The taiga ax is a special type of tool that has many differences from ordinary carpentry tools that can be found in every owner’s home. A good tool is very difficult to find and is expensive, so we will make the best ax with our own hands from ordinary materials. Next, we will consider the main differences, features, characteristics of the product and step-by-step instructions for its manufacture.

Characteristics of the taiga ax and what it should be like

Since the parameters of the ax and blade are very different from the usual sizes of “household” axes and will seem unusual to many, you first need to decide what problems can be solved with this miracle device:

• Tree cutting. Felling in a sawmill, sanitary felling or preparing firewood for a log house - this is exactly what this ax was made for.
• Rough work with logs (that's right, rough!). Suitable for removing branches, making grooves, removing thick bark and similar work.
• Ax for survival. A lightweight hunting tool, suitable for quickly creating bags and animal traps.
• Construction of huts, decking, wooden “instant” houses. A hut will not be built without an axe, but with its help you can do it 4 times faster than when working with a carpenter's ax blade.
• Working with firewood. If accuracy is a secondary concern, then this tool is perfect for the job.

If you want to make a tool for precision work, then it would be better to consider forged axes with a straight, long blade. They are of little use when cutting down trees, but the accuracy is very high. In addition to the quality of the “cut,” there are many differences between a taiga ax and a regular one.

Shorter rounded blade . The ax is much lighter than a regular ax, and the small working surface area allows it to be buried much deeper into the wood; it is suitable for cutting wood across the grain. The tool is much easier to carry (the ax and head together weigh no more than 1400 grams).

Presence of a long beard . Its main task is to protect the wooden part from breaking under strong impacts. Up to 60% of the impact force is absorbed. But it does not protect against impacts against logs - this is a misconception, since the special shape of the blade already performs this function.

Special ax sharpening . The rear edge of the blade is almost 2 times thinner than the front. This is done for the purpose of using the ax as a cleaver (if struck correctly). In a conventional tool, the edge has the same thickness for high precision work.

Special angle of inclination of the ax . The head of the taiga ax forms a much smaller angle with the ax handle. This allows you to increase work efficiency, relieve hand fatigue and increase productivity when cutting trees. The impact becomes much stronger than that of a carpenter's axe, where the head and blade are placed at an angle of 90 degrees. They try to make all handmade taiga axes with an angle of 75-65 degrees - this is their main difference.

They use ordinary sharpening wheels, since they can be very diverse. The main thing is to observe the difference in the thickness of the leading and trailing edges, since it is this that affects the productivity of the forester.

Do-it-yourself taiga ax - making the tool head

It won’t be possible to forge or cast a metal part at home, so let’s take the simplest route and in a few steps make a taiga ax out of an ordinary carpenter’s axe.

STEP 1: we take an old metal head from an ax, the weight of which is approximately 1400-1600 grams (the best option) and cut off the front protrusion of the blade flush with the butt. Protrusion of 5-8 degrees is allowed, but it's better to remove it if you need the right axe.

STEP 2: we make the back of the blade round, we cut off the metal so that the entire touching surface is without corners. This can be done using a regular grinder or a medium-grit sanding wheel.

STEP 3: cut out a semicircle in the inner part of the blade. It is necessary for a comfortable grip of the ax when it is necessary to trim something or for more precise work. With this form of an ax you can pull up small logs or hang the ax on a tree branch. In addition, you can reduce the weight of the head by 150-200 grams.

STEP 4: cut off the upper corners of the butt. This will reduce weight and increase the maneuverability of the tool. This operation can be omitted if you are satisfied with the axe.

Now all that remains is to choose how to sharpen the ax. It is very important to use a low-speed tool (a grinder cannot be used!). A sanding machine with a large wheel and medium grit is ideal. The sharpening must be double-sided and have a moderately sharp edge (a very sharp one will die on the first tree).

Making an ax handle with your own hands

You should not neglect the ax handle, since it is this that affects the comfort of work. The holder must be balanced, comfortable, well polished and with the correct geometry so as not to injure the worker’s hands.

The first step is to choose the right wood for the ax handle. The first and simplest option is pine. It is very easy to sharpen and polish, but is unreliable due to its high fragility. You can use birch - the best option and very affordable wood that is quite easy to find. Maple and clear - ideal option, but making a handle from such wood is very difficult in some latitudes.

The size of the ax can be at your discretion; a handle with a length of 50 to 70 centimeters (universal size) for the cleaver is recommended. A hiking option is 40 centimeters, but cutting down trees and chopping firewood is quite difficult with it. If working with an ax only involves splitting logs, then the handle can be increased to 120 centimeters - excellent impact power and productivity, but you lose in comfort of use. Next, let's look at step-by-step instructions for making an ax handle.

