestors used special darts - “sulitsa”. Their name comes from the verb “to promise”, which meant “to poke” and “to throw”. As proven by experts, the sulitsa was something between a spear and an arrow. The length of its shaft reached 1.2–1.5 m, and all other dimensions were correspondingly smaller. The tips, more often than not, were not socketed, like those of spears, but stalked, and - an interesting detail - they were attached to the side of the shaft, entering the tree only with the curved lower end. This is a typical “disposable” weapon, which was almost certainly lost in battle. Archaeologists classify sulitsa with wider tips as hunting ones, while as combat ones they are equipped with a narrow, strong tip that can pierce armor and penetrate deeply into a shield. The latter was important, since the sulitsa, entrenched in the shield, prevented the warrior from maneuvering it, covering himself from blows. By turning the shield to cut off the protruding shaft, the warrior again exposed himself to danger...

Let us note that in exceptional cases, in stubborn battles, when it was necessary to get even with the enemy at any cost, spears were sometimes thrown. And in exactly the same way it happened that they were stabbed with sulitsa in close combat. Our chronicles mention both cases, but always as an exception, as an illustration of the cruelty of the battle. Here's an example. A wounded warrior, lying among the dead, sees an enemy commander carelessly approaching him. A sulitsa falls under the warrior’s arm - and here there is no time for rules...

Returning to spears specifically intended for hand-to-hand combat on foot, let us mention special types of tips that archaeologists come across in strata dating back to the 12th century and later. Their weight reaches 1 kg (with the weight of a regular tip being 200–400 g), the width of the feather is up to 6 cm, the thickness is up to 1.5 cm. The length of the blade is 30 cm. The internal diameter of the sleeve is also impressive: the diameter of the shaft reaches 5 cm. These tips are shaped like a laurel leaf. In the hands of a powerful and experienced warrior, such a spear could pierce the strongest armor; in the hands of a hunter, it could stop a bear and a boar. It is this formidable spear that is called the spear. Rotina first appears on the pages of the chronicle when describing the events of the 12th century (which also corresponds to archaeological data) as military weapon, but in the future it increasingly moves into the category of hunting spears. Scientists point out that the slingshot is a Russian invention; nothing similar has been found in other countries to date. And even into neighboring Poland the word “Rohatina” penetrated from the Russian language.

In the same “knightly” XII century, the ramming blow with a spear in equestrian combat also spread. Actually, spears in Rus' were used by horsemen before (the length of such a spear reached 3.6 m); there were, at least since the 10th century, tips in the form of a narrow tetrahedral rod, characteristic of cavalry pikes. But in the 9th-11th centuries, horsemen struck with a spear from top to bottom, having previously swung their hand. How powerful these blows were can be seen from the chronicles, where the expression “broke his spear” is found everywhere. “Breaking a spear” becomes almost synonymous with battle, despite the fact that breaking a three-centimeter shaft during a swing strike is not an easy task. But in the 12th century, the protective armor became heavier, and the warrior-horseman’s position also changed: now he rests on the stirrups with straight legs. And the warriors gradually stopped swinging their spears. They increasingly pressed their elbow to the right side, allowing the horse to take a running start for the strike. In Western Europe, this technique appeared at the beginning of the 11th century, but, as in Rus', it became widespread in the middle of the next century.

This type of weapon, one might say, was unlucky. Epics and heroic songs do not mention axes as the “glorious” weapon of heroes; in chronicle miniatures only foot militias are armed with them. But in almost any publication that talks about the weapons and military operations of the Vikings, “huge axes” are certainly mentioned. As a result, the opinion about the ax as an atypical, foreign weapon for Rus' took root. Accordingly, in works of art it is “handed over” either to our historical opponents or to negative characters, in order to thus emphasize their villainous character. I even had to read that the Russian people “from time immemorial” have interpreted the ax as something “dark and vile” and even “misanthropic”...

