Armor and Weapons of Ancient Rus'. Melee weapons in ancient Rus'

Slavic warrior 6-7 centuries

Information about the earliest types of weapons of the ancient Slavs comes from two groups of sources. The first is written evidence mainly from late Roman and Byzantine authors who knew well these barbarians who often attacked the Eastern Roman Empire. The second is materials from archaeological excavations, which generally confirm the data of Menander, John of Ephesus and others. To later sources covering the state of military affairs and, including, the weapons of the era Kievan Rus, and then the Russian principalities of the pre-Mongol period, in addition to archaeological ones, there are reports of Arab authors, and then the Russian chronicles themselves and the historical chronicles of our neighbors. Valuable sources for this period are also visual materials: miniatures, frescoes, icons, small sculptures, etc.

Byzantine authors repeatedly testified that the Slavs of the 5th – 7th centuries. had no defensive weapons except shields (the presence of which among the Slavs was noted by Tacitus in the 2nd century AD) (1). Their offensive weapons were extremely simple: a pair of darts (2). It can also be assumed that many, if not all, had bows, which are mentioned much less frequently. There is no doubt that the Slavs also had axes, but they are not mentioned as weapons.

This is fully confirmed by the results of archaeological studies of the territory where the Eastern Slavs settled at the time of the formation of Kievan Rus. In addition to the ubiquitous arrowheads and throwing arrows, less often spears, only two cases are known when in the layers of the 7th - 8th centuries. more advanced weapons were found: armor plates from excavations of the Khotomel military settlement in Belarusian Polesie and fragments of a broadsword from the Martynovsky treasure in Porosye. In both cases, these are elements of the Avar weapons complex, which is natural, because in the previous period it was the Avars who had the greatest influence on the Eastern Slavs.

In the second half of the 9th century., the activation of the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” led to an increase in Scandinavian influence on the Slavs, including in the field of military affairs. As a result of its merger with the steppe influence, on the local Slavic soil in the middle Dnieper region, its own original ancient Russian weapons complex began to take shape, rich and universal, more diverse than in the West or East. Absorbing Byzantine elements, it was mainly formed by the beginning of the 11th century. (3)

Viking swords

The defensive weapons of a noble warrior from the time of the first Rurikovichs included a simple shield (Norman type), a helmet (often Asian, pointed), and a plate or ringed armor. The main weapons were a sword (much less often a saber), a spear, a battle axe, a bow and arrows. Flails and darts - sulitsa - were used as additional weapons.

The warrior's body was protected chain mail, which looked like a mid-thigh length shirt made of metal rings, or armor made of horizontal rows of metal plates tied together with straps. Making chain mail required a lot of time and physical effort. First, wire was made by hand drawing, which was wrapped around a metal rod and cut. One piece of chain mail required about 600 m of wire. Half of the rings were welded, and the ends of the rest were flattened. Holes less than a millimeter in diameter were punched at the flattened ends and riveted, having previously connected this ring with four other already woven rings. The weight of one chain mail was approximately 6.5 kg.

Until relatively recently, it was believed that it took several months to make ordinary chain mail, but recent research has refuted these speculative theories. Production of a typical small chain mail of 20 thousand rings in the 10th century. took “only” 200 man-hours, i.e. one workshop could “deliver” up to 15 or more pieces of armor in a month. (4) After assembly, the chain mail was cleaned and polished with sand until shiny.

In Western Europe, canvas cloaks with short sleeves were worn over armor, protecting them from dust and overheating in the sun. This rule was often followed in Rus' (as evidenced by the miniatures of the Radziwill Chronicle of the 15th century). However, the Russians sometimes liked to appear on the battlefield in open armor, “as if in ice,” for greater effect. Such cases are specifically mentioned by the chroniclers: “And it’s scary to see someone in bare armor, like water to the sun shining brightly.” A particularly striking example is given by the Swedish “Chronicle of Eric,” although it goes beyond the scope of our study (XIV century): “When the Russians arrived there, they could see a lot of light armor, their helmets and swords shone; I believe that they went on a campaign in the Russian way.” And further: “...they shone like the sun, their weapons were so beautiful in appearance...” (5).

It has long been believed that chain mail in Rus' appeared from Asia, supposedly even two centuries earlier than in Western Europe (6), but now the opinion has become established that this type of protective weapon is an invention of the Celts, known here since the 4th century. BC, used by the Romans and by the middle of the first millennium AD. reached Western Asia (7). Actually, the production of chain mail arose in Rus' no later than the 10th century (8)

From the end of the 12th century. the appearance of the chain mail has changed. Armor with long sleeves, knee-length hem, chain mail stockings, gauntlets and hoods appeared. They were no longer made from round cross-sections, but from flat rings. The collar was made square, split, with a shallow cutout. In total, one chain mail now required up to 25 thousand rings, and by the end of the 13th century - up to 30 of different diameters (9).

Unlike Western Europe in Rus', where the influence of the East was felt, at that time there was a different system of defensive weapons - lamellar or “plank armor”, called by experts lamellar armor. Such armor consisted of metal plates connected to each other and pushed over each other. The most ancient “armors” were made of rectangular convex metal plates with holes along the edges, into which straps were threaded, tightening the plates together. Later, the plates were made in various shapes: square, semicircular, etc., up to 2 mm thick. Early belt-mounted armor was worn over a thick leather or quilted jacket or, according to Khazar-Magyar custom, over chain mail. In the XIV century. the archaic term “armor” was replaced by the word “armor”, and in the 15th century a new term appeared, borrowed from the Greek language, “shell”.

The lamellar shell weighed slightly more than ordinary chain mail - up to 10 kg. According to some researchers, the cut of Russian armor from the times of Kievan Rus differed from the steppe prototypes, which consisted of two cuirasses - chest and back, and was similar to the Byzantine one (cut on the right shoulder and side) (10). According to the tradition going through Byzantium from ancient Rome, the shoulders and hem of such armor were decorated with leather strips covered with inlaid plaques, which is confirmed by works of art (icons, frescoes, miniatures, stone items).

Byzantine influence manifested itself in the borrowing of scale armor. The plates of such armor were attached to a fabric or leather base with their upper part and overlapped the row below, like tiles or scales. On the sides, the plates of each row overlapped one another, and in the middle they were still riveted to the base. Most of these shells found by archaeologists date back to the 13th – 14th centuries, but they have been known since the 11th century. They were hip-length; the hem and sleeves were made from longer plates. Compared to the plate lamellar shell, the scaly one was more elastic and flexible. Convex scales attached only on one side. They gave the warrior greater mobility.

Chain mail dominated quantitatively throughout the early Middle Ages, but in the 13th century it began to be replaced by plate and scale armor. During the same period, combined armor appeared that combined both of these types.

The characteristic spheroconic pointed helmets did not immediately gain dominance in Rus'. Early protective headdresses differed significantly from each other, which was a consequence of the penetration of different influences into the East Slavic lands. Thus, in the Gnezdovo burial mounds in the Smolensk region, of the two helmets found in the 9th century. one turned out to be hemispherical, consisting of two halves, connected by stripes along the lower edge and along the ridge from the forehead to the back of the head, the second was typically Asian, consisting of four triangular parts with a pommel, a lower rim and four vertical stripes covering the connecting seams. The second had brow cutouts and a nosepiece, and was decorated with gilding and a pattern of teeth and notches along the rim and stripes. Both helmets had chain mail aventails - nets that covered the lower part of the face and neck. Two helmets from Chernigov, dating back to the 10th century, are close in manufacturing method and decoration to the second Gnezdov helmet. They are also of the Asian, pointed type and are topped with finials with sleeves for plumes. In the middle part of these helmets there are rhombic linings with protruding spikes. These helmets are believed to be of Magyar origin (11).

The northern, Varangian influence was manifested in the Kyiv discovery of a fragment of a half-mask-mask - a typically Scandinavian part of a helmet.

Since the 11th century, a unique type of sphero-conical helmet, smoothly curved upward, ending in a rod, has developed and become established in Rus'. Its indispensable element was a fixed “nose”. And often a half mask with decorative elements combined with it. From the 12th century helmets were usually forged from a single sheet of iron. Then a separately made half mask was riveted to it, and later - a mask - a mask that completely covered the face, which is generally believed to be of Asian origin. Such masks became especially widespread from the beginning of the 13th century, in connection with the pan-European tendency to make protective weapons heavier. The face mask with slits for the eyes and holes for breathing was able to protect against both slashing and piercing blows. Since it was attached motionlessly, the soldiers had to take off their helmet in order to be recognized. From the 13th century known helmets with faces on a hinge, folding upward, like a visor.

Somewhat later, a high spheroconic helmet appeared with a domed one. There were also helmets of a unique shape - with brims and a cylindrical-conical top (known from miniatures). Under all types of helmets it was necessary to wear a balaclava - “prilbitsa”. These round and apparently low hats were often made with a fur trim. The chain mail aventail, attached to the edges of the helmet and half mask, could reach the size of a cape covering the shoulders and upper chest.

As mentioned above, shields have been an integral part of Slavic weapons since ancient times. Initially, they were woven from wicker rods and covered with leather, like all the barbarians of Europe. Later, during the time of Kievan Rus, they began to be made from boards. The height of the shields was close to the height of a person, and the Greeks considered them “difficult to carry.” Round shields of the Scandinavian type, up to 90 cm in diameter, also existed in Rus' during this period. In the center of both, a round cut was made with a handle, covered from the outside with a convex umbon. The edge of the shield was necessarily bound with metal. Often its outer side was covered with skin. XI century teardrop-shaped (otherwise known as “almond-shaped”) of the pan-European type, widely known from various images, have spread. At the same time, round funnel-shaped shields also appeared, but flat round shields continued to be found. By the 13th century, when the protective properties of the helmet increased, the upper edge of the teardrop-shaped shield straightened, since there was no longer a need to protect the face with it. The shield becomes triangular, with a deflection in the middle, which made it possible to press it tightly to the body. At the same time, trapezoidal and quadrangular shields also existed. At that time there were also round ones, of the Asian type, with a lining on the back side, fastened to the arm with two belt “columns”. This type most likely existed among the service nomads of the southern Kiev region and along the entire steppe border.

It is known that shields of different shapes existed for a long time and were used simultaneously ( The best illustration of this situation is famous icon"The Church Militant"). The shape of the shield mainly depended on the tastes and habits of the owner.

The main part of the outer surface of the shield, between the umbo and the bound edge, the so-called “crown,” was called the border and was painted to the owner’s taste, but throughout the use of shields in the Russian army, preference was given to various shades of red. In addition to the monochromatic coloring, it can also be assumed that the shields will contain images of a heraldic nature. Thus, on the wall of the St. George Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky, on the shield of St. George, a predator of the cat family is depicted - a maneless lion, or rather a tiger - the “fierce beast” of Monomakh’s “Teachings”, apparently, which became the state emblem of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality.

Swords of the 9th-12th centuries from Ust-Rybezhka and Ruchiev.

“The sword is the main weapon of a professional warrior throughout the pre-Mongol period of Russian history,” the outstanding Russian archaeologist A.V. wrote at one time. Artsikhovsky. “In the early Middle Ages, the shape of swords in Rus' and Western Europe was approximately the same” (12).

After clearing hundreds of blades dating back to the period of the formation of Kievan Rus, stored in museums in different European countries, including the former USSR, it turned out that the vast majority of them were produced in several centers located on the Upper Rhine, within the Frankish state. This explains their similarity.

Swords forged in the 9th – 11th centuries, originating from the ancient Roman long cavalry sword - spatha, had a wide and heavy blade, although not too long - about 90 cm, with parallel blades and a wide fuller (groove). Sometimes there are swords with a rounded end, indicating that this weapon was originally used exclusively as a chopping weapon, although from the chronicles there are examples of stabbing blows already at the end of the 10th century, when two Varangians, with the knowledge of Vladimir Svyatoslavich, met a brother walking towards him at the door - the overthrown Yaropolk, pierced him “under the sinuses” (13).

With an abundance of Latin marks (as a rule, these are abbreviations, for example, INND - In Nomine Domini, In Nomine Dei - In the name of the Lord, In the name of God), a considerable percentage of blades do not have marks or cannot be identified. At the same time, only one Russian mark was found: “Lyudosha (Lyudota?) Farrier.” One Slavic mark made in Latin letters is also known - “Zvenislav”, probably of Polish origin. There is no doubt that local production of swords already existed in Kievan Rus in the 10th century, but perhaps local blacksmiths branded their products less often?

Sheaths and hilts for imported blades were made locally. Just as massive as the blade of the Frankish sword was its short, thick guard. The hilt of these swords has a flattened mushroom shape. The actual handle of the sword was made of wood, horn, bone or leather, and the outside was often wrapped with twisted bronze or silver wire. It seems that the differences in the styles of decorative design of the details of the handles and scabbards actually have much less significance than some researchers think, and there is no basis for deducing from this the percentage of a particular nationality in the squad. One and the same master could own both different technical methods, so different styles and decorated the weapon in accordance with the wishes of the customer, and it could simply depend on fashion. The scabbard was made of wood and covered with expensive leather or velvet, and decorated with gold, silver or bronze overlays. The tip of the scabbard was often decorated with some intricate symbolic figure.

Swords of the 9th-11th centuries, as in ancient times, continued to be worn on a shoulder belt, raised quite high, so that the hilt was above the waist. From the 12th century, the sword, as elsewhere in Europe, began to be worn on a knight's belt, on the hips, suspended by two rings at the mouth of the scabbard.

During the XI - XII centuries. the sword gradually changed its shape. Its blade lengthened, sharpened, thinned, the crosspiece - the guard - stretched out, the hilt first took on the shape of a ball, then, in the 13th century, a flattened circle. By that time, the sword had turned into a cutting-and-piercing weapon. At the same time, there was a tendency to make it heavier. “One and a half” samples appeared, for working with two hands.

Speaking about the fact that the sword was a weapon of a professional warrior, it should be remembered that it was such only in the early Middle Ages, although exceptions for merchants and the old tribal nobility existed even then. Later, in the 12th century. the sword also appears in the hands of the townspeople's militia. At the same time, in the early period, before the start of mass, serial production of weapons, not every warrior owned a sword. In the 9th - first half of the 11th centuries, only a person who belonged to the highest stratum of society - the senior squad - had the right (and opportunity) to possess precious, noble weapons. In the younger squad, judging by the materials of excavations of squad burials, back in the 11th century. only wielded swords officials. These are the commanders of detachments of junior warriors - “youths”, in peacetime performed police, judicial, customs and other functions and had a characteristic name - “swordsmen” (14).

