Edged weapons of Ancient Russia

Among the Eastern European peoples, as well as among the peoples of Western Europe , one of the main types of blade weapons was the sword used by the feudal nobility. Conventionally, they are divided into two main groups - Carolingian and Romanesque . Carolingian type swords date back to the 9th - first half of the 11th centuries. The finds of such swords, and found in total a little more than 100 copies, are concentrated in several regions of Ancient Russia : in the South-East Ladoga , in some areas of Smolensk , Yaroslavl , Novgorod , Chernigov , Kiev , in the Dnieper near the island of Khortytsya , but there are also in other areas. As a rule, the blade consisted of steel blades welded onto a metal base. This base was often iron , but not always. It could consist, for example, of three steel plates; from two steel plates on an iron core; be all-steel; of two damask plates on an iron core. There were also cheap all-iron cemented swords. On average, their length was about 95 cm, and the weight reached 1.5 kg. The hilt consisted of a crosshair, a pommel and a rod, the design of which can be classified finds. About 75 swords of the 11th – 13th centuries were found. This is due to the fact that they gradually ceased to be placed in burials. They became smaller than previous swords: an average length of up to 86 cm and a mass of about 1 kg. It is already becoming dol . Technology is also simplified. At the same time, heavy swords are