STEP 1: We select a wooden blank. The log should be 20 centimeters longer, and its diameter should be at least 12 cm. Without knots, rotten areas, deformations and other defects that may be present on the tree.

STEP 2: drying wood. First you need to clear all the bark and split the lump in the middle. It is advisable to withstand for a couple of months at +22-25 degrees and 15% humidity. You should not heat it or keep it damp - this will only worsen the properties of the wood after drying, and it may become deformed.

STEP 3: we shape the ax handle. First, you can remove all excess with a hatchet or a large knife, and all “jewelry work” is done using a chisel and a small hammer. If this is your first hand-made pen and you don’t yet know how to make an ax, then the process will take several hours, you need to check the drawings. A more experienced person will be able to cut an ax handle by eye in 20-30 minutes. You should end up with a handle something like this:

STEP 4: Now you need to attach the ax handle and secure it. You can use gauze and epoxy resin - a proven option. After 2-3 days the instrument is completely ready for use. To be sure, after mounting the ax you can hammer in a wedge - this will be more reliable.

STEP 5: sanding and opening with varnish. The ax handle must be properly treated with sandpaper and opened with anti-corrosion mixtures so that the wood is not damaged over time. Now the instrument will also be beautiful!

Now all you have to do is find out what do-it-yourself sharpening is. You need to sharpen the ax handle on a machine or do it manually and you can go test the tool. True connoisseurs can also make a leather case with their own hands. A piece of leather 30 by 30 centimeters, an awl and nylon threads is all you need. Now the tool will look respectable and you won’t be ashamed to give it as a gift!

You can find out more about how to make a taiga ax with your own hands here:

Hi all! This summer I went on a 5-week trek in the Alps with some friends. The time spent left a lot of positive impressions. But during this trip I discovered that I had forgotten one very important tool - an axe. After have a long day After spending time in the mountains, it’s nice to sit by the fire and drink beer. But in order to start a fire without an ax, we had to spend a lot of time looking for small branches that could be broken by hand.

Therefore, as soon as I arrived home, I had the idea to make a tourist hatchet, in which, like a knife, a saw is hidden and there is a beer opener.

In this master class I will tell you how you can make such an ax yourself.

Ax design

The design of this ax consists of three parts.

Ax blade

The shape of the blade was borrowed from the tomahawk, an ax used by Native Americans and European colonists. But you can change its shape by adding some spikes or a hammer on the butt. The ax blade will be glued to the handle and secured with rivets.

Opener

First, as an opener, I wanted to make a suitable hole in the blade. As a result of test drilling, it was discovered that it was impossible to make a hole with a conventional drill, so I changed the type of opener. Both options can be seen in the image. The new type will be made in the form of a specially shaped hook.

Saw

I wanted the ax to come with a saw and thought it would be nice if it could be hidden like a jackknife. From the handle and it can be unfolded using the finger groove. The saw will be hidden between two pads. The shape of the metal part of the handle will allow the saw to be locked in both open and folded positions.

Once the design was chosen, I tried it on a circular saw blade to get the dimensions to fit.

Materials and tools

This ax is made from a used circular saw and hardwood that I had. I only had to purchase a folding saw blade. It was already hardened, so it did not need heat treatment.

Materials:

• Old circular saw blade.
• Hardwood timber (approximately 50 x 40 x 300 mm).
• Epoxy resin.
• Large nails for use as rivets.
• Folding saw blade (I used 200mm).
• Bolt, nut and washer.

Tools:

• Angle grinder (don't forget about safety equipment!).
• Rasp.
• File.
• Sandpaper.
• Drill.

Let's make sparks!

I transferred the outline of the ax and the metal part of the handle to a circular saw and cut them out using an angle grinder with a fine cutting wheel. I then used a sanding wheel, angle grinder and files to finish shaping the pieces. The final shape of the metal part of the handle can be given later.

Making the handle

You can glue the template to a piece of wood and cut out two overlays. I used my CNC router.

Drilling hardened steel

I didn't have a carbide metal drill, so I wasn't sure how the process would work with a hardened axe. I came across a video where it was said that you can use a sharpened concrete drill bit to drill hardened metal. That's what I did, and everything worked out pretty well.