In the southern regions of Ancient Rus', from the second half of the 10th century, the saber, borrowed from the arsenal of nomads, became widespread. In the north, in the Novgorod land, the saber came into use much later - in the 13th century. It consisted of a strip - the blade and a "roof" - the handle. The blade had a blade, two sides - “holomeni” and “rear”. The handle was assembled from a “flint” - a guard, a handle and a knob - a hilt, into which a cord - a lanyard - was threaded through a small hole. The ancient saber was massive, slightly curved, so much so that the rider could use it, like a sword, to stab someone lying on a sleigh, which is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years. The saber was used in parallel with the sword in the areas bordering the Steppe. To the north and west, heavy armor was common, against which the saber was not suitable. To fight the light cavalry of the nomads, the saber was preferable. The author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” noted a characteristic feature of the weapons of the inhabitants of the steppe Kursk: “they... have sharpened sabers...” (15). From the 11th to the 13th centuries, the saber in the hands of Russian soldiers is mentioned in chronicles only three times, and the sword - 52 times.

Cutting and piercing weapons also include a large combat knife, occasionally found in burials no later than the 10th century, the scramasax, a relic of the barbarian era, a typical weapon of the Germans, found throughout Europe. They have long been known in Rus' and combat knives, constantly encountered during excavations. They are distinguished from economic ones by their large length (over 15 cm), the presence of a valley - a blood flow or a stiffening rib (rhombic cross-section) (16).

A very common cutting weapon in the ancient Russian army was the axe, which had several varieties, which was determined by differences both in combat use and in origin. In the IX-X centuries. The heavy infantry were armed with large axes - axes with a powerful trapezoidal blade. Appearing in Rus' as a Norman borrowing, this type of ax remained for a long time in the north-west. The length of the ax handle was determined by the height of the owner. Usually, exceeding a meter, it reached the gudi of a standing warrior.

Universal battle hatchets of the Slavic type for one-handed action, with a smooth butt and a small blade, with a beard drawn downwards, became much more widespread. They differed from a regular ax mainly in their smaller weight and size, as well as the presence in the middle of the blade of many specimens of a hole for attaching a cover.

Another variety was the cavalry hatchet - a hammered hatchet with a narrow wedge-shaped blade, balanced by a hammer-shaped butt or, less commonly, a claw - clearly of Eastern origin. There was also a transitional type with a hammer-shaped butt, but a wide, often equilateral blade. It is also classified as Slavic. The well-known hatchet with the initial “A”, attributed to Andrei Bogolyubsky, belongs to this type. All three types are very small in size and fit in the palm of your hand. The length of their ax – “cue” – reached a meter.

Unlike the sword, a weapon primarily of the “noble”, hatchets were the main weapon of the junior squad, at least its lowest category - the “youths”. As recent studies of the Kem squad burial mound near White Lake show, the presence of a battle hatchet in the burial in the absence of a sword clearly indicates that its owner belonged to the lower category of professional warriors, at least until the second half of the 11th century (17). At the same time, in the hands of the prince, a battle ax is mentioned in the chronicles only twice.

Melee weapons include striking weapons. Due to the ease of production, it became widespread in Rus'. These are, first of all, various kinds of maces and flails borrowed from the steppe people.

The mace - most often a bronze ball filled with lead, with pyramidal projections and a hole for a handle weighing 200 - 300 g - was widespread in the 12th - 13th centuries. in the average Dnieper region (in third place in the number of weapons finds). But in the north and northeast it is practically not found. Solid forged iron and, less commonly, stone maces are also known.

The mace is a weapon primarily used in equestrian combat, but undoubtedly was also widely used by infantry. It made it possible to deliver very fast short blows, which, although not fatal, stunned the enemy and incapacitated him. Hence the modern “stun”, i.e. “stun”, with a blow to the helmet - get ahead of the enemy while he swings a heavy sword. The mace (as well as a boot knife or hatchet) could also be used as a throwing weapon, as the Ipatiev Chronicle seems to indicate, calling it a “horn.”

Flail- a weight of various shapes made of metal, stone, horn or bone, usually bronze or iron, usually round, often drop-shaped or star-shaped, weighing 100 - 160 g on a belt up to half a meter long - was, judging by frequent finds, very popular everywhere in Rus', however, it had no independent significance in battle.

The rare mention in sources of the use of impact weapons is explained, on the one hand, by the fact that they were auxiliary, backup, spare, and on the other, by the poeticization of “noble” weapons: the spear and sword. After a ramming spear collision, having “broken” the long thin lances, the fighters took up swords (sabers) or hammered axes, and only in case of their breakage or loss came the turn of maces and flails. By the end of the 12th century, in connection with the beginning of mass production of bladed weapons, hammered hatchets also became a backup weapon. At this time, the butt of the hatchet sometimes takes the shape of a mace, and the mace is equipped with a long spike curved downward. As a result of these experiments, at the beginning of the 13th century in Rus', archaeologists noted the appearance of a new type of impact weapon - the shestoper. To date, three samples of iron eight-blade pommels of a rounded shape with smoothly protruding edges have been discovered. They were found in settlements south and west of Kyiv (18).

Spear- the most important element of the Russian warrior’s weapons during the period under review. Spearheads, after arrowheads, are the most common archaeological finds of weapons. The spear was undoubtedly the most mass weapons of that time (19). A warrior did not go on a campaign without a spear.

Spearheads, like other types of weapons, bear a stamp various influences. The oldest local, Slavic tips are a universal type with a leaf-shaped feather of medium width, suitable for hunting. Scandinavian ones are narrower, “lanceolate”, adapted for piercing armor, or vice versa - wide, wedge-shaped, laurel-leaved and diamond-shaped, designed to inflict severe wounds on an enemy not protected by armor.

For the XII – XIII centuries. The standard infantry weapon became a spear with a narrow “armor-piercing” four-wound tip about 25 cm long, which indicates the widespread use of metal defensive weapons. The sleeve of the tip was called vtok, the shaft was called oskep, oskepische, ratovishche or struzhie. The length of the shaft of an infantry spear, judging by its images on frescoes, icons and miniatures, was about two meters.

Cavalry spears had narrow faceted tips of steppe origin, used to pierce armor. It was a first strike weapon. By the middle of the 12th century, the cavalry spear had become so long that it often broke during collisions. “Breaking the spear...” in squad poetry became one of the symbols of military valor. The chronicles also mention similar episodes when talking about the prince: “Andrey broke his copy against his own”; “Andrei Dyurgevich took up his spear and rode forward and came together before everyone else and broke his spear”; “Izyaslav rode alone into the military regiments, and broke his spear”; “Izyaslav Glebovich, grandson Yurgev, having arrived with his squad, took a spear... having driven the raft to the city gates, broke the spear”; “And Daniel struck his spear against the warrior, breaking his spear, and drew his sword.”

The Ipatiev Chronicle, written, in its main parts, by the hands of secular people - two professional warriors - describes such a technique almost as a ritual, which is close to Western knightly poetry, where such a blow is sung countless times.

In addition to the long and heavy cavalry and short main infantry spears, a hunting spear was used, although rarely. The horns had a feather width of 5 to 6.5 cm and a laurel tip length of up to 60 cm (including the bushing). To make it easier to hold this weapon. Two or three metal “knots” were attached to its shaft. In literature, especially fiction, a spear and an ax are often called peasant weapons, but a spear with a narrow tip capable of piercing armor is much cheaper than a spear and incomparably more effective. It occurs much more often.

Sulitsa darts have always been the favorite national weapon of the Eastern Slavs. They are often mentioned in chronicles. Moreover, as a piercing melee weapon. The tips of the sulitsa were both socketed, like those of spears, and stalked, like those of arrows, differing mainly in size. Often they had ends pulled back, making it difficult to remove them from the body and jagged, like a spear. The length of the throwing spear shaft ranged from 100 to 150 cm.

Bow and arrows have been used since ancient times as hunting and combat weapons. Bows were made from wood (juniper, birch, hazel, oak) or from turk horns. Moreover, in the north, simple bows of the European “barbarian” type from one piece of wood prevailed, and in the south, already in the 10th century, complex, composite bows of the Asian type became popular: powerful, consisting of several pieces or layers of wood, horn and bone overlays, very flexible and elastic. Middle part such a bow was called the handle, and everything else was called the kibit. The long, curved halves of the bow were called horns or limbs. The horn consisted of two slats glued together. On the outside, it was covered with birch bark, and sometimes, for reinforcement, with horn or bone plates. The outer side of the horns was convex, the inner side was flat. Tendons were glued onto the bow and secured at the handle and ends. The joints of the horns with the handle, previously coated with glue, were wrapped with tendons. The glue used was high quality, made from sturgeon ridges. The ends of the horns had upper and lower pads. A string woven from veins passed through the lower ones. The total length of the bow, as a rule, was about a meter, but could exceed human height. Such bows had a special purpose.

They wore bows with a stretched string, in a leather case - a bow attached to the belt on the left side, with the mouth forward. Bow arrows could be made of reed, reed, or from various types of wood, such as apple or cypress. Their tips, often forged from steel, could be narrow, faceted - armor-piercing or lanceolate, chisel-shaped, pyramidal with lowered ends-stings, and vice versa - wide and even two-horned “cuts”, to form large wounds on an unprotected surface, etc. In the 9th – 11th centuries. Mostly flat arrowheads were used in the 12th - 13th centuries. – armor-piercing. The case for arrows in this period was called a tula or tula. It was hung from the belt on the right side. In the north and west of Rus', its form was close to the pan-European one, which is known, in particular, from the images on the Bayeux Tapestry, which tells about the Norman conquest of England in 1066. In the south of Rus', tuls were equipped with lids. So about the Kuryans in the same “Tale of Igor’s Host” it is said: “Their crowns are open,” i.e. put into combat position. This tula had a round or box-shaped shape and was made of birch bark or leather.

At the same time, in Rus', most often by serving nomads, a steppe-type quiver was used, made from the same materials. Its form is immortalized in Polovtsian stone sculptures. This is a box that is wide at the bottom, open and tapering at the top, oval in cross-section. It was also suspended from the belt on the right side, with the mouth forward and upward, and the arrows in it, in contrast to the Slavic type, lay with their points upward.

Bow and arrows are weapons most often used by light cavalry - “streltsy” or infantry; the weapon that started the battle, although absolutely all men in Rus' at that time knew how to shoot a bow, this main weapon of hunting. Most people, including warriors, probably had a bow as a weapon, which made them different from Western European chivalry, where in the 12th century only the British, Norwegians, Hungarians and Austrians owned bows.

Much later, a crossbow or crossbow appeared in Rus'. It was much inferior to the bow in rate of fire and maneuverability, significantly surpassing it in price. In a minute, the crossbowman managed to fire 1-2 shots, while the archer, if necessary, was able to fire up to ten in the same time. But a crossbow with a short and thick metal bow and a wire bowstring was far superior to a bow in power, expressed in the range and impact force of the arrow, as well as accuracy. In addition, it did not require constant training from the shooter to maintain the skill. A crossbow “bolt” is a short self-firing arrow, sometimes solid-forged in the West, piercing any shields and armor at a distance of two hundred steps, and the maximum firing range from it reached 600 m.

This weapon came to Rus' from the West, through Carpathian Rus', where it was first mentioned in 1159. The crossbow consisted of a wooden stock with something like a butt and a powerful short bow attached to it. A longitudinal groove was made on the stock, into which a short and thick arrow with a socketed spear-shaped tip was inserted. Initially, the bow was made of wood and differed from the usual one only in size and thickness, but later it began to be made of an elastic steel strip. Only an extremely strong person could pull such a bow with his hands. An ordinary shooter had to rest his foot on a special stirrup attached to the stock in front of the bow and with an iron hook, holding it with both hands, pull the bowstring and put it into the slot of the trigger.

A special round-shaped trigger device, the so-called “nut”, made of bone or horn, was attached to the transverse axis. It had a slot for the bowstring and a figured cutout into which the end of the trigger lever entered, which, when not pressed, stopped the rotation of the nut on the axis, preventing it from releasing the bowstring.

In the 12th century. A double belt hook appeared in the equipment of crossbowmen, which made it possible to pull the bowstring, straightening the body and holding the weapon with the foot in the stirrup. The oldest belt hook in Europe was found in Volyn, during excavations in Izyaslavl (20).

From the beginning of the 13th century, a special mechanism of gears and a lever, the “rotary”, began to be used to tighten the bowstring. Is this where the nickname of the Ryazan boyar Evpatiy - Kolovrat - comes from - for his ability to do without it? Initially, such a mechanism was apparently used on heavy machine tools, which often fired solid forged arrows. The gear from such a device was found on the ruins of the lost city of Vshchizh in the modern Bryansk region.

In the pre-Mongol period, the crossbow (crossbow) spread throughout Rus', but nowhere except the western and northwestern outskirts was its use widespread. As a rule, finds of crossbow arrow tips account for 1.5–2% of their total number (21). Even in Izborsk, where the largest number of them were found, they make up less than half (42.5%), inferior to the usual ones. In addition, a significant part of the crossbow arrowheads found in Izborsk are of the Western, socketed type, most likely having flown into the fortress from outside (22). Russian crossbow arrows are usually stalked. In Rus', the crossbow was an exclusively serf weapon; in field warfare it was used only in the lands of Galicia and Volyn, and moreover, not earlier than the second third of the 13th century. - already outside the period we are considering.

The Eastern Slavs became acquainted with throwing machines no later than the campaigns of the Kyiv princes against Constantinople. The church tradition about the baptism of the Novgorodians preserved evidence of how they, having dismantled the bridge across the Volkhov to the middle and installed a “vice” on it, threw stones at the Kyiv “crusaders” - Dobrynya and Putyata. However, the first documentary evidence of the use of stone throwers in Russian lands dates back to 1146 and 1152. when describing the inter-princely struggle for Zvenigorod Galitsky and Novgorod Seversky. Domestic weapons expert A.N. Kirpichnikov draws attention to the fact that around the same time, a translation of Josephus’s “Jewish War” became known in Rus', where throwing machines are often mentioned, which could increase interest in them. Almost simultaneously, a hand-held crossbow also appeared here, which should also have led to experiments in creating more powerful stationary samples (23).