Such a belief is very far from the truth and, as usual, stems from ignorance of the subject. The meaning our pagan ancestors actually gave to the ax is discussed in the chapter “Perun Svarozhich”. Scientists explain the rarity of its mention in chronicles and its absence in epics by the fact that the ax was not very convenient for the rider. Meanwhile, the early Middle Ages in Rus' were marked by the emergence of cavalry as the most important military force. If you look at the map of archaeological finds, you can see that in the north of Rus' battle axes are found much more often than in the south. In the south, in the steppe and forest-steppe expanses, cavalry early acquired decisive importance. In the north, in rugged wooded terrain, it was more difficult for her to turn around. Foot combat prevailed here for a long time. Back in the 13th century, according to the chronicle, the Novgorodians tried to dismount before battle, declaring to their commanders that they did not want to “measure on horseback,” preferring to fight on foot, “like our fathers.” The Vikings also fought on foot, even if they arrived at the battle site on horseback.

By the way, the myth about “huge axes”, which required “incredible strength” to simply lift, is immediately dispelled if you look at any scientific book. Battle axes, being similar in shape to the workers that existed in the same places, not only did not exceed them in size and weight, but, on the contrary, were smaller and lighter. Archaeologists often write not even “battle axes,” but “battle hatchets.” Old Russian monuments also mention not “huge axes,” but “light axes.” A heavy ax that needs to be carried with both hands is a woodcutter's tool, not a warrior's weapon. He really has a terrible blow, but its heaviness, and therefore its slowness, gives the enemy a good chance to dodge and reach the ax-bearer with some more maneuverable and lighter weapon. And besides, you must carry the ax on yourself during the campaign and swing it “tirelessly” in battle!

Experts believe that Slavic warriors were familiar with battle axes of various types. Among them there are those who came to us from the west, and others from the east. In particular, the East gave Rus' the so-called mint - a battle hatchet with a butt elongated in the form of a long hammer. Such a device of the butt provided a kind of counterbalance to the blade and made it possible to strike with excellent accuracy. Scandinavian archaeologists write that the Vikings, coming to Rus', met coinage here and partly adopted them. Nevertheless, in the 19th century, when absolutely all Slavic weapons were declared either Scandinavian or Tatar in origin, the coins were recognized as “Viking weapons.” An amusing impression is made by the illustrations of some artists of that time, where the Vikings go to meet the Slavs, holding weapons in their hands, which, according to the authoritative opinion of scientists, they were to borrow from the Slavs in a few centuries!

Much more typical of the Vikings were axes, which archaeologists call “broad-bladed.” There is nothing so “huge” (except for a meter-long ax) in them: the length of the blade is 17–18 cm (rarely up to 22 cm), the width is also most often 17–18 cm. Weight – from 200 to 450 g; for comparison, the weight of a peasant working ax ranged from 600 to 800 g. Such axes spread around the year 1000 throughout northern Europe. They were used from Karelia to Britain, including in places where Vikings rarely appeared, for example in the central regions of Poland. Scientists recognize the Scandinavian origin of wide-bladed axes. But this does not mean that everyone who made them or fought with them was necessarily a Scandinavian.

Another type of battle hatchet - with a characteristic straight upper edge and a blade pulled down - is more often found in the north of Rus', mainly in areas with a mixed population, where Slavic and Finnish tribes lived nearby. Scientists call these axes “Russian-Finnish.” Hatchets of a similar shape, judging by archaeological data, appeared in Norway, Sweden and Finland back in the 7th–8th centuries. In the 10th-12th centuries they became typical for Finland and northeast Rus'.