Adding an opener

This is probably the most irreplaceable part of the ax! Whenever I go camping, my friends and I usually have a couple of beers around the campfire in the evening. Opening them with stones and tree branches is very inconvenient. So I thought this detail would come in handy. I transferred the outline of a regular bottle opener onto the ax blade and cut a recess into it. Works great :)

Drilling the handle

Next, I drilled holes in the handle and checked that everything fit. The metal part of the handle should act as a spring that will fix the saw blade. If it is too elastic, it can be made thinner. First I used the metal part of the handle as a template to make the holes. Then I fastened the two pads together with clamps and then drilled a through hole. This way all the corresponding holes were in one line.

To connect the parts of the ax without gluing, I used bolts. This way you can check whether all the parts of the ax fit and whether the saw folds correctly.

Blade sharpening

Once the blade's bevel outline was traced, I used an angle grinder with a sanding disc for a rough finish. Then, for finer work, a file and grinder were used (use water to cool the blade). The final sharpening was done using the grinding wheel of a sharpening machine.

I'm not an expert at sharpening an ax blade, so you can do this another way.

The ax will primarily be used to split wood into smaller pieces, so I did a little testing of its functionality.

Gluing and riveting

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• Forged axes, battle clubs and spears, coins and axes - buy edged weapons from the times of our Ancestors

  Only on our Slavic website “Veles” you can find and buy forged axes, battle clubs and spears, handmade hammers and axes with such a talented performance by the Master that you want to immediately pick it up and feel the power and energy of this. In this section of the online store, we have collected many types of products for you and hope that you will appreciate the choice, quality of workmanship and affordable cost.

  So: here you will find:

  Hand forged battle axes

  • battle ax of the Slavs - Russians
  • viking battle axes
  • Hellenic battle ax

  War clubs: weapons of real heroes

  Club is a derivative of the general meaning of the word stick. Thus, any wooden stick and club can be considered a club, but in the Middle Ages a club was made from a wooden handle and a head equipped with iron spikes, or the head was forged from iron to increase the force of the blow. Such a simple bladed weapon at first glance required strength and dexterity.

  War clubs were the weapons of true heroes and helped Dmitry Donskoy himself win the battle with Mamai, and even during the First World War. Only in the latter case were they called trench batons and had a shape similar to modern volleyball bats. That is why bats, clubs, and clubs are prohibited for everyday use and are recognized as dangerous edged weapons.

  A real fighting club differs from a club in its greater adaptability to the hand during battle and the presence of reinforcing hoops, pommels with or without spikes. Varieties of the club are: mace, shestoper, morning star, buzdygan, police baton and other names for cold impact weapons.

  Russian battle spears and other medieval throwing spears

  The spear as a weapon arose at the very beginning of our era. It was impossible to come up with the most convenient device for hunting animals: a long shaft made of a straight tree branch and a tip made of sharpened stone, and later metal. Even with the development of society, knowledge and culture, a real battle spear has not lost its value in the grip of people or beasts. This throwing and piercing weapon has been used for many hundreds of centuries, and it is only thanks to the ability to hunt and fight with it that we owe our lives now.

  Combat spears for throwing differ in the length of the shaft and the shape of the tip, both of which are adjusted to the hand and character of its future owner.

  Mint: buy military edged weapons in a complete reconstruction of the model

  Our Masters are people who are passionate about restoring Traditions and all types of medieval edged weapons. That is why they could not pass by the coins - a hand-made impact-crushing type of battle ax that has a beak-shaped ax handle with a flat striker on its butt. Actually, minting is an Old Russian symbol of the well-known word axe. Hammered axes with a hammer head are also a related type of another weapon - the klevets. Often in the Middle Ages, they were even combined by gunsmiths on one shaft for greatest functionality and to achieve balance when used in battle. The mint, like a battle ax, had anti-ricochet properties, cutting through and breaking through the enemy’s chest. With a klevets it was possible to finish what was started and overthrow the enemy.

  The hammered battle ax is sometimes mistakenly called a type of war hammer. However, the presence of a hammer-shaped butt does not make this edged weapon a type of percussion-throwing instrument; rather, it can be called an improved version of the axe, which you can also buy here.

  The Slavs used coinage not only in the form of a Russian battle axe, but also as confirmation of the fact of military leadership in campaigns. The weapon was carried on a saddle, in a loop with a richly decorated button.