In the following, stone throwers are mentioned in 1184 and 1219; also known the fact of the capture of a mobile ballista-type throwing machine from the Polovtsians of Khan Konchak, in the spring of 1185. Indirect confirmation of the spread of throwing machines and easel crossbows capable of throwing cannonballs is the appearance of a complex echeloned system of fortifications. At the beginning of the 13th century, such a system of ramparts and ditches, as well as dams and dams located on the outside, rows of gouges and similar obstacles, was created in order to push throwing machines beyond their effective range.

At the beginning of the 13th century in the Baltic states, Polotsk residents, followed by Pskov and Novgorod residents, encountered the effects of throwing machines. The German crusaders entrenched here used stone throwers and crossbows against them. These were probably the most common balance-lever type machines in Europe at that time, the so-called peterellas, since stone throwers in chronicles are usually called “vices” or “praks”. those. slings. Apparently, similar machines prevailed in Rus'. In addition, the German chronicler Henry of Latvia often, speaking about the Russian defenders of Yuryev in 1224, mentions ballistas and ballistarii, which gives reason to talk about their use not only of hand crossbows.

In 1239, when trying to relieve Chernigov besieged by the Mongols, the townspeople helped their saviors by throwing swords at the Tatars with stones that only four loaders were able to lift. A machine of similar power operated in Chernigov several years before the invasion, when troops of the Volyn-Kiev-Smolensk coalition approached the city. Nevertheless, we can say with confidence that in most of Rus', throwing machines, like crossbows, were not widely used and were regularly used only in the south- and north-western lands. As a result, most cities, especially in the northeast, continued to arrive in readiness only for passive defense and turned out to be easy prey for conquerors equipped with powerful siege equipment.

At the same time, there is reason to believe that the city militia, which usually made up the majority of the army, was armed no worse than the feudal lords and their warriors. During the period under review, the percentage of cavalry in the city militias increased, and at the beginning of the 12th century, completely mounted campaigns in the steppe became possible, but even those who in the middle of the 12th century. There was not enough money to buy a war horse, and they often found themselves armed with a sword. A case is known from the chronicle when a Kiev “footman” tried to kill a wounded prince with a sword (24). Owning a sword by that time had long ceased to be synonymous with wealth and nobility and corresponded to the status of a full member of the community. So, even “Russkaya Pravda” admitted that a “husband” who insulted another with a blow of a sword might not have the money to pay a fine. Another extremely interesting example on the same topic is given by I.Ya. Froyanov, referring to the Charter of Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich: “If a “robichich,” the son of a free man adopted from a slave, was supposed to take a horse and armor even from the “little belly...”, then we can safely say that in a society where such rules existed, weapons were an integral sign of free status, regardless of one’s social rank” (25). Let us add that we are talking about armor - an expensive weapon, which was usually considered (by analogy with Western Europe) to belong to professional warriors or feudal lords. In such a rich country, which pre-Mongol Rus' was in comparison with Western countries, a free person continued to enjoy his natural right to own any weapon, and at that time there were enough opportunities to exercise this right.

As you can see, any middle-income urban resident could have a war horse and a full set of weapons. There are many examples of this. In support, one can refer to archaeological research data. Of course, the excavation materials are dominated by arrowheads and spears, axes, flails and maces, and items of expensive weapons are usually found in the form of fragments, but one must keep in mind that excavations give a distorted picture: expensive weapons, along with jewelry, were considered one of the the most valuable trophies. It was collected by the winners first. They searched for it deliberately or found it by accident later on. Naturally, finds of armor blades and helmets are relatively rare. It has been preserved. As a rule, something that was of no value to the victors and looters. Chain mail in general, in its entirety, seems to be more often found in water, hidden or abandoned, buried with its owners under ruins, than on the battlefield. This means that the typical set of weapons of a city militia warrior of the early 13th century was in fact far from being as poor as was commonly believed until relatively recently. Continuous wars in which, along with dynastic interests, the economic interests of urban communities collided. They forced the townspeople to arm themselves to the same extent as the vigilantes, and their weapons and armor could only be inferior in price and quality.

This nature of socio-political life could not but affect the development of weapons craft. Demand generated supply. A.N. Kirpichnikov wrote about this: “An indicator of the high degree of armament of ancient Russian society is the nature of military craft production. In the 12th century, specialization in the manufacture of weapons noticeably deepened. Specialized workshops appeared for the production of swords, bows, helmets, chain mail, shields and other weapons.” “...Gradual unification and standardization of weapons are being introduced, examples of “serial” military production are appearing, which are becoming massive.” At the same time, “under the pressure of mass production, the differences in the production of “aristocratic” and “plebeian”, ceremonial and folk weapons. The increased demand for cheap products leads to limited production of unique designs and increased production of mass products (26). Who were the buyers? It is clear that the majority of them were not princely and boyar youths (although their number was growing), not the newly emerging layer of servicemen, conditional land holders - nobles, but primarily the population of growing and richer cities. “Specialization also affected the production of cavalry equipment. Saddles, bits, and spurs became mass products” (27), which undoubtedly indicates the quantitative growth of the cavalry.

Regarding the issue of borrowing in military affairs, in particular in weapons, A.N. Kirpichnikov noted: « It's about... about a much more complex phenomenon than simple borrowing, developmental delay or original path; about a process that cannot be imagined as cosmopolitan, just as it cannot be contained within a “national” framework. The secret was that Russian early medieval military affairs in general, as well as military equipment, which absorbed the achievements of the peoples of Europe and Asia, were not only eastern or only western or only local. Rus' was a mediator between East and West, and Kyiv gunsmiths had a wide selection of military products from near and far countries. And the selection of the most acceptable types of weapons occurred constantly and actively. The difficulty was that the weapons of European and Asian countries were traditionally different. It is clear that the creation of a military-technical arsenal was not reduced to the mechanical accumulation of imported products. The development of Russian weapons cannot be understood as an indispensable and constant crossing and alternation of foreign influences alone. Imported weapons were gradually processed and adapted to local conditions (for example, swords). Along with borrowing other people’s experience, their own samples were created and used...” (28).

It is necessary to specifically address the issue on the import of weapons. A.N. Kirpichnikov, contradicting himself, denies the import of weapons to Rus' in the 12th – early 13th centuries. on the basis that all researchers during this period noted the beginning of mass, replicated production of standard weapons. This in itself cannot serve as proof of the absence of imports. Suffice it to recall the appeal of the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” to the Volyn princes. A distinctive feature of the weapons of their troops is called “Latin sheloms”, “Lyatsky sulitsa (i.e. Polish Yu.S.) and shields”.

What were the “Latin” ones? Western European helmets at the end of the 12th century? This type, most often, is deep and deaf, only with slits - slits for the eyes and holes for breathing. Thus, the army of the Western Russian princes looked completely European, since, even if we exclude imports, there remained such channels of foreign influence as contacts with allies or military booty (trophies). At the same time, the same source mentions “Kharalu swords”, i.e. damask steel, of Middle Eastern origin, but the reverse process also took place. Russian plate armor was popular in Gotland and in the eastern regions of Poland (the so-called “Mazovian armor”) and in the later era of the dominance of solid forged armor (29). The shield is of the “lucky” type, with a shared groove in the middle, according to A.N. Kirpichnikov, spread across Western Europe from Pskov (30).

It should be noted that the “Russian weapons complex” has never represented a single whole in the vastness of the vast country. In different parts of Rus' there were local peculiarities and preferences, determined primarily by the enemy’s weapons. The western and steppe southeastern border zones stood out noticeably from the general massif. In some places they preferred a whip, in others they preferred spurs, a saber over a sword, a crossbow over a bow, etc.

Kievan Rus and its historical successors - the Russian lands and principalities - were at that time a huge laboratory where military affairs were improved, changing under the influence of warlike neighbors, but without losing the national basis. Both the weapons-technical side and the tactical side absorbed heterogeneous foreign elements and, processing, combined them, forming a unique phenomenon, whose name is “Russian mode”, “Russian custom”, which made it possible to successfully defend against the West and the East with different weapons and different techniques .

It is no coincidence that our story about the contact weapons of the ancient Slavs begins with this magnificent weapon. The sword is the main offensive weapon of the Russian warrior-combatant, a symbol of princely power and the military emblem of ancient Rus'. Igor’s warriors swore by the sword, concluding an agreement with the Greeks in 944: “And not baptized Rus', let us lay down our shields and naked swords” (and not baptized Russians lay down their shields and naked swords.) The sword is a sacred weapon. He was treated as a person, considered animated. Unique swords had names (remember King Arthur's sword - Excalibur, or more precisely - Kaledvuh: Excalibur is a corruption of the name "Caliburn", which is a corruption of "Kaledvukh", and these names were also magic spells. In Scandinavia, swords often bore names like “Flame of Odin”, “Hound of Helms”, “Fire of Shields” - these names were written by ancient craftsmen in the upper third of the blade. There is no doubt that Rus' was not inferior in this to its northwestern neighbors: for example, a spear tip was found near Brest. the steel blade is inlaid with silver sacred signs - swastika and solar symbols and the runic inscription “Tilariths” - “Attacker” (Rune - common name Old Scandinavian and Old Slavic writing: the name was the same, but the rows of symbols were different). They swore with swords in an important dispute, they talked with them. This is how the Danish ballad “The Avenging Sword” describes it:

All the magical properties of a relatively new material for humanity - metal - were completely transferred to the sword. When producing a sword, the blacksmith accompanied the work with magical spells and rituals. When the blacksmith worked, he likened himself to the Creator God Svarog and felt himself participating in the creation of the world. It is clear that the sword, born in the hands of the blacksmith, had enormous magical properties. A strong magical connection arose between the sword and the owner. It was impossible to say exactly who owned whom. It is worth mentioning that in many languages ​​the word “sword” is feminine, there are names of feminine swords (for example, the sword of the knight Roland was called “Joyez” - “Joyful”), so the sword could be both a faithful friend and beloved friend... Not always a sword was bought at the market: the best swords were not just bought for a handful of gold, not by every person. Such swords choose their owner: in order to take possession of them, the hero must perform a feat, take the sword in battle. A striking example- the well-known Treasure Sword, hidden under a heavy stone: not everyone will be able to throw away this stone and get a magnificent weapon. Swords were also called upon by the Slavs to resolve complex disputes: they were used in duels and in court.

It is worth saying a few words about the use of the sword in battle. The sword was born as a purely offensive weapon: warriors used their swords to cut their way to the goal. And note: they cut through it, because the sword was originally before the 11th century. - a pure cutting weapon. Often even the end of the sword was made rounded. They stabbed with it like a sword in emergency situations: either when a warrior reached a state of passion (became a “berserker”) or when stabbing an enemy was the only way to hurt him (such as, for example, a crusader knight protected by a shell). In general, the sword, being developed as a purely offensive weapon, did not imply defensive functions, so at first it did not even have a “flint” - a crosshair on the handle: blows were not parried with the sword. In view of this, in the 7th-10th centuries the sword developed this very crosshair, or as it was called in Rus', “flint”, and the shield inextricably accompanies the sword. The Old Russian sword is a cutting weapon: “let them not defend themselves with their shields, and let them be cut with their swords” (They will not defend themselves with their shields and will be cut with swords) or “cut with a sword mercilessly.” But some expressions in the chronicle, although later, suggest that the sword was sometimes used for stabbing: “those who call to the end will be pierced with a sword.” The usual length of a sword in the 10th century. was about 80-90 CM, blade width was 5-6 cm, thickness 4 mm. Along the blade on both sides of the blade of all ancient Russian swords there are fullers, which served to lighten the weight of the blade. The end of the sword, not designed for a piercing blow, had a rather blunt point, and sometimes was even simply rounded. The pommel, hilt and crosshair of the sword were almost always decorated with bronze, silver and even gold.

The sword was a weapon, first of all, of valiant warriors, boyars and princes: not every warrior possessed a sword: in addition to the highest price, the technique of wielding a sword is very complex and not everyone found it easy.

The sword is the main weapon of the Russian warrior-combatant, a symbol of princely power and the military emblem of ancient Rus'. Igor’s warriors swore by the sword, concluding an agreement with the Greeks in 944: “And not baptized Rus', let them lay down their shields and naked swords” (and not baptized Russians lay down their shields and naked swords.) Russian chronicles and other written sources are replete with references to sword Swords are no less widely represented in archaeological material. The bulk of swords, like other weapons, came to us from the 10th century. The burials of the combat warriors Igor, Svyatoslav and Vladimir Svyatoslavovich were accompanied by a rich set of weapons and various military equipment.

Many classes are divided into subclasses of swords, but the main criterion for the size and structure of an early medieval sword is its hilt: then there were one-handed (the shortest), one-and-a-half-handed ones, which a strong man held with one hand, but no one forbade taking it in two hands and Bogatyr two-handed swords. Depending on the surrounding situation, swords became shorter and longer from century to century. In the 11th-12th centuries, due to the fact that battles were fought in close formation, swords were shortened to an average of 86 cm and became lighter, less than 1 kg, but in the 12th-13th centuries, due to the strengthening of armor, the sword became more massive: the blade extends up to 120 cm and weighs up to 2 kg.

The famous Russian scientist D.N. Anuchin wrote: “Of all types of weapons, the sword, as an offensive weapon, certainly played the most significant role in ancient times. It was the privileged weapon of a free warrior, the most expensive, the one that was most valued by him and, in essence, it was it that decided the outcome of the battle." Having gone through a long path of evolution, the sword in the 9th - 13th centuries. in Kievan Rus, was widespread, although it was too expensive for ordinary townspeople and peasants and therefore inaccessible.

Swords IX - X centuries. in the literature on weapons science they are usually called Carolingian, XI - XIII centuries. - Romanesque or Capetian. Samples of swords of European types came to Rus' with the Varangians - in those days, the spread of this or that weapon among European feudal lords was unusually rapid. Rus' used swords of almost all types then known in Europe, and in this it was not inferior to the main European countries. At the same time, already in the 10th century. Oriental swords, common since the 7th century, were well known in Rus'. among the Arabs and Persians no less than the Carolingian ones similar in form in Western Europe.

However, already in the 10th century. The Russians were familiar with damask steel and made their own swords. Many Muslim authors described the swords of the Rus, calling them terrible weapons. They argued that the Russians constantly carry swords with them, see them as a means of livelihood, fight with them in court, and take them to eastern bazaars. Ibn~Dasta wrote: “If a son is born to one of them, he takes a naked sword, places it in front of the newborn and says: “I am not leaving you any property as an inheritance, but you will have only what you get for yourself with this sword.” .