Rus' also developed its own, “national” type of battle axes - which, by the way, once again confirms the incorrectness of the opinion that this type of weapon is foreign to the Slavs. The design of such axes is surprisingly rational and perfect. Their blade is slightly curved downwards, which achieves not only chopping, but also cutting properties. The shape of the blade is such that the efficiency of the ax was close to one: the entire force of the blow was concentrated in the middle part of the blade, so that the blow was truly crushing. On the sides of the butt there were small appendages called “cheeks”; the back part was also lengthened with special “toes”. They protected the handle when a stuck ax had to be swung back and forth after a strong blow. With such an ax it was possible to make various movements and, first of all, deliver a powerful vertical blow.

It is no coincidence that axes of this type were (depending on size) both working and combat. Starting from the 10th century, they spread widely throughout Rus', becoming the most widespread. Other nations appreciated the Russian invention. Archaeologists find hatchets of this type in Volga Bulgaria, Scandinavia, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states. But these finds date back to a later time, so even the most stubborn Normanists can only recognize the East Slavic origin of axes of this type.

Let us mention one interesting detail. On the blades of some battle axes, scientists discover... a hole. Its purpose has long been the subject of scientific controversy. Some considered the hole to be a magical sign, others - a decoration, others - a production mark, others believed that a metal rod was inserted into the hole so that the ax would not go too deep when struck, others argued that a wire ring with a rope tied was threaded into it - to pull the ax back to yourself after throwing at the target. In reality, everything turned out to be much more practical and simpler. According to many archaeologists, the hole served to fasten a cloth cover to the blade, “so that no man can cut it.” And besides, for her, the ax was hung from the saddle or on the wall.

Some scientists, by analogy with the hole on the ax, suggest recalling the spears of the Bronze Age, in the tips of which holes were also made. Archaeologists find similar spears in steppe zone Russia, as well as Denmark and China. It was established that their holes served for attaching leather or fabric tassels, pendants, even figurines - similar to how the end of a military banner pole is shaped these days. One ancient Chinese spear has survived - miniature figures of captives hanging, as if on a rack, with their arms turned out, are attached to the holes in its tip on chains...

So, the ax was the warrior’s universal companion and served him faithfully not only in battle, but also at rest, as well as when clearing the road for troops in a dense forest. Really, it would be nice for the authors of works who force their heroes to cut down bushes and trees with swords or chop wood for a fire to remember this. The observations of eastern travelers who saw Slavic warriors with their own eyes at the beginning of the 10th century deserve much more respect. These records indicate that our ancestors, during a military campaign, constantly carried with them not only a sword, but also an ax, a knife and other necessary tools, even a saw - a whole arsenal of “craftsman tools.”

In conclusion, let's make one more remark. What is the difference between a “axe” and an “axe” and is there a difference between them? In archaeological literature, both of these words are used interchangeably, as synonyms. There is also no clear distinction in ancient Russian literary monuments. But in fiction, a “axe” is more often called a battle ax rather than a working axe: apparently, it sounds more menacing.

Nevertheless, some philologists insist that the “axe” was mainly called a battle ax, and the “axe” was a working axe. In any case, it was the word “axe” that passed from the language of the Eastern Slavs into the language of distant Iceland, becoming entrenched there as one of the names for a battle axe. It is interesting that the Slavic and Germanic languages ​​in this case seemed to “exchange” names. Our ancestors used another synonym for “axe” - the now forgotten word “bradva” (“bradov”, “brady”). Linguists believe that in ancient times this word came to us from the language of the Germans. Moreover, it is no coincidence that “bradva” resembles a “beard”. To both the Germans and our ancestors, the downward drawn ax blade seemed “bearded.” The already familiar wide-bladed ax in Iceland was called the “bearded axe”...

When they say “mace,” they most often imagine that monstrous pear-shaped and, apparently, all-metal weapon that artists so love to hang on the wrist or to the saddle of our hero Ilya Muromets. Probably, it should emphasize the ponderous power of the epic character, who, neglecting the refined “master’s” weapon like a sword, crushes the enemy with physical force alone. It is also possible that fairy-tale heroes also played a role here, who if they order a mace from a blacksmith, it will certainly be a “stopud” one...