  In addition to forged axes, combat spears and clubs, axes and coins, in this section of the Veles Armory under the auspices of Svarog you will find:

  • Six-feathers are a type of combat maces and clubs, distinguished by the presence of six or more metal feather plates on the head of the bladed weapon. Six-feathers enhance the area and nature of the enemy's destruction in battle, and sometimes have an additional plate in the form of a hook for quickly disarming the enemy. Shestoperas as a type of clubs and maces were first mentioned in the Pskov chronicle when describing the victory over the German knights.
  • Staves with combat edged weapons - blades hidden at the base, striking any target with lightning speed and used in many stories related to coups d'etat and reconquest of territories, defense of the Fatherland and their Relatives. Such staves could repeat in their technical meaning a combat spear; a weapon of this type was coveted and confirmed the strength, ingenuity and courage of the owner.
  • Maces, as a type of club, are cold impact-crushing weapons, known since the Neolithic era. The mace with a metal head began to be made in the Bronze Age, but in the Middle Ages the mace became one of the most popular types of weapons of the Slavs - Russian heroes. In many other countries it has become a symbol of power, strength, valor and dignity. Some historians believe that the scepter of power is nothing more than the personification of a mace, a heavy club with spikes for killing an enemy with one blow.
  • Klevets is a type of Russian battle ax, coined, and is intended for close hand-to-hand combat. This impact-crushing bladed weapon has high degree penetration in the presence of armor or chain mail. Another advantage of the klevets in comparison with other types of battle axes is its light weight and the ability to adjust the length of the shaft to suit the owner of the weapon. Klevtsy have been known as battle axes since the Bronze Age, and in the Middle Ages they were used not only by the Slavs, but also by many other peoples. They were called differently, but the technique of execution and combat remained unchanged.
  • Rogatins, which are a type of military spear, a weapon of the Russian people and part of hunting equipment. They are distinguished by the presence of a large double-edged blade, capable of causing a wide and deep wound to both the enemy and the beast. Although Dahl claimed that a slingshot is a weapon for hunting, according to history it is a cold bladed weapon The Slavs also used them for fighting: such heavy spears were indispensable when guarding settlements or recapturing them from enemies.
  • Berdysh are a type of battle ax and differ from others in having a crescent-shaped blade, as well as the presence of a shaft like a Russian spear. Berdysh are a cold piercing-cutting weapon of Russian medieval troops, infantry, dragoons and archers, as well as a self-defense tool for every Slav. The length of the reed shaft could vary, as could the size of the blade.

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

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

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

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

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

Swords. 9th–11th centuries

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

Scandinavian type compound sword: 1. Handle (“kryzh”): a – knob (“apple”), b – handle (“black”), c – crosshair (“flint”). 2. Blade: g – full

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

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

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

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

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

Sword hilts. 9th–11th centuries

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A sword made by a Russian gunsmith. Inscription on the blade: “Lyudota farrier”

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

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

A sword with an intricate floral pattern on the hilt. First half of the 11th century

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Swords and scabbards. XI–XIV centuries. 2. Belt. Reconstruction

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

The sword is perhaps the most mythologized weapon.

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

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

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

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

Warrior with sword

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

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

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

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

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

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

Swords. XII–XIV centuries

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

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

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

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

Sword hilts. XII–XIV centuries

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saber, dagger and combat knife

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Warrior with a saber. From a miniature of the Radziwill Chronicle. XV century. 2, 4, 5. Sabers. XI - first half of the XIII century. 3, 6, 7, 8. Sabers of Chernoklobutsky monuments. Sabers 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 – shown with pommels and scabbard parts in the form in which they were found

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

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

Combat knives: 1 – skramasaks, 2 – underside knife, i.e. worn during saadak, 3 – boot knife, 4 – traveling knife, 5 – daggers

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

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

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

1. Horseman with a spear from the Sylvester list. XIV century. 2. Spears and spearheads. Samples of characteristic standard forms. 9th–13th centuries

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

The tips of the sulits. X–XIII centuries

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

Let's start in order.

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

Spearhead tips. X–XIII centuries

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

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

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

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

Warrior with a spear

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

Battle ax

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

1. Axe. 2. Minting. 3. Ax

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Battle axes. Samples of basic forms. X–XIII centuries

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

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

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

Mace, mace, club

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

Maces made of iron. (XI–XIII centuries): 1 – pyramidal maces with spikes, 2 – “peckers” maces

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

Multi-spike clubs of various shapes. XI–XIII centuries

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

1. Ball-shaped mace head with sawn-out ribs. XIII century. 2. Shestopery. XIV–XV centuries

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Mace. XIII century. 2. Mace. 12th century

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

Horseman with a mace in his hand

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

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

Bone flails. X–XIII centuries

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

Flails made of iron and bronze. X–XIII centuries

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

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

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

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

1. Battle flail, or battle whip. XIV century. 2. Flail with a long handle. XIV century

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

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

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

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

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

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

Literature

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

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