Old Russian chroniclers often depicted swords in miniatures. There is a pattern: the older the events depicted, the more often swords are depicted. More than 100 Carolingian swords and 75 Romanesque swords were found on the territory of Kievan Rus. Compared to other types of weapons, the sword is not the most common find in burials.

They tried to preserve the weapons of princes and famous heroes and considered them a symbol of invincibility. Memorial weapons were surrounded with special respect, such as the swords of the Pskov princes Vsevolod and Dovmont, kept in the Trinity Cathedral, or the sword of Prince Boris, which hung in the bedroom of Andrei Bogolyubsky and was later kept in one of the churches of Vladimir. Dovmont's sword has a length of 120 cm and a weight of 2 kg and is designed more for piercing heavy armor than for chopping.

Structurally, the sword consisted of a wide, double-edged, fairly heavy blade and a short handle (handle, handle). The parts of the handle were called apple, black and flint (guard or kryzh bow). Each flat side of the strip was called golomen or golomlya, and the tip was called a blade. Holomen were almost always made with one wide or several narrow grooved recesses. The first was called a dol, and the rest were called valleys. In common parlance, the valleys of bladed weapons were often called “grooves for swelling of blood”, “blood spouts”. However, this is not true. Their appearance was a big step forward in blade technology; they reduced the weight of the blade. Thanks to the fuller, the strip could be further extended without overloading the hand with excess weight. Sometimes, the dol was decorative. The tip of the sword, which was not designed for a thrust, was usually blunt, and sometimes even simply rounded. Later, when the sword also acquired a piercing function, its edge was sharpened.

Sword making was one of the most complex branches of metalworking. Each operation of preparing the metal, drawing the strip, polishing, hardening, sharpening, fitting the handle, and making the sheath was carried out by a separate person. The blade sequentially passed from the smith-welder, who forged the strip of the sword, to the hardener, then to the grinder, from there it returned to the hardener for re-hardening and tempering, then went to the polisher and finally went to the assembler, who made the handle and set. The scabbard makers and jewelers who decorated the sword worked separately, associated with the assembler.

Swords of different designs and various technologies speak of different schools and stages of development of blade making in Kievan Rus and Europe in general.

We studied the production technology of sword blades based on metallographic analysis of 12 specimens of swords. Five swords come from the Gnezdovo burial mounds, four swords from the Mikhailovsky burial mounds, two swords from the Ladoga burial mounds and one sword from Vshchizh (an ancient Russian city on the Desna River in the Bryansk region). Based on the discovered structural diagrams of the metal of ancient Russian swords, we are reconstructing the technology of their manufacture.

If you think that a sword is just a rough, sharpened piece of iron, you are deeply mistaken. In those days, there were various ways of welding iron and steel in such a way that the final product had truly amazing properties. Of course, the simplest thing was to make an all-metal sword, but this one was only suitable for peasants and for training in warfare. The next level were swords welded from 2-6 strips of iron and steel: a steel blade was welded onto an iron blank. Such a blade was already suitable for a young warrior-boy or for a peasant in military service.

However, the real military husband had a completely different sword. Everyone knows the word damask steel. What is it? This word comes from the ancient kingdom of Puluadi (the territory of modern Turkey, Armenia, Georgia and Iran), where they made the best steel in the world at that time.

This is where the Persian word “puluad” and the Arabic “Al fulad” - steel came from; in Rus' it turned into damask steel. In general, steel is an alloy of iron with other elements, mainly carbon. But damask steel is not just steel: damask steel swords were capable of cutting iron and steel for many years, practically without dulling, without bending, but also without breaking. Everything is explained by the heterogeneous content of one percent of carbon in damask steel. Ancient blacksmiths achieved this by cooling molten iron with graphite - natural source carbon. The blade, forged from the resulting metal, was etched and characteristic patterns appeared on its surface: wavy, twisting dark stripes on a lighter background. This background turned out to be dark gray, golden or reddish-brown, black. Black damask steel was considered more fragile; experienced warriors preferred the golden hue of the blade.

Bulat also varied in quality. It was distinguished by the type of pattern. A large pattern is a sign of good quality, with stripes of 10-12 mm; damask steel with a pattern of 4-6 mm was considered average. and very simple was damask steel with a thin pattern with a line thickness of 1-2 mm.

The base of the sword blade was made of iron or welded from three strips of steel and iron. When the base of the blade was welded only from steel, low-carbon metal was used.

Cementation of the surface of an all-iron sword was also used. The sword from the Mikhailovsky Mounds had a similar technology.

We have before us the most typical ancient Russian technology for manufacturing a high-quality product - welding a soft viscous base with a steel blade and subsequent heat treatment of the entire blade.

If you compare the technological schemes for the production of sword blades and, for example, scythes, you will find a lot in common: the same multilayer welding or welding of a steel blade, fuller turning and heat treatment, the same long length and small thickness of the blade of a sword and a scythe blade. The only difference is that the scythe had one blade, and the sword had two.

Very interesting information about the technique of making swords by ancient Russian blacksmiths is reported by their contemporary, the above-mentioned Khorezmian scientist Al-Biruni. “The Rus made their swords from shapurkan, and the fullers in the middle from narmokhan, in order to give them strength when struck, to prevent their fragility. Al-fulad (steel) does not tolerate the cold of their winters and breaks when struck. When they met the farand (i.e. i.e. with patterned damask steel.-Leg.), then they invented weaving for dols from long wires (made) from both types of iron - shapurkan and female (i.e. iron) and they began to produce them using welded weaving when immersed (in). etcher) things are amazing and rare, such as they wanted and intended to receive Al-farand (the drawing) does not turn out according to the intention when making (the sword) and does not come at will, but it is accidental.

This text is interesting on two levels. Firstly, it confirms the conclusions about the production technology of sword blades that we made based on the study of only 12 swords. The technology of welding steel (“from shapurkan”) blades onto an iron (“from normokhan”) blade base is all-Russian. Secondly, Al-Biruni speaks about the superiority of the technique of making patterns on sword blades among Russian gunsmiths. With the appropriate combination of iron and steel strips on the base of the blade, the ancient Russian blacksmith could obtain any given pattern with the same rhythm throughout the entire strip, which especially surprised Biruni. The damask pattern, as is known from the experiments of P.P. Anosov, is random, since during the crystallization of crucible steel, in each individual case a different pattern of structural heterogeneity is obtained.

But, as always, there was one “but”: damask swords were afraid of northern frosts: the steel became brittle and broke easily. But the blacksmiths found a way out of this situation. In Rus' they produced “welding” damask steel. This type of damask steel was called “Damascus”. To obtain damask steel in this way, they took pieces of wire or strips of iron or steel, folded them one by one (iron-steel-iron-steel, etc.) and then forged them many times, twisted these strips many times, and folded them like an accordion. In short, the more time a blacksmith spends on forging metal, the better the blade will turn out. Pattern welding was also used quite widely. In this case, the base of the blade was welded from the middle iron and two outer specially welded strips. The latter, in turn, were welded from several rods with different content carbon, then twisted several times and unchained into a strip. To the pre-welded and prepared block of the base of the blade, steel strips were welded into the end - future blades. After welding, the blade was forged so that the steel strips extended onto the blade. Having forged a blade of a given size, the handle handle was pulled out. The next mechanical operation was planing the dales. Then the blade was ground and heat treated. After this, the blade was polished, and if a patterned weld was made on the base of the blade, it was etched. The blacksmith also made the base of the crosshair and the pommel of the handle. Sometimes welded steel blades were subjected to additional carburization before heat treatment.

1. Sword from Karabichev. The handle is of the European-Russian type, the ornament is of the Byzantine type. 1st half XI century

2. Sword from Foschevataya. The handle is of the Scandinavian type, on the blade there is a Russian inscription - “Lyudota Koval”. X century

3. Sword from the burial of a warrior on
Vladimirskaya st. in Kyiv. X century

4. Scandinavian type sword with
Dnieper rapids. X century

5. Magyar type saber. Gočevo. X century

Damask steel also differed in the nature of the pattern: if the pattern was straight (“striped”), it was a bad damask steel, if among the lines there were curved ones, this was a good damask damask (“streamy”), a “wavy” pattern was highly valued, a “mesh” pattern was highly valued pattern, and if among the patterns there was an ornament, human or animal figures were visible - such damask steel had no price. Naturally, a good damask sword was very, very expensive - they bought it for an amount of gold equal to the weight of the sword (1.5-2 kg - this is for extremely rare exclusive products), so there were a lot of supposedly damask swords on the market, but in reality fake ones - they were only covered on top with a thin layer of damask steel, and there was iron inside. To avoid a bad purchase, the sword was tested: first, by ringing: the longer, higher and purer the blade’s ringing, the better the metal, and also, as mentioned above, they were tested for elasticity. The masters themselves also cared about their authority, and every good blacksmith had a mark that guaranteed the quality of the sword.

The hilt of the sword deserves a separate discussion. Then the handle was not just a “handle for holding a weapon”, but a work of art. The good swords had beautiful handles with a floral pattern, repeating the shape of the World Tree. An indispensable attribute of the handle of a Slavic sword was the so-called “apple” - a knob at the end of it. It is there not just for beauty: it acts as a balancer: to bring the center of gravity of the weapon closer to the handle - it is much more convenient to work with such a weapon than a weapon without a counterweight.

The sword was worn in a sheath. Bronze and silver finials and other scabbard decorations are sometimes found among archaeological material. In the chronicles there are expressions “draw your sword,” etc. The scabbard was made of wood, covered with leather on top, and metal overlays were made along the edges. With the help of two rings, near the mouth of the scabbard, the sword was suspended, sometimes at the belt, and more often to a sling, which was worn over the left shoulder. The sword lay next to the person in the burial. They have been found in burials since the 9th century - before that the sword was considered the property of the family and was not placed in burials. It is interesting that when the owner of the sword died and the sword was buried with him, they tried to “kill” the sword (after all, it was a living creature!) - to bend it, break it.

The tactical and technical characteristics of swords differ depending on the time and place of their manufacture and their type. They often depended on the individual tastes of buyers, as well as their physical characteristics. So, if the length of the sword of the senior adult warrior buried in the Chernigov mound Chernaya Mogila is 105 cm, then the length of the sword of his youth partner is 82 cm. The average length of ancient Russian swords is 80 - 105 cm, the width of the blade is 4 - 6 cm, the thickness of the middle part of the blade 2.5 - 6 mm, weight 1 - 1.5 kg. The value of the sword was great. If a spear and shield were valued at 2 solids, then a sword and helmet were valued at 6 solids. This price corresponded to the price of 6 bulls, 12 cows, 3 stallions or 4 mares. The sword in Rus' has always been a subject of the arms business. Old Russian traders bought and sold both their own and foreign products. An interesting message from eastern writers is that they brought amazing swords from Artania (as they called Rus') that could be bent in half, after which the blade returned to its original shape. However, this is, of course, an exaggeration. Neither the West nor the East had such weapons at that time.

Battle ax

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 (see the section “Warrior in the Slavic World”). 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 a wide-bladed axe, and in those days an ax was mainly called a working, carpenter's axe. However, their proportions are somewhat unusual.

more photos	more photos
Large working axe. In English terminology, “Broad ax”, that is, “broad axe”	Battle axes: chased and bearded	Two-handed Danish battle ax Breidox, also known as a battle axe, example

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 ax (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 one 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 appeared in the 10th-12th centuries and found great popularity here: such an ax not only chopped, but also cut.

So, by the 11th century there were several main varieties of the battle ax:

bearded ax(skeggox among the Scandinavians) - it is easy to recognize by its blade with a beard sloping down, the weight of the hatchet is 300-400 grams + shaft.

Klevtsy- axes with a triangular blade, vaguely reminiscent of a dagger, often with a ribbed surface. The wounds they inflicted practically did not heal;

mints- a kind of pickaxe, axes with a narrow elongated blade, designed to pierce armor due to the small area of ​​​​the striking surface; since the 14th century, the narrow end has been made blunt and the hammer has become a battle hammer;

axes(close in use to a halberd, among the Scandinavians Breidox) - axes with a wide blade, mounted on a handle up to 1.8 meters long. Often it also had a xiphoid pommel. In Europe, this was called “poleaxe” or “bardishe”; it is possible that it was the presence of the tip at the bottom of the shaft that distinguished it from the workers’ and peasants’ axe. Antique dealers often sell large working axes, calling them "Heroic Ax" or "Halberd". Later, in the 16th-17th centuries, the halberd turned into a berdysh, a rifle weapon. The name probably comes from the German word “barda” (options: “brada”\ “barta”\”helmbarte”) meaning “wide-bladed axe” - by the way, another argument in favor of the name “halberd”.

1. piece of iron
2. ax handle
3. sock
4. blade
5. beard
6. canvas
7. neck
8. eye
9. butt

Battle axes were used mainly in the north, in the forest zone, where the cavalry could not turn around. By the way, battle axes were also used by horsemen - even a small hatchet on a meter-long shaft has great penetrating power. They carried axes in their belts, in special leather cases, or fastened them to the saddle.

Klevtsy and minted hatchets were the traditional weapons of nomads, but from the 11th century, after the victory over the Khazar Khaganate and the development of cavalry in Kievan Rus, our ancestors began to use small but very lethal hatchets.

The technique of working with battle axes varied for individual types. According to the official combat classification, this weapon belongs to the one-and-a-half weapon, i.e. axes were held with one or two hands, everything depended on the size of the butt, the ax handle and the strength of the warrior. Wide-bladed axes like a halberd had a long handle and were strictly two-handed, since they weighed decently. At the end of the handle there was often a knob designed for better grip in the hand.

None of the warriors would even dream of cutting down trees or chopping wood with a battle ax, as is depicted in feature films and literature. The authors clearly confuse a working ax (here again there is confusion in terminology, since a woodcutter’s tool was often called an ax) with a combat one. In an ax intended for combat, the shape of the blade has undergone significant changes (of course, not to the point of simulating wings bat, pretentiousness is the privilege of ceremonial regalia) and was not suitable for everyday work.

A purely national type of ax - as if with a beard. It is ideal for combat and combines all the best qualities of a weapon. Its blade is curved towards the bottom (so it could also cut), and the slope of the blade is such that the efficiency of the blow tends to unity: all the force applied by the warrior goes directly to the blow and is concentrated in its upper part, which gave the blow enormous force. “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-11th centuries, which proves the Slavic origin of such an ax).