Meanwhile, in life, as usual, everything was much more modest and effective. The Old Russian mace was an iron or bronze (sometimes filled from the inside with lead) pommel weighing 200–300 g, mounted on a handle 50–60 cm long and 2–6 cm thick. The handle in some cases was sheathed with copper sheet for strength. As scientists write, the mace was used mainly by mounted warriors, it was an auxiliary weapon and served to deliver a quick, unexpected blow in any direction. The mace seems to be a less formidable and deadly weapon than a sword or spear. However, let us listen to historians who point out: not every battle of the early Middle Ages turned into a fight “to the last drop of blood.” Quite often, the chronicler ends a battle scene with the words: “...and then they parted ways, and there were many wounded, but few killed.” Each side, as a rule, did not want to exterminate the enemy completely, but only to break his organized resistance and force him to retreat, and those fleeing were not always pursued. In such a battle, it was not at all necessary to raise a “stopud” mace and pound the enemy head over heels into the ground. It was quite enough to “stun” him - to stun him with a blow to the helmet. And the maces of our ancestors coped with this task perfectly.

Judging by archaeological finds, maces entered Rus' from the nomadic South-East at the beginning of the 11th century. Among the oldest finds, pommels in the form of a cube with four pyramidal-shaped spikes arranged crosswise predominate. With some simplification, this form gave rise to cheap mass-produced weapons, which spread in the 12th-13th centuries among peasants and ordinary townspeople: maces were made in the form of cubes with cut corners, and the intersections of the planes gave the appearance of spikes. Some finials of this type have a “peck” protrusion on the side. According to scientists, “pecker” maces anticipate “falcon-beaked hammers,” which spread in the 15th century and were used for crushing heavy, durable armor.

However, development did not proceed only along the line of simplification. At the same time, in the 12th-13th centuries, pommels of a very complex and perfect form- with spikes sticking out in all directions so that in any case there would be a protrusion on the line of impact - one or more. These pommels were mainly cast from bronze, which initially led scientists into an unfortunate misconception: in museum catalogs and even in scientific works they were classified as belonging to the Bronze Age only on the basis that they were made of the mentioned metal!

Multi-spike maces in the hands of experienced foundry masters sometimes turned into real works of art. The space between the spikes was filled with small protuberances and a braided pattern. On some pommels the pattern is flattened and crumpled: these maces have seen battles...

Archaeologists have established that the master first made a wax model, giving the pliable material the desired shape. Then the model was coated with clay and heated: the wax flowed out, and molten bronze was poured into the resulting hollow mold. But a lot of maces were required, and a wax model was not made for each one. The mold-cast could also be obtained from a finished pommel, only in this case the clay mold was divided in two and then fastened together: a characteristic seam was obtained on the finished ingot, which was later smoothed with a file. One pommel was cast from a wax model, and the master then made several molds from it. Having gone from hand to hand, the products sometimes fell into the hands of other, often less skilled artisans, who made a copy of the copy - and so on. It is interesting to watch how scientists, getting acquainted with copies of different quality, gradually reach the main centers of artistic craft...

In addition to iron and bronze, in Rus' they also made mace heads from “burl” - a very dense growth with a bizarre wavy fiber structure, which is found on birch trees.

And since the 12th-13th centuries, archaeologists have come across spherical heads of maces, in which the ribs intended for impact have been sawed out. Scientists consider such maces to be the immediate predecessors of the famous six-finned maces - maces with six ribs “feathers”, the history of which in Western Europe and Rus' usually begins in the 14th century.

As we saw above, maces often became mass weapons. On the other hand, a sparkling gilded mace, the product of a good craftsman, was sometimes made a symbol of power. This was noted, in particular, among Russians, Ukrainians, Turks, Hungarians and Poles. In the 16th century, for example, maces still served as weapons, but special, ceremonial ones had already appeared: they were decorated with gold, silver and expensive stones and, of course, were not used for battles.