A feature of the Russian ax is the mysterious hole on the blade of the axes. Scientists have put forward various hypotheses - from the fact that this is the mark of a master to the fact that a rod was inserted there so that the ax would not get deeply stuck upon impact. In fact, everything turned out to be much simpler: a leather case for the ax was fastened to this hole for safe transportation, and the ax was also used to hang the ax from the saddle or on the wall.

Saber

On the territory of Ancient Rus', the saber appeared at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries. – and in some places later competes with the sword. This type of weapon entered the country along with nomads, presumably the Khazars.

The saber, like the sword, is of the long-bladed type. The blade, as a rule, has a one-sided sharpening, since this makes it possible to increase strength by thickening the spine. A saber differs from a sword, first of all, in the shape of the working part; moreover, it can (theoretically) be bent at an angle of 90 degrees without the risk of breaking. Since a saber blade is lighter than a sword blade, to maintain the same impact force, the end of the blade expands, and the angle between the sides forming the tip is made in such a way that the blade does not chip, and is usually about 15 degrees. The flexibility of the blade is also determined by the angle of the blade.

Saber length– about 90 cm, weight – 800-1300 g. This weapon was especially widespread in the south, where the bulk of the troops were cavalry. As mentioned above, the sword was extremely inconvenient for the rider due to its heaviness, lacking sufficient flexibility of the blade and the center of gravity applied to the guard; there was a need to find a replacement. This is where the saber, adopted from the nomads, peoples who spend half their lives in the saddle, came in handy. The fact is that, due to the curvature of the blade, the center of the strike of a saber weapon is directed toward the front combat end, which makes it possible to deliver vertical blows from top to bottom, with a pullback that increases the length and depth of the wound. Even if the enemy did not fail immediately, he soon weakened from blood loss and pain shock. In addition, a fairly wide blade allows you to effectively block an opponent’s attacks.

The guard of the saber, unlike the sword, had a round shape. Later, it is reduced so as not to interfere with the removal of weapons from the scabbard, not to cling to the saddle, and subsequently, around the 12th century, disappears completely.

The saber hilt was usually made of tanned leather in several layers. Since the weapon came from the steppe and was not recognized as “ours” from the beginning, it was not accompanied by such a magical aura as a sword. Therefore, Russian sabers, unlike eastern ones, could not boast of a special richness of decoration. Here, first of all, they cared not about beauty, but about ease of use. In frequent small skirmishes with detachments of nomads, speed was everything; the warriors simply could not lose precious seconds, and with them their heads, due to the fact that the finish of the handle clings to everything.

There were two types of saber blades in Rus': Khazar-Polovtsian and Turkish (scimitar). Presumably, the synthesis of these types was the third - Yaloman, which was widespread only in the eastern principalities. Yalomani is characterized by a sharp leaf-shaped expansion of the front combat end.

The fundamental difference between a sword and a saber is that a sword is a cutting weapon, while a saber is a cutting weapon. Although it is believed that the saber is a typically eastern weapon, however, from the 7th to the 14th centuries, the straight sword prevailed among the Arabs and Persians, as in Europe. The saber was loved by nomads - the Pechenegs and Khazars. Light horsemen armed with sabers inflicted many losses on Russian border towns and fortresses. It first appears in the Eurasian steppes around the 7th-8th centuries. The homeland of the saber extends from Hungary, the Czech Sea to Altai and Southern Siberia. From this territory the saber began to spread among neighboring tribes. In the chronicles there is often a contrast between the Khazar saber and the Russian straight sword. However, in the territories bordering with nomads, warriors also preferred the saber: since they had to confront horsemen, the saber was respected by mounted border guards, because it is very convenient for a mounted warrior. But still, the saber cannot displace the straight sword, which had centuries-old traditions behind it; it was convenient for both foot and horse warriors.

Sabers of the 10th-13th centuries are curved slightly and evenly - approximately like Cossack checkers late XIX century. And from the 14th century they become crooked and heavier; at the beginning of the 18th century they straightened again. The production of sabers was not fundamentally different from the production of swords. However, they had much less decoration. This is due to the fact that the sword was decorated for magical purposes: they had magical ornaments and patterns, precious stones as a reward for good service in battle. In the 10th-11th centuries, the length of the saber blade was about 1 m with a width of 3 - 3.7 cm; in the 12th century it lengthened by 10-17 cm and reached a width of 4.5 cm. The reason for this is the weight of the armor. They wore a saber, like a sword, at the belt. The Slavs, who adopted the saber from the steppe people, advanced its distribution further - to Western Europe. According to historians, it was Slavic and Hungarian craftsmen who made the legendary saber of Charlemagne, which later became a ceremonial symbol of the Roman Empire.

Knife

One of the oldest Slavic weapons. Short-bladed weapons in the ancient Russian arsenal were represented by knives and, later, daggers. From
long-bladed this type is distinguished by the size of the working part, not exceeding half a meter, and more varied blade shapes; the difference between the above-mentioned types was in the shape of the blade, functional features and the number of sharpened sides.

Knives, in fact, were more of a tool than a weapon. They had a one-sided sharpening, although to facilitate penetration during stabbing blows, the blade was sharpened a little from the butt side, about 5-6 cm. Russian knives are characterized by a wide, massive, heavy blade, more reminiscent of a cleaver, usually intended for chopping. The tip and the blade itself were predominantly sword-shaped.

They wore knives in their belts. The method of wearing it behind the boot, which was widespread in Europe, was not noted in Rus', probably for the reason that Russian boots were adjusted to the leg, and it was simply impossible to hide a weapon in them. So the numerous Russians - heroes of works of art, taking out "shoemakers" look a bit strange.

As for daggers, their appearance in the 13th century is explained by the strengthening of protective armor, in particular, the appearance of plate armor. Dagger (from the Arabic “khanjar” - the meaning is not entirely known) is “a piercing-cutting edged weapon with a short, straight or curved, single- or double-edged blade and handle.” That's what the dictionary says. Small amendments should be made to this definition that relate directly to the Russian dagger. It had a mainly double-sided sharpening and, as a rule, was intended for piercing blows; its thin blade easily penetrated the gap between the plates, causing deep puncture wounds. Curved daggers were used in the south and east. In addition to the handle, there was also a guard; the weapon was a smaller version of a sword. They wore it in the same way, behind their belt, and occasionally hid it in their sleeve.

The guards of both knives and daggers were predominantly cross-shaped and relatively small in size. The two types of weapons were held differently: with a dagger grip, the thumb rested on the guard, with a knife grip, the little finger, which made it possible to deliver piercing and slashing blows, respectively.

In fact, the knife is the only edged weapon that is still used today both in the army and in everyday life, and has many modifications. Daggers were transformed into bebuts, one of the auxiliary types of bladed weapons used by machine-gun teams of the Red Army, and baguette bayonets, ceasing to exist as an independent type. Also, the knife was an indispensable hunting tool. Armed with a good bow and good knife, the hunter was not afraid of anyone in the forest, not even a bear. The knife helped, if necessary, to cut up the prey right on the spot, in the forest and take it home in parts.

Spear

Spear, like a knife, is a universal, military-hunting weapon. Ancient Slav, armed with a spear, he could single-handedly kill a large bear. Spearheads are a common find for archaeologists, second in number only to arrowheads. In the chronicles, the expression “break the spear” is almost synonymous with battle.

The spear, the favorite weapon of Russian warriors and militias, was a long, 180-220 cm shaft made of durable wood, with a steel (damask steel) or iron tip. The weight of the tip was 200-400 grams, the length was up to half a meter. The tips of pre-Mongol Rus' were divided into approximately seven types, according to the shape of the working part. The shaft (“tree”, “shaving”, “oskepische”) was made from such types of wood as birch, oak, ash, maple. It was 2.5-3.5 cm in diameter. Sometimes the shaft was bound with metal so that the enemy would not cut it. A tip with a sleeve was placed on top of it (where the shaft was inserted). The tips reached half a meter in length. There were cases of using entire “swords” on a stick, which could not only stab, but also chop quite well. The shapes of the tips were varied, but elongated triangular tips still predominated. The thickness of the tip reached 1 cm, and the width - up to five cm. Both cutting edges were sharpened. Both all-steel tips and composite ones were made: two iron plates were placed on a steel strip in the center - such a tip was self-sharpening.

Horsemen also used spears, but not like medieval European knights in tournaments. The ram strike appeared in Rus' only in the 12th century due to the heavier armor. From the 9th to the 12th centuries, horsemen struck with a spear from top to bottom, having previously swung their hand. First of all, such a spear was distinguished by its length - 3 m - and the shape of the tip. Since the 10th century, an elongated tetrahedral tip has been spreading.

There was also an interesting type of spear with a tip length of 30 cm and a weight of about 1 kg. And the inner diameter of the sleeve is about 5 cm. The tip is shaped like a bay leaf. Its width is up to 6 cm, thickness - 1.5 cm. This formidable weapon is called horned. It has been known in Rus' since ancient times, but in the 10th century it lost its relevance, giving way to other types of weapons on the battlefield, and rather becoming a hunting weapon. I remember the spear in the 12th century, when, as already mentioned, there was a significant increase in armor. Only an experienced warrior could handle a spear well. He could easily beat even a crusader knight with it. Hunters boldly went with a spear to hunt bears and wild boars. Later in the 13th century appears owl, a hybrid of a knife and a spear. It was a blade, sharpened on one side, with a characteristic knife-like shape on the shaft of a spear. In Western Europe, such a weapon was called a "glaive" and was used by infantry. The owl was “stuck” into the body of a lightly armed warrior, and it was used by Russian light cavalry of the 15th-16th centuries. And also, from ancient times until almost modern times, the owl served as a working tool: to trim splinters, strip the bark from a tree, and hunt wild animals.

All these types of spears are not intended for throwing. Of course, there are exceptions when, at all costs, it is necessary to take revenge on the enemy in the thick of battle. Special light spears called sulitsa were intended for throwing (again, no one forbade stabbing with it in exceptional cases). Word sulitsa comes from the verb “to promise,” which originally meant “to throw.” We can say that a sulitsa is something between a spear and an arrow. The length of its shaft is 1.2-1.5 m. Due to the fact that the spears were thrown around and most of them were lost after the battle, they were not decorated in the same way as spears and spears. Also, for the sake of economy, the tips were made not socketed, but stalked, and they were attached to the side, driven into the tree with the hook-shaped end of the petiole and wound with thread, rope, birch bark or leather to the shaft. Sulitsa were hunting, with wider tips, designed to create a large wound, but could not penetrate strong armor, and military, on the contrary, with narrow, armor-piercing tips.

A characteristic feature of the spears is that they were not only used by cavalry to fight foot warriors, but were equally used by infantry to fight horsemen. They carried spears on their backs, or simply in their hands; often they were carried behind the army, tied in a bundle. This did not apply to personal weapons, richly decorated or passed on, for example, by inheritance - only, so to speak, mass-produced weapons of the simplest type.

In addition, it should be noted that horsehair plumes were attached to the spears, slightly below the tip. They were intended to absorb the blood flowing down the shaft so that the hands would not slip. For the same purpose, a small ledge was made in the same area. Spear tips on banners were often purely decorative.

Mace, mace, shestoper

This section is less about lethal weapons and more about demoralizing ones. Anyone who believes that ancient wars were characterized by a huge number of casualties is sorely mistaken. The main task of the army was not to completely destroy the enemy, as many are now trying to do, but only to break his resistance, collect tribute, drive people into slavery and thereby ensure prosperity for his people. There were few killed, while more than three quarters of the army were wounded (as confirmed by chronicle sources). Remember how they said about the victorious army: “it beat so-and-so.” It didn’t chop, it didn’t cut, it just beat! In such battles, the warriors did not shred each other like cabbage, but simply incapacitated them: they wounded, maimed, and stunned. The weapons of this group are ideal for this. Despite the fact that it does not inflict bloody wounds, it can stun the enemy and break his bones. Moreover, the armor did not in any way save from a skillful blow with a club or even a club: the soft chain mail sagged under the blows of such blows, allowing the weapon to inflict a severe bruise or fracture on the enemy. It was also possible for the wave to hit the head while wearing a helmet, stunning the enemy, or even breaking the helmet. So this weapon was quite functional.

Both the club and the mace evolved from a simple club. However, its simplicity did not prevent it from being an excellent weapon. Militias and rebellious people often armed themselves with clubs. Even in the army of Emelyan Pugachev there were people armed only with clubs. Despite its primitive appearance, the club can cause enormous damage to the enemy, even breaking bones, and if we remember the enormous strength of our ancestors, there is no doubt that the club in their hands was a truly deadly weapon. The very word “club” indicates the material from which it was made. The best club comes from oak (excuse the pun), or, at worst, from elm or birch. Moreover, a club as a weapon is not just some kind of snag. The butt part of the specified tree species is best suited for a club, and the place where the trunk meets the roots is the knotty, strongest part in the tree, which was used to beat in battle. On the other hand, the club was hewn for some lightness and ease of holding in the hands. There was also the practice of stuffing nails into such clubs, which further increased the crushing ability of the club, because the spiked club does not slide but hits the target. However, the line between a club and a club with a mace is very thin: in the epic “The Heroic Word”:

...And their clubs [kalik] are elm,
Lead is poured from end to end...

The mace was mounted on a wooden handle, and the pommels of the simplest ones, as in this epic, were made of copper alloys, and lead was poured inside. More powerful mace heads were forged from iron. Damask clubs and maces are also mentioned in epics. Maces with an iron handle were not found until the middle of the 15th century, even in India, from where they later came to us. The fundamental difference between a club and a mace is the design of the pommel. The club is that pear-shaped spiked weapon that we are used to seeing in the hands of the Bogatyrs - they have no more fundamental differences. The mace, on the other hand, is characterized by a somewhat cubic shape with large triangular spikes.

The word mace means “bump”, “knob”. The warhead is most often called the pommel and head. As already mentioned, the Old Russian mace was, as a rule, an iron or bronze pommel, weighing 200-300 g, filled with lead with a wooden handle 50-60 cm long and 2-6 cm thick. Sometimes, in order to the enemy did not cut off the hilt of the club; it was lined with copper sheet. The mace was used mainly by mounted warriors to deliver a surprise blow to the helmet or shoulder. The club of the X-XI years is characterized by a cubic shape with four to six pyramidal spikes. This design served as a prototype for the appearance in the 13th century of the so-called pincer maces; the top was a cube with one long claw-shaped spike. Another, this time more complicated form of the mace is the multi-spike mace. It was made in such a way that no matter how a warrior hit it, several thorns would pierce the enemy.

Since the 14th century, shestoper (aka pernach) has been spreading in Rus' - a mace with six sawn blades, located approximately the same as the feathers of an arrow. Like other weapons, the mace was decorated with an intricate design: between the spikes, ancient craftsmen created intricate script. Shestoperas were brought to our territory by the Mongol-Tatars.

The mold for the maces was made like this: first the master took wax and made a dummy of the future weapon from it, then the wax was covered with clay on top. The clay mold was heated and wax flowed out. The form is ready.

In Rus' there were both simple mass maces and luxurious gilded clubs designed specifically for a noble warrior.

At the end we’ll tell you about an interesting stamp. Many artists (the same ones who paint huge, heavy-lifting axes) provide their epic heroes with huge all-metal “stopud” clubs.

In fact, as mentioned above, the club weighed only 200-300, well, maybe 500 grams - this was quite enough for a good blow. Stopudov's clubs are the lot of real heroes from fairy tales.

Flail

1. shaft
2. communication
3. beat
4. lanyard

The flail was the weapon of the robber of Ancient Rus'. An ideal tool for beating people who are practically impossible to kill, and also easy to transport. Generally speaking, a good weapon is not only for a robber, but also for a traveler - to drive away these very robbers: “a fist is as big as a fist, and with it is good,” says the proverb. Unlike the mace, this weapon is universal - it can equally hit the enemy on foot and on horseback. However, the flail requires the owner to have great skill in handling himself - otherwise you will more often hit yourself with the weight on your forehead or back than the enemy. The flail also served as a weapon for the warrior. Sometimes the following technique was used: the same weights were tied to a rope and the warrior, winding the end of it around his hand, launched the weight at the enemy.

The flail is a pear-shaped weight weighing 100-500 g, attached to a chain or belt, which, in turn, is attached to the handle. It can be argued that the flail is a purely Russian invention, which was used by the Slavs back in the 6th century. The word “flail” most likely does not come from the word “brush”, from a Turkic word that sounds the same, but means “stick”, “club”, although disputes are possible on this matter.

In the 10th century, the flail was used throughout Rus'. The weight was made from very durable and heavy elk antler. A hole was drilled in a pear-shaped bone blank into which a metal rod with a loop was inserted, to which a chain or belt was attached. Flails were also decorated like any other weapon; on some of them you can see princely signs, intricate patterns, silver and gold inlay. In the same 10th century, they began to make metal ones - iron and bronze weights. The technology for their manufacture was no different from the production of knobs for maces.

The flail was, however, more of a folk weapon than a military weapon. They were not disdained by rebels during uprisings. For example, the famous leader of the Czech uprising in the 15th century, Jan Zizka, is certainly depicted with a flail or a battle flail (also a type of flail).

An equally widespread myth was the existence in Rus' of flails with several chains. Such weapons could be found in single copies, no more. This modification was mainly widespread in Switzerland and Germany, where it is known as “morgenstern” - translated from German - morning star.

Conclusion

Of the entire rich arsenal of our ancestors, only knives were preserved without any special changes, as well as daggers transformed into bayonets, giving the firearm piercing properties, which made it possible to use it in close combat. But this is a topic for a separate study.

It should also be noted that there are exceptions to every rule, and this work concerns the most common types of weapons made by Russian blacksmiths. We should not forget that in Rus', individual warriors could easily use rare types of weapons that came from other countries as trophies, made on special order, etc. Such weapons existed in single copies, and it is not worth asserting, for example, on the basis of, for example, a single hatchet found in a burial, that the Russians had Francis or something like that. Novice archaeologists and weapons experts make similar mistakes.

In the centuries-old struggle, the military organization of the Slavs took shape, their military art arose and developed, which influenced the state of the troops of neighboring peoples and states. Emperor Mauritius, for example, recommended that the Byzantine army widely use the methods of warfare used by the Slavs...

Russian soldiers were skilled in using these weapons and, under the command of brave military leaders, more than once won victories over the enemy.

For 800 years, the Slavic tribes, in the struggle with numerous peoples of Europe and Asia and with the powerful Roman Empire - Western and Eastern, and then with the Khazar Khaganate and the Franks, defended their independence and united.

The flail is a short belt whip with an iron ball suspended at the end. Sometimes spikes were also attached to the ball. They dealt terrible blows with flails. With minimal effort, the effect was stunning. By the way, the word “stun” used to mean “to hit the enemy’s skull hard.”

The head of the shestoper consisted of metal plates - “feathers” (hence its name). The shestoper, widespread mainly in the 15th-17th centuries, could serve as a sign of the power of military leaders, while remaining at the same time a serious weapon.

Both the mace and the shestoper originate from the club - a massive club with a thickened end, usually bound in iron or studded with large iron nails - which was also in service with Russian soldiers for a long time.

A very common chopping weapon in the ancient Russian army was the ax, which was used by princes, princely warriors, and militias, both on foot and on horseback. However, there was a difference: those on foot more often used large axes, while those on horseback used axes, that is, short axes.

For both of them, the ax was put on a wooden ax handle with a metal tip. The back flat part of the ax was called the butt, and the hatchet was called the butt. The blades of the axes were trapezoidal in shape.

A large wide ax was called a berdysh. Its blade - iron - was long and mounted on a long axe, which at the lower end had an iron frame, or thread. Berdysh were used only by infantrymen. In the 16th century, berdysh were widely used in the Streltsy army.

Later, halberds appeared in the Russian army - modified axes of various shapes, ending in a spear. The blade was mounted on a long shaft (axe) and was often decorated with gilding or embossing.

A type of metal hammer, pointed at the butt side, was called a mint or klevets. The coin was mounted on an ax with a tip. There were coins with an unscrewing, hidden dagger. The coin served not only as a weapon, it was a distinctive accessory of military leaders.

Piercing weapons - spears and spears - were no less important in the weapons of ancient Russian troops than the sword. Spears and spears often decided the success of a battle, as was the case in the battle of 1378 on the Vozha River in the Ryazan land, where Moscow cavalry regiments, with a simultaneous blow “on spears” from three sides, overturned the Mongol army and defeated it.

The spear tips were perfectly suited for piercing armor. To do this, they were made narrow, massive and elongated, usually tetrahedral.

The tips, diamond-shaped, laurel-leaved or wide wedge-shaped, could be used against enemy, to places not protected by armor. A two-meter spear with such a tip inflicted dangerous lacerations and caused the rapid death of the enemy or his horse.

The spear consisted of a shaft and a blade with a special sleeve, which was mounted on the shaft. In Ancient Rus', shafts were called oskepische (hunting) or ratovishche (battle). They were made from oak, birch or maple, sometimes using metal.

The blade (the tip of the spear) was called a feather, and its sleeve was called a vtok. It was often all-steel, but welding technologies from iron and steel strips, as well as all-iron ones, were also used.

The rods had a tip in the form of a bay leaf, 5-6.5 centimeters wide and up to 60 centimeters long. To make it easier for a warrior to hold a weapon, two or three metal knots were attached to the shaft of the spear.

A type of spear was the sovnya (owl), which had a curved stripe with one blade, slightly curved at the end, which was mounted on a long shaft.
The first Novgorod chronicle records how the defeated army “... ran into the forest, throwing away weapons, shields, owls, and everything from themselves.”

Sulitsa was a throwing spear with a light and thin shaft up to 1.5 meters long. The tips of the sulits are petiolate and socketed.

Old Russian warriors defended themselves from bladed and thrown weapons with the help of shields. Even the words “shield” and “protection” have the same root. Shields have been used since ancient times until the spread of firearms.

At first, shields served as the only means of protection in battle; chain mail and helmets appeared later. The earliest written evidence of Slavic shields was found in Byzantine manuscripts of the 6th century.

According to the definition of the degenerate Romans: “Each man is armed with two small spears, and some of them with shields, strong, but difficult to carry.”

An original feature of the design of heavy shields of this period was the embrasures sometimes made in their upper part - windows for viewing. In the early Middle Ages, militiamen often did not have helmets, so they preferred to hide behind a shield “with their heads.”

According to legends, berserkers chewed their shields in a battle frenzy. Reports of this custom of theirs are most likely fiction. But it is not difficult to guess what exactly formed its basis.
In the Middle Ages, strong warriors preferred not to bind their shield with iron on top. The ax would still not break from hitting the steel strip, but it could get stuck in the tree. It is clear that the axe-catcher shield had to be very durable and heavy. And its top edge looked “gnawed”.

Another original aspect of the relationship between berserkers and their shields was that the “warriors in bearskins” often had no other weapons. The berserker could fight with only a shield, striking with its edges or simply throwing enemies to the ground. This style of fighting was known back in Rome.

The earliest finds of shield elements date back to the 10th century. Of course, only metal parts were preserved - umbons (an iron hemisphere in the center of the shield, which served to repel a blow) and fittings (fasteners along the edge of the shield) - but from them it was possible to restore the appearance of the shield as a whole.

According to reconstructions by archaeologists, the shields of the 8th – 10th centuries had a round shape. Later, almond-shaped shields appeared, and from the 13th century, triangular-shaped shields were also known.

The Old Russian round shield is of Scandinavian origin. This makes it possible to use materials from Scandinavian burial grounds, for example, the Swedish Birka burial ground, to reconstruct the Old Russian shield. Only there the remains of 68 shields were found. They had a round shape and a diameter of up to 95 cm. In three samples it was possible to determine the type of wood of the shield field - maple, fir and yew.

The species for some wooden handles was also established - juniper, alder, poplar. In some cases, metal handles made of iron with bronze overlays were found. A similar overlay was found on our territory - in Staraya Ladoga, and is now kept in a private collection. Also, among the remains of both Old Russian and Scandinavian shields, rings and brackets for belt fastening the shield on the shoulder were found.

Helmets (or helmets) are a type of combat headgear. In Rus', the first helmets appeared in the 9th – 10th centuries. At this time, they became widespread in Western Asia and Kievan Rus, but were rare in Western Europe.

The helmets that appeared later in Western Europe were lower and tailored to the head, in contrast to the conical helmets of ancient Russian warriors. By the way, the conical shape gave great advantages, since the high conical tip prevented a direct blow, which is important in areas of horse-saber combat.

Norman type helmet

Helmets found in burials of the 9th – 10th centuries. have several types. Thus, one of the helmets from the Gnezdovo burial mounds (Smolensk region) was hemispherical in shape, tied along the sides and along the ridge (from the forehead to the back of the head) with iron strips. Another helmet from the same burials had a typically Asian shape - made of four riveted triangular parts. The seams were covered with iron strips. A pommel and lower rim were present.

The conical shape of the helmet came to us from Asia and is called the “Norman type”. But she was soon supplanted by the “Chernigov type.” It is more spherical - it has a spheroconic shape. On top there are pommels with bushings for plumes. In the middle they are reinforced with spiked linings.

Helmet "Chernigov type"

According to ancient Russian concepts, the combat attire itself, without a helmet, was called armor; later this word came to refer to all the protective equipment of a warrior. For a long time, chain mail held undisputed primacy. It was used throughout the X-XVII centuries.

In addition to chain mail, protective clothing made of plates was adopted in Rus', but did not prevail until the 13th century. Lamellar armor existed in Rus' from the 9th to the 15th centuries, and scale armor - from the 11th to the 17th centuries. The latter type of armor was particularly elastic. In the 13th century, a number of items enhancing body protection, such as leggings, knee pads, breast plates (Mirror), and handcuffs, became widespread.

To strengthen the chain mail or shell in the 16th-17th centuries in Russia, additional armor was used, which was worn over the armor. These armors were called mirrors. They consisted in most cases of four large plates - front, back and two side ones.

The plates, whose weight rarely exceeded 2 kilograms, were connected to each other and fastened on the shoulders and sides with belts with buckles (shoulder pads and amices).

A mirror, polished and polished to a mirror shine (hence the name of the armor), often covered with gilding, decorated with engraving and chasing, in the 17th century most often had a purely decorative character.

In the 16th century in Rus', ringed armor and breast armor made of rings and plates connected together, arranged like fish scales, became widespread. Such armor was called bakhterets.

Bakhterets was assembled from oblong plates arranged in vertical rows, connected by rings on the short sides. The side and shoulder slits were connected using straps and buckles. A chain mail hem was added to the bakhterts, and sometimes collars and sleeves were added.

The average weight of such armor reached 10-12 kilograms. At the same time, the shield, having lost its combat significance, becomes a ceremonial item. This also applied to the tarch - a shield, the top of which was a metal hand with a blade. Such a shield was used in the defense of fortresses, but was extremely rare.

Bakhterets and shield-tarch with a metal “arm”

In the 9th-10th centuries, helmets were made from several metal plates connected to each other with rivets. After assembly, the helmet was decorated with silver, gold and iron plates with ornaments, inscriptions or images.

In those days, a smoothly curved, elongated helmet with a rod at the top was common. Western Europe did not know helmets of this form at all, but they were widespread both in Western Asia and in Rus'.

In the 11th-13th centuries, domed and spheroconic helmets were common in Rus'. At the top, helmets often ended with a sleeve, which was sometimes equipped with a flag - a yalovets. In early times, helmets were made from several (two or four) parts riveted together. There were helmets made from one piece of metal.

The need to enhance the protective properties of the helmet led to the appearance of steep-sided dome-shaped helmets with a nose or a face mask (visor). The warrior's neck was covered with a net-barmitsa, made of the same rings as the chain mail. It was attached to the helmet from the back and sides. The helmets of noble warriors were trimmed with silver, and sometimes were entirely gilded.

The earliest appearance in Rus' of headgear with a circular chainmail aventail hung from the crown of the helmet, and a steel half-mask laced in front to the lower edge, can be assumed no later than the 10th century.

At the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th century, in connection with the pan-European tendency to make defensive armor heavier, helmets appeared in Rus', equipped with a mask-mask that protected the warrior’s face from both chopping and piercing blows. Face masks were equipped with slits for the eyes and nose holes and covered the face either half (half mask) or entirely.

The helmet with the mask was put on a balaclava and worn with the aventail. Face masks, in addition to their direct purpose - to protect the warrior’s face, were also supposed to intimidate the enemy with their appearance. Instead of a straight sword, a saber appeared - a curved sword. The saber is very convenient for the conning tower. In skillful hands, the saber is a terrible weapon.