In the same 16th century, apparently, the word “mace” itself, which originally had the meaning of “bump”, “knob”, was consolidated in the Russian language. In any case, it is first found in written documents of the early 17th century. What was this weapon called in earlier times? In ancient Russian chronicles there are two terms, the meaning and use of which leaves no doubt that we are talking specifically about maces. The first of them is the “hand-held staff”, mentioned in the works of the 11th century. The second term is “cue”. In the chapter “Forge and Mill” we talked about one of the meanings of this word “hammer”. However, it also had the meaning of “staff”, “heavy stick”, “club”. Meanwhile, the mace is nothing more than the heir to the primitive club, combat variety hammer And in Serbian “cue” still means “mace”.

As for the ancient clubs, our Slavic ancestors perfectly preserved the memory of the times when metals were not yet known and people “fought with clubs and stones.” This was discussed in the chapter “Mother Earth and Father Sky.” The wooden clubs rotted in the ground without waiting for archaeologists to shovel them, but it is known from written sources that they were in service for a very long time. In fact: the club could have been made for himself by the very last member of the militia, who did not even have a decent bow, not to mention a sword. An Arab traveler of the 10th century, talking about the weapons of the Slavs he met, mentions clubs. They were worn near the belt, and in battle they tried to hit the enemy on the helmet. Sometimes batons were thrown. The origin of the words “club” and “bludgeon”, presumably, does not need any comment. Another name for the club was “rogditsa” or “cornea”.

Kiste ’ n is a rather weighty (200–300 g) bone or metal weight attached to a belt, chain or rope, the other end of which was attached to a short wooden handle - a “tassel” - or simply to the hand. Otherwise, the flail is called a “combat weight.”

If the sword has had a reputation since ancient times as a privileged, “noble” weapon, with special sacred properties, then the flail, according to established tradition, is perceived by us as a weapon of the common people and even a purely robber one. The Russian language dictionary by S.I. Ozhegov gives a single phrase as an example of the use of this word: “Robber with a flail.” V.I. Dahl’s dictionary interprets it more broadly, as “hand-held road weapon.” Indeed, a small but effective flail was discreetly placed in the bosom, and sometimes in the sleeve, and could serve a person who was attacked on the road. V. I. Dahl’s dictionary gives some idea of ​​the techniques for handling this weapon: “... a flying brush... is wound, circling, on the brush and develops in a big way; they fought with two flails, in both streams, spreading them, circling them, hitting and picking up one by one; there was no hand-to-hand attack against such a fighter..."

“A brush is as big as a fist, and with it is good,” said the proverb. Another proverb aptly characterizes a person who hides a robber streak behind external piety: “Have mercy, Lord!” - and there’s a flail in his belt!”

Meanwhile, in Ancient Rus', the flail was primarily a warrior’s weapon. At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was believed that brushes were brought to Europe by the Mongols. But then the flails were dug up along with Russian things of the 10th century, and in the lower reaches of the Volga and Don, where nomadic tribes lived, who used them back in the 4th century. Scientists write: this weapon, like maces, is extremely convenient for the rider. That, however, did not stop the foot soldiers from appreciating it.

The word “tassel” does not come from the word “brush,” which at first glance seems obvious. Etymologists derive it from Turkic languages, in which similar words have the meaning “stick”, “club”.

By the second half of the 10th century, the flail was used throughout Rus', from Kyiv to Novgorod. The flails of those times were usually made from elk horn - the densest and heaviest bone available to the artisan. They were pear-shaped, with a drilled longitudinal hole. A metal rod equipped with an eyelet for a belt was passed into it. On the other hand, the rod was riveted. On some flails, carvings are visible: princely signs of ownership, images of people and mythological creatures.

Bone flails existed in Rus' back in the 13th century, but with the growing popularity of this type of weapon, bone is gradually being replaced by more reliable materials - iron and bronze. Thus, already in the 10th century they began to make bronze weights for flails, filled with heavy lead from the inside. Sometimes, to save lead, a stone was placed inside.