Around 1380 appeared in Rus' firearms. However, traditional melee and ranged weapons have retained their importance. Pikes, spears, maces, flails, pole-toppers, helmets, armor, round shields were in service for 200 years with virtually no significant changes, and even with the advent of firearms.

From the 12th century, the weapons of both horsemen and infantry gradually became heavier. A massive long saber appears, heavy sword with a long crosshair and sometimes a one-and-a-half handle. The strengthening of defensive weapons is evidenced by the technique of ramming with a spear, which became widespread in the 12th century.

The weighting of the equipment was not significant, because it would have made the Russian warrior clumsy and turned him into a sure target for the steppe nomad.

The number of troops of the Old Russian state reached a significant figure. According to the chronicler Leo the Deacon, an army of 88 thousand people took part in Oleg’s campaign against Byzantium; in the campaign to Bulgaria, Svyatoslav had 60 thousand people. Sources name the voivode and the thousand as the commanding staff of the Russian army. The army had certain organization related to the structure of Russian cities.

The city exhibited a “thousand”, divided into hundreds and tens (by “ends” and streets). The “thousand” was commanded by the tysyatsky, who was elected by the veche; subsequently, the tysyatsky was appointed by the prince. The “hundreds” and “tens” were commanded by elected sotskys and tens. Cities fielded infantry, which at that time was the main branch of the army and was divided into archers and spearmen. The core of the army was the princely squads.

In the 10th century, the term “regiment” was first used as the name of a separately operating army. In the “Tale of Bygone Years” for 1093, regiments are called military detachments brought to the battlefield by individual princes.

The numerical composition of the regiment was not determined, or, in other words, the regiment was not a specific unit of organizational division, although in battle, when placing troops in battle formation, the division of troops into regiments was important.

A system of penalties and rewards was gradually developed. According to later data, gold hryvnias (neck hoops) were awarded for military distinctions and services.

Gold hryvnia and gold plates-upholstery of a wooden bowl with the image of a fish

I continue the section “Swords - symbols of the era” about blades recognizable at first sight

There are countless idle fabrications and home-grown “discoveries” on “Russian” or “Slavic” swords, which are carried like a wolf-predatory dog, from the extreme “the Slavs had no swords at all until the 9th century” to the extreme “the swords of the Slavs are the ancestors of any sword on planet Earth.” Of course, the truth in the middle is by no means so bright, since it is revealed to us through the hellish feat of heroic archaeologists, the painstaking work of restorers and the truly titanic efforts of professional historians. They are in some way helped by reenactors and collectors, who immediately carefully reproduce interesting samples, many with amazing detail and allowing the public to present not rusty remains, but a solid, colorful and shiny product that easily hits the most ardent reality deniers on the head.

Before proceeding directly to swords, you need to understand a little about the life and way of life of Slavic society and, in general, any inhabitant of Europe at that time, since the Slavs were, as they are now, firmly integrated into the world economy, religion and military affairs. It makes no sense to approach those events, actions and actions from modern positions and concepts, especially with modern value judgments, because if you are captured and not ransomed, you go into the service of the enemy. Further, tomorrow you are captured by your own former colleagues and, being unredeemed by the previous owner, you enter service again. At the same time, this is not a betrayal of any kind, a normal practice, and a warrior will not even think of blaming himself for something, this is in the order of things, especially since the enemies are not fascists, but the same prince from a neighboring town, he has half of your relatives in his squad and acquaintances. No one will kill either - a professional expert (the one who is often called a vigilante), a valuable labor reserve, will come in handy.

Combat losses of troops of that time were minimal, it was more like a demonstration of force and extremely rare skirmishes, a battle of grandiose scale - the Battle of Kulikovo, where a couple of tens of thousands of people took part on both sides. Moreover, these battles are much more late period, Ice battle a skirmish of barely a few thousand horsemen, the great Battle of Hastings, which decided the fate of England in 1066, barely numbered tens of thousands on all sides. There were irrevocable combat losses of thousands of people, which is why they were included in the chronicles, and the characteristic war, mentioned in passing, usually had losses of tens of people. Most of the losses were from diseases, such as dysentery or banal blood poisoning, which, you see, no one will write about in the chronicles. The whole of Kyiv, Suzdal or Novgorod could rarely field more than 1000 people, given that in the times described, only professional warriors who never engaged in agriculture, only horsemen and no militia were put forward for war. For that time, the army fielded by Russia was 3000-4000 people. for any European country, of course, a grandiose army, since they settled in 2-3 households in far-scattered farmsteads of 10-15 people. and for the farmers such an army was generally beyond comprehension, since any number more than three was “many”; not everyone knew how to count to a dozen, and even in the 19th century. About 30,000 people lived in Novgorod, 40-50,000 people lived in Kyiv, they were gigantic megacities

Peasant and military economies are fundamentally different during excavations: the military economy does not have agricultural implements, while the peasant economy does not have a sword, not even a sulitsa (dart) or a bow. Therefore, the Slavic sword is a professional weapon, extremely rich and expensive, as is armor, for example, Slavic helmets - a work of jewelry art, and therefore rare. If at one time all the principalities of Rus' had 10,000 swords in their arsenals, this is simply an incredible amount for Europe of that time, about the same as 10,000 of the most modern tanks now. Slavic swords are included in pan-European weapons, just like our weapons now, in some ways similar, in some ways different. I wanted to give the swords of the Vikings and Slavs together, but there is a lot of material and the topic is pressing, besides, in general, they differ significantly in a number of ways and it is better to separate them. I continue the permitted speeches, in the name of Kirpichnikov and Peter Lyon and Oakeshott, akinak.

Since ancient times, the sword has been a privileged weapon in Rus' and those who wore it, as a rule, had a high social status.

The sword consisted of a wide strip, sharp on both sides, that is, a blade, and a handle, the parts of which were called: apple (some insist on the pommel), black and flint. Each flat side of the blade was called “golomen”, or “golomya”, and the points were called “blades”. One wide or several narrow recesses called dol were made on the holomen. The blades were made of steel or iron, the sword was placed in a sheath upholstered in leather or, later, velvet. The scabbard was made of iron, wood, leather and was sometimes decorated with gold or silver notches. The sword was hung from the belt using two rings located at the mouth of the scabbard.

By typology, Slavic swords are pan-European, characteristic of the Carolingian Empire or, as they called themselves, the Western Empire, consisting of Germany, France and Italy, that is, the European Union 2.0, aka the Franks. It is logical that the formation, whose ruler called himself the Emperor of the Romans, adopted the spatha, popular for Rome, as well as its prototypes from the Iberian Peninsula, popular in continental Europe, and improved it in every possible way in accordance with current tactical methods of battle. The term Carolingian sword, or Carolingian type sword (also often referred to as “Viking sword”) was introduced by weapons experts and weapon collectors of the 19th-20th centuries.

Spatha Roman, Merovingian and Spatha Germanic



The Carolingian type of sword was developed around the 8th century, at the end of the era of the Great Migration of Peoples and at the beginning of the unification of the states of Western Europe under the auspices of Charlemagne and his descendants, which explains the name of the type of sword (“belongs to the Carolingian era”). The Carolingian-type sword is a development of the ancient spatha through an intermediate link - a Wendel-type sword, also known as the “Merovingian” sword or the sword of the Great Migration period. The Carolingians had a double-edged blade about 90 cm long with a deep fuller, a short handle with a small guard, and a total weight of about 1 kg.

By the 10th century, the Carolingian type sword was widespread in the countries of Northern and Western Europe, especially in the Franco-Celtic, Scandinavian and Slavic regions. This is due to the fact that the huge arms corporation Ulfberht worked in Germany, whose swords are simply dotted with the Scandinavian countries and Slavic lands, there were other mass signature swords, that is, other corporations also worked.

In particular, there is a find that was considered Scandinavian, but when clearing a blade from Foshchevataya, the inscription LYUDOTA or LYUDOSHA KOVAL was revealed, which, despite the Scandinavian ornamental decoration, clearly indicates that in Rus' there were at least two large arms corporations that had the ability to forge Carolingian blades and apply There are quite intricate and complex inscriptions on it using complex technology. The second sword has the inscription SLAV, its state of preservation is much worse. Judging by the abundance of unidentified production of swords, we can say that at least large production was in Ladoga, Novgorod, Suzdal, Pskov, Smolensk and Kyiv. The fact that such inscriptions are a trademark, and not a mark of the master, is evidenced by Frankish finds from different centuries; the inscriptions change due to rebranding, the handwriting is different. Yes, most of the sword finds in Rus' are clearly of German origin, however, the Scandinavians themselves actively purchased Frankish swords in large quantities, re-exporting them to Rus'. The fact that the Scandinavians resold the swords is evidenced by the fact that only one single-edged Saxon was found in Rus', a blade known for certain to be forged by Scandinavians. Some of the unsigned blades have simple marks of masters, also of Frankish origin, while about a tenth have no markings at all.


Also, the export of Slavic swords should not be ruled out, at least this is clearly indicated by both the complete similarity of signature swords of Frankish production and Slavic alloy composition, as well as the finds of such type A swords in Sweden and Lithuania. There is also evidence from al-Kindi in the treatise “On various types swords and iron of good blades and about the localities by which they are called” and Ibn Rust about “Suliman”, that is, the swords of the Rus. They point to the richness of the decoration of the Rus' swords, their general similarity to Frankish swords, and the absence of marks (which, by the way, is typical for later Russian swords). Ibn Fadlan also constantly mentions the magnificent Russian swords that they sent to eastern markets, where there were blades of poor quality. Ibn Miskaweikh remembers Russian swords mainly in reports of how Muslims robbed Russian graves and fallen soldiers, noting the excellent quality of swords “like those of the Franks,” just like the Byzantines and Armenians.

The Old Russian sword is a chopping weapon: “let them not defend themselves with their shields, and let their swords cut them” or “let them cut mercilessly with a sword.” But some expressions in the chronicle, although later, suggest that the sword was sometimes used to stab an enemy: “those who call to the end will be pierced with a sword.” The usual length of a sword of the 10th century was about 80 - 90 cm, but a simply gigantic sword was found, 1.2 m in length, of monstrous weight, it is not even clear which hero it could have belonged to (even the sword of Peter 1, who was 2.03 cm tall, had a sword that was noticeably smaller in size). The blade width was 5–6 cm, thickness 4 mm. Along the blade on both sides of the blade of all ancient Russian swords there are fullers, which served to lighten the weight of the blade. The end of the sword, not designed for a piercing blow, had a rather blunt point, and sometimes was even simply rounded. The pommel, hilt and crosshair of the sword were almost always decorated with bronze, silver and even gold; blades, such as those from the Gnezdovo burial mound, were simply incredibly richly decorated. In general, a distinctive feature of Slavic swords, in addition to the shape of the pommel and ornaments, can be considered the luxury of finishing.

We are interested in the clearly different type A (below). The types of swords were conventionally divided by pommel and type of decoration, but there are hybrids, in particular, many Scandinavian animal ornaments turned into Slavic plant ornaments, for example on the scabbard, so there was clearly the opposite influence, not only were exported swords brought in commercial quantities to Rus'. There is a lot of talk about the very possibility of manufacturing not “simple metal products”, but swords, but the question is awkwardly closed by Slavic signature swords, even with a Scandinavian pommel, which is generally removable and maybe the owner liked foreign ones, so it’s not like here. Type A is clearly different from all common European swords and is found only here, which suggests local production.


Sword blades were made complex due to the low quality of steel and the high cost of iron. The central (base) part of the blade was made of soft iron, the blades were made of hardened steel, they were then welded to the base, which, despite the laboriousness of the process, made it possible to make the blade flexible and durable at the same time. This is due to the properties of steel, there is cementite steel, there is pearlitic steel, the first is hard and brittle like glass, the second is ductile and soft. The so-called Damascus (Damsassian famous beautiful sabers) could not be used in Rus' due to the fact that the steel there is cementite, which means it is afraid of frost and shatters into fragments upon impact. This is avoided by creating pearlite-cementite steel, where cementite grains are coated with pearlite and a blade is obtained that can be used instead of a sash in the cold, but these are modern technologies, when everyone is crying over the lost secret of “Damascus”, and simply no one needs it because more high quality steel. Now, by the way, if you make a sword, you can make such a blade that no famous blade of antiquity can even come close to comparing with it. There were cemented blades in Rus', but it was a little and generally difficult to withstand the temperature without a thermometer based on the color of the metal, back and forth 10K and the sword disappeared.



The Damascus technique is complex; they take plates of iron or steel, twist them, forge them many times, cut them, forge them (there are a lot of options) and then, with subsequent etching with acid, the beloved “Damascus” pattern is obtained. In fact, this does not say anything about the quality of the sword, but the consumer rejoices, not realizing that this is a necessary measure, and not aerobatics. Next, steel blades were welded to the base, then they learned to leave a little iron in the base, covering it with steel, and then they reached a solid blade. And then the fakes began - thin “Damascus” steel was simply stuffed on top of an iron core, and so a false Damascus appeared, which fortunately did not reach China.

Gnezdovo sword, replica


There are the usual legends about testing swords, that when you put it on your head you need to bend it to your shoulders and it will straighten up without consequences, but apparently they are invented by people who have never done this, it hurts their head, it’s better to eat with it. The blade can be bent quite freely by a strong man into a ring with his hands, for example when they show the remains of Ilya Muromets in Kyiv - well, he was a man of extremely average height, but he could probably gird himself with his sword, as they did in the East. Cutting nails and a gas scarf also raises doubts, since the nails were expensive, no one wanted to spoil the sword, and the sharpening was clearly not razor sharp and the scarf would simply hang on the blade like on a stick. Perhaps some fantastic Damascus sabers could perform such a trick, but since then no one has shown it, apparently either a fairy tale or a single copy, coupled with a deft trick. The same applies to delusional stories about hardening a blade in blood, piercing the enemy’s heart with a red-hot blank and testing the sword to see how many heads it will take off at a time, since all these procedures are harmful when hardening and tempering; it requires oil or, at worst, water. As a rule, I don’t write about sabers and long knives of the Saxons, including Slavic ones, but they were used on a par with swords.

Swords are found mainly in burial mounds, less often in graves; the closer to ancient cities, the more likely you can find a sword in half a hundred graves, while in the countryside of that time there was barely a sword in a quarter of a thousand graves. Not every ten unplundered mounds contain swords; rare horse burials should not suggest that the richest people, in luxurious clothes, with a kilogram of gold jewelry, with a sword-spear-axe arranged according to seniority, were sweepers on foot. A sword, like a horse, were signs of status, so it would be strange to see a noble boyar, but without a good gelding. Earlier finds of Slavic swords than the 9th century. they don’t talk about their absence, it’s just that earlier the sword was not personified with a person and was passed on by inheritance, being an incredibly valuable weapon, in addition, by the 9th century. the scale of production became such that some of the weapons could be sacrificed for honored warriors so that the swords would not be stolen and were deliberately bent.


Swords were worn in sheaths; they could be covered with leather or velvet; Russian craftsmen even used fish skin on expensive items. They were worn on a belt or sling; there is no mention or reliable information about wearing it behind the back, and it is not clear from the ergonomics how to get it from behind the back. The scabbards were richly decorated, which is clear from the surviving tips, often made of precious metals; the scabbards themselves naturally did not reach us.


Further, Carolingian swords coexisted with Slavic swords of the Romanesque type right up to the 13th century, gradually disappearing from circulation. They are being replaced by Romanesque swords, which, in my personal opinion, are much more convenient, especially for mounted combat (easier, fits in the hand and the pommel doesn’t get in the way, wrist finishing is possible) and are not without any advantages of the Carolingian sword, but that’s a completely different story.

Despite the fact that in Ancient Rus' the cult of the sword was less widespread than, for example, in medieval Japan, it undoubtedly existed, and it was given a very significant place in the life of our ancestors. Being both a military weapon and a sacred attribute during the performance of many sacred rites (especially in the pagan period), the sword firmly entered into Russian history and became an important element of national culture.

The sword as an attribute of folklore

The ancient Slavs, like other inhabitants of that era, used the sword as their main weapon for many centuries. With its help they fought off the attacks of foreigners, and with it they themselves went to rob their neighbors. If some Serpent Gorynych happened to get in the way, then his heads would roll on the ground, cut down with the same sword.

These weapons became an integral part of their lives to such an extent that they were vividly reflected in the folk epic. It is enough to open a collection of Slavic epics, and you will inevitably come across such expressions as “heroic sword”, “treasury sword”, “sword ─ a hundred heads from the shoulders”, “self-cutter sword”, self-cutting sword”, etc. In addition, its acquisition and further possession always provided the hero with the protection of certain mystical powers and made him invincible.

Is a sword a piercing or cutting weapon?

This is how the sword is presented in epics, but what can modern historians tell about it? First of all, it is necessary to refute the common misconception that the most ancient Slavic swords were exclusively chopping weapons and had not a point, but a rounded end. Despite the absurdity of this point of view, it turned out to be surprisingly tenacious. People of the older generation obviously remember that previously, even in illustrations for editions of folk epics, the swords of Slavic heroes were depicted, as a rule, with rounded ends.

In fact, this contradicts not only the results of scientific research, but simply common sense, since the fencing technique involves not only chopping, but also piercing blows. This is understandable, since a shell or any other armor is easier to pierce than to cut.

Below it will be noted that the first most common swords of the ancient Slavs (Carolingian) were imported from Western Europe, where they were produced according to the samples used in Ancient Rome. Thus, Russian and ancient Roman swords were, although distant, but still “related,” which gives the right to assume a certain commonality in them.

In this regard, it would be appropriate to recall the ancient Roman historian Tacitus, who, in describing military operations, repeatedly emphasized the advantages of a piercing strike, which was more rapid and required less space for its execution. In the Icelandic sagas there is a mention of how warriors committed suicide by throwing themselves at the point of a sword.

And although there is no description of Slavic swords in domestic chronicles, since the main task of these documents was to highlight the general course of historical events, without excessive detail, there is every reason to believe that the weapons of our ancestors were in many ways identical to those that were then used in Western Europe, and also before - in Ancient Rome.

Swords from the Carolingian dynasty

Conventionally, the swords of Slavic warriors, according to their external features, can be divided into Carolingian and Romanesque. The first of them appeared in Rus' in the 9th century, that is, back in the pagan period of its history, but in general, a similar design was developed a century earlier by Western European gunsmiths. In the article, swords of this type are presented in the 2nd and 3rd photographs.

The name of this type of sword is explained by the fact that they appeared in Western Europe at the final stage of the era of the Great Migration, when most of the states that were part of it were united under the rule of Charlemagne, who became the founder of the Carolingian dynasty. Their design is an improved development of ancient swords, such as the spatha - a bladed weapon that was widespread in Ancient Rome.

In addition to the external features of Carolingian type swords, which are clearly visible in the photograph presented in the article, they distinctive feature there was a blade manufacturing technology that was very advanced for that time. It provided increased hardness of the cutting edge and at the same time protected the blade from excessive fragility, which could lead to its breakage.

This was achieved by welding blades forged from steel with a high carbon content onto a relatively soft iron base. Moreover, both the blades themselves and their bases were made using a variety of technologies, which were usually kept secret. Making swords of this type was a very complex process, which inevitably affected their cost. Therefore, they were attributes only of rich people ─ princes and governors.

For the bulk of military men, there was a simplified, and therefore cheaper, design of the Carolingian sword. There were no welded high-strength linings, and the entire blade was forged from simple iron, but at the same time it had undergone cementation ─ heat treatment, which made it possible to slightly increase its strength.

As a rule, swords of the Carolingian type, regardless of whether they were made for the nobility or for ordinary warriors, reached a length of 95-100 cm and weighed from 1.5 to 2 kg. Larger examples are known to historians, but they are quite rare and were apparently made to order. The handles of the swords consisted of elements traditional for such designs, such as a rod, a pommel (a thickening at the end of the handle) and a crosshair. They are easy to see in the attached photograph.

Romanesque sword - a weapon of the Capetian era

In a later historical period, which began in the 11th century and spanned the next two centuries, the so-called Romanesque sword became widespread, examples of which can be seen in the 4th and 5th photographs in this article. Its homeland is also Western Europe, where, due to its high cost, at an early stage it was an attribute exclusively of the knightly class. Another fairly common name for this sword is Capetian. It originated similarly to the Carolingian from the name of the ruling dynasty, this time the Capetians, which was firmly established by that time and had the widest influence on European politics.

This sword also has a third name, which has appeared in our time. Together with later samples dating back to the 14th-15th centuries, it is classified by researchers and collectors in a group designated by the general term “knight’s swords”. Under this name it is often mentioned in popular science and fiction literature.

Features of such swords

Many researchers note that in the West this type of sword played a rather auxiliary role as a weapon, but was considered as an important distinguishing feature of social status. In most European states of the Late Middle Ages, only nobles had the right to wear it, and girdling with a sword was an integral part of the knighting ritual. At the same time, the law prohibited its possession and wearing by persons from lower social strata. Once in Rus', the Romanesque sword also at an early stage became the property of only the upper classes.

The main distinguishing features of these swords, which, as a rule, had a discreet appearance and were devoid of any decoration, were the design and technique of their manufacture. Even at a cursory glance, attention is drawn to their rather wide blades, which have a lens-shaped (biconvex) cross-section and are equipped with fullers ─ longitudinal recesses designed to reduce its weight while maintaining overall strength.

Unlike the blades of Carolingian swords, they did not have linings, but were made either from a single piece of high-strength steel or by the lamination method, in which the shell was quite strong, but the soft core remained inside. The forged sword was thus very strong and sharp, but at the same time elastic and resilient, which reduced its fragility.

An important feature of laminated blades was the relatively low labor intensity of manufacturing, which significantly reduced their cost. Thanks to this, having arrived in Rus' in the 11th century, swords of this type became attributes not only of princes, but also of their numerous warriors. They became even more widespread after they began to be produced by local gunsmiths.

Two-handed swords

Over time, a new modification of swords of this type appeared. If previously they were all one-handed, then gunsmiths began to produce two-handed swords made on the basis of this technology. It was no longer a ceremonial weapon, but a purely military weapon. Their elongated handles made it possible to hold the sword with both hands and thus deliver stronger and more destructive blows to the enemy. Despite the fact that the dimensions of the sword were only slightly larger than those of its predecessor, the desired effect was achieved due to a significant increase in the mass of the blade. Only in some specimens that have come down to us does its length exceed 100-110 cm.

Handles for both one-handed and two-handed swords were made mainly of wood. Much less often, materials such as horn, bone or metal were used for this purpose. Their design was not varied. Only two main variants are known: composite (of two separate halves) and solid tubular. In any case, the handle had an oval shape in cross-section. Depending on the wishes and capabilities of the customer, it had a certain coating, which created additional convenience and at the same time was an element of the decorative design of the entire sword.

In the photographs of Romanesque swords presented in this article, it is clearly visible that their crosspieces differ significantly from those with which their Carolingian predecessors were equipped. Thin and long, they served as reliable protection for the warrior from blows against the enemy’s shield. Despite the fact that similar crosspieces appeared in the previous era, they became widely used only in Romanesque swords, becoming one of their distinctive features. They were made both straight and curved.

The secret of the Persian gunsmiths

In addition to the blade manufacturing technologies described above, their production from damask steel has also become widespread. Such products have earned such great fame that in the folk epic heroes struck enemies exclusively with damask swords. Even the word “damask steel” itself became a household word and included a number of concepts associated with military valor and courage. By the way, it came from the name of one of the localities of Ancient Persia ─ Puluadi, where products made from this type of steel first appeared.

As for purely technical term“damask steel”, then it is a general name for a number of alloys obtained by combining hard and viscous types of iron and further increasing the carbon content in them. In a number of indicators, damask steel is close to cast iron, but significantly exceeds it in hardness. In addition, it is forgeable and hardens well.

The manufacturing technology of damask steel, from which many types of Slavic swords were forged, is very complex and was kept secret for a long time. An external distinctive feature of damask steel is the presence on the surface of products made from it of a characteristic pattern resembling a pattern. It occurs from incomplete mixing of the components included in it (which is an important part of the technological process), each of which is visible due to its special shade. In addition, the main advantage of damask blades is their extraordinary hardness and elasticity.

Researchers do not have a common opinion about when damask steel appeared. It is only known for certain that the first mentions of it are found in the works of Aristotle dating back to the 4th century BC. e. In Rus', the production of damask blades was established back in pagan times, but they were forged exclusively from steel imported into the country by overseas merchants. As mentioned above, the technology for its production was kept by oriental craftsmen in the strictest confidence, therefore all daggers, sabers, one-handed and two-handed swords, as well as other domestically produced edged weapons were produced from imported raw materials.

In Russia, the secret of damask steel was discovered only in 1828 at the Zlatoust plant by a prominent mining engineer of that time, Major General Pavel Petrovich Anosov, who, after numerous experiments, managed to obtain a material completely similar to the famous Persian steel.

Blacksmith master

The craftsmen who produced in their forges all the edged weapons of Ancient Rus', from daggers to swords, deserve special attention. It is known that their profession was considered honorable, and those who specialized in the production of swords were generally surrounded by a mystical aura. The chronicle has preserved for us the name of one of these craftsmen - Ludota, who forged damask swords back in the 9th century and became very famous for their exceptional quality.

In Ancient Rus', and especially in the pre-Christian period of its history, the pagan god Svarog, the keeper of certain sacred knowledge, was considered the patron saint of blacksmiths. Before starting to forge the next sword, the master always made a sacrifice to it and only after that began work. At the same time, the priests performed a number of magical actions, thereby turning the ordinary work of a craftsman into a kind of sacrament, for which they received the due fee.

It is known that damask steel, for all its advantages, is very capricious and difficult to process, so special skill and skill was required from the blacksmith. Considering its extreme high cost, it is clear that only true craftsmen who made up a certain, extremely closed corporation could forge damask swords.

Custom made swords

Both in private collections and in the collections of various museums around the world, Slavic swords are often found, made to order and bearing certain distinctive features of their owners. One of these swords can be seen in the photo above. They are distinguished from other examples of ancient weapons by the finishing of the handles, for which non-ferrous and also precious metals, enamel and blackening were widely used.

It was not customary to indicate the owner of the sword on the hilt or blade, but special importance was attached to the depiction of mythological scenes associated with it and the inscription of the names of ancient gods or totem animals. In accordance with this, the swords received their names. Thus, today there are known swords called Basilisk, Reuvit, Kitovras, Indraka and many other names of representatives of ancient mythology.

As you can see, this custom had very specific reasons. The owners of swords were warriors who were famous, if not for personal valor, then at least for the military exploits of their squads. The mere mention of their swords was supposed to terrify possible opponents.

In addition to the finishing of the weapon, its design features could tell researchers a lot. For example, the weight of the sword and its dimensions usually corresponded to the physical capabilities of the customer. Therefore, by identifying a particular specimen with a specific historical person, historians received additional information about him.

The sacred meaning of the sword among the Slavs in ancient times

It is also interesting to note the fact that the people’s attitude towards everyone in general Slavic swords had a somewhat sacred connotation. For example, the custom of the ancient Russians was known to place a naked sword near their newborn son, as if symbolizing that in the future he would have to gain wealth and glory through military exploits.

Magic swords, with the help of which our ancient ancestors carried out certain religious rituals, occupied a special place. Runic spells were applied to their blades and hilts, giving the owner the strength to resist not only real opponents, but also all kinds of mystical forces.

A number of similar artifacts were discovered by archaeologists during excavations of ancient burials. Their findings are explained by the belief that existed among the ancient Slavs, according to which a sword that had mystical powers always died with the death or natural death of its owner. He was lowered into the owner's grave, performing certain magical actions. It was believed that after this all his sacred power was taken away by Mother Earth. Therefore, swords stolen from burial mounds did not bring good luck to anyone.

The sword is a symbol of military valor and glory

The sword, which for many centuries was the main weapon of the Russian warrior-combatant, served at the same time as a symbol of princely power and was a kind of emblem of the military glory of Russia. It is no coincidence that his cult survived even after edged weapons were everywhere replaced by firearms. Suffice it to remember that many signs of military valor were applied precisely to blades and hilts.

The sword has not lost its symbolic and partly sacred meaning in the modern world. Suffice it to recall the famous figure of the Warrior-Liberator, created by the sculptor E. V. Vuchetich and installed in Berlin's Treptower Park. Its most important element is the Sword of Victory. He also appears in another work by the sculptor - the figure of the Motherland, which is the center of the memorial ensemble on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. E. V. Vuchetich created this work in creative collaboration with his colleague ─ N. N. Nikitin.