Archaeologists emphasize that ancient Russian craftsmen were always concerned not only with the practical effectiveness of the weapons they made, but also with their appearance. The flails were decorated with a relief pattern, silver notching, and blackening. There are very elegant examples, the decorative elements of which skillfully imitate grain and filigree (remember the chapter “Decoration”). Old Russian flails were not crude “stumps on a rope”; on the contrary, many of them are excellent examples of foundry craftsmanship. The chapters “Mace, Mace, Club” and “Amulets” talk about handicraft imitations of the products of masters. A similar process has been traced by scientists for flails.

And just like on maces, the elegant pattern on the flails is sometimes damaged and dented by someone’s armor and helmets...

The combat weights of Ancient Rus' did not always have a round or pear-shaped shape. Some of them resemble the heads of maces that were very common at that time: for example, cubes with cut corners, and also equipped with spikes.

The “peak popularity” of the flail in pre-Mongol Rus' occurred in the 13th century. At this time, flails from Russian workshops reach neighboring nations - from the Baltic states to Volga Bulgaria...

In Western Europe, flails began to appear in the 11th century, and in the 14th-15th centuries they were used from England to Japan. Close relatives of flails are large weights connected to a long handle. They were called "battle flails" or "battle whips." The history of the Hussite wars is inextricably linked with military flails - the wars that the Czech people waged against their oppressors at the beginning of the 15th century. One of the leaders of the rebels, the famous commander Jan Zizka, was depicted in portraits holding a formidable battle flail. It was a terrible weapon, capable of shattering the strongest knightly armor. Meanwhile, its ancestor was a modest little brush.

Gurevich Yu. G. The mystery of the damask pattern. M., 1985.

Cardini F. The origins of medieval knighthood. M., 1987.

Kirpichnikov A. N. Old Russian weapons: Swords and sabers of the 9th-13th centuries. M.; L., 1966. Issue. 1.

Kirpichnikov A. N. Old Russian weapons: Spears, sulitsa, battle axes, maces, flails of the 9th-13th centuries. M.; L., 1966. Issue. 2.

Kirpichnikov A. N. On the originality and features in the development of Russian weapons in the 10th–13th centuries: On the problem of cultural influences in the history of early medieval technology // Culture and Art of Ancient Rus'. L., 1967.

Kirpichnikov A. N., Medvedev A. F. Armament // Ancient Rus': City, castle, village. M., 1985.

Kolchin B. A. Ferrous metallurgy and metalworking in ancient Rus' (pre-Mongol period) // Materials and research on the archeology of the USSR. M., 1953. Issue. 32.

Kolchin B. A. Weaponmaking of Ancient Rus' (production technology) // Problems of Soviet archeology. M., 1978.

Korzukhina G. F. From the history of ancient Russian weapons of the 11th century // Soviet Archeology. 1950. Issue. 13.

Medvedev A.F. Weapons of Veliky Novgorod // Materials and research on the archeology of the USSR. 1959. Vol. 65.

Rabinovich M. G. From the history of Russian weapons of the 9th-15th centuries. // Proceedings of the Institute of Ethnography: New series. M., 1947. T. 1.

Stackelberg Yu. I. Toy weapons from Staraya Ladoga // Soviet Archeology. 1969. Vol. 2.

The ax is actually a very important tool. Of course, if you are a real carpenter, you should definitely know how to make an ax that is perfect for certain tasks. Professional carpenters usually use several axes at once. However, this type of tool is also necessary for people living outside the city, or simply for city residents who occasionally go to their summer cottages. After all, the bathhouse needs to be heated with wood, and you can chop it only with an axe. And so that no misunderstandings arise in the process, and the tool does not let you down, you should know all the subtleties of how to make an ax with your own hands, as well as how to prepare it for work. The ax itself can be completely different in shape. But the ax must be properly mounted, wedged, and sharpened at a certain angle.

Choosing the cutting part of the ax

When you are faced with a choice in the process of purchasing a piercing part, be sure to pay attention to the metal from which it is made. There must be a GOST inscription confirming execution in accordance with the norms and requirements. You should be wary if you see a sign like: OST, MRTU, TU. In this case, the metal production technology could be changed by the manufacturer. If we talk about choosing a good Soviet ax, then it is better to buy it on the regular market.

You can check the quality of an ax the old-fashioned way, by striking the blade of one against the blade of another. If one of the products is made poorly, then it will be on it that marks from the impact will remain. Also, if you hang the ax, you can knock on it and listen to the sound. He will be characteristic.

Please note that if the blade is good, there should be no dents or flaws; the eye should be cone-shaped; also the eye and blade must be coaxial; and there must also be at least a small thickness of the butt, and its ends must be perpendicular to the blade.

If you were unable to find a product that meets all standards. Do good ax you can do it yourself. Even if some misunderstandings are discovered in the purchased product over time, they can be eliminated by sharpening the burrs, boring the lugs, and giving the butt a symmetrical shape.

Select a workpiece. Make an ax handle

Based on your height and strength, you should choose the length of the axe. The quality of the wood is also very important. For example, for lightweight products weighing up to one kg, the length of the handles is 40-60 cm. If we talk about a heavy ax - up to one and a half kilograms in weight, the length of the handle will be 55-65 cm.

You should approach the question of how to make a wooden ax correctly. For example, not every tree is suitable for its handle. The most suitable options are the root part of the birch, as well as its growths; maple or oak, ash and other types of wood. It is very important to dry the preparations well, and always in natural conditions and for a considerable time.

You choose a tool template in advance, and your template should be outlined on the workpiece. The end part of the handle should be thick so that the master can brake with his hand if the ax slips out. Excess wood (beyond the contour) should be removed with a knife, an ax with a perfectly sharpened blade, or other similar tools. After this, you need to make sure that the actions are correct. For fitting, place the ax on the ax handle using a mallet. Make sure that these parts fit very tightly together. After that you can begin further cleaning. To scrape, you should use glass, and to grind, use fine-grained sandpaper. Knowing how to make an ax out of wood is already half the battle. But that's not all.

“Planting” the ax on the handle

This process can be done, for example, in this way:

• The top of the ax is adjusted in accordance with the eye. Unnecessary wood should be removed with a knife.

• The ax handle should be placed horizontally on a flat, hard surface, and the ax should be placed on top. On the handle you need to mark with a pencil the place to which it needs to be inserted. Having divided the segment in two, you should put a second mark.

• Use a vice to clamp the ax handle so that the wider end is facing up. Use a hacksaw to cut to the 2nd mark directly under the wedge.

• The wedge can be from a store, or it can also be made from wood by hand. Its thickness can be 5-10 mm, the length is the same as the depth of the cut, and the width is equal to the eye of an ax.

• You need to put a board on the table, and put an ax on it, upside down. The ax should be put on the ax handle, tapping it on the board. Next, you should turn it over and tap it with the handle while inserting it. This should be turned over and tapped several times in a row. As a result, the ax handle should fit into the eyelet.

• After this, the ax handle must be placed vertically, and a wedge must be inserted into the cut and hammered in with a mallet.

• Oil should be applied to the ax handle, the excess will drain off, and the tool will be left to dry. After everything, use a rag to wipe the ax and handle.

In addition, you can watch a video on how to make an ax, with the help of which the essence of making the tool will be clearer to you.

Sharpening an ax blade

This issue is very important so that working with the tool does not cause inconvenience and hassle. In accordance with GOST, the sharpening angle should be from twenty to thirty degrees. If you are a professional carpenter, then sharpening should be done at an angle of thirty-five degrees.

Upon completion of the work done with an ax, it is recommended to put a cover on the blade. Be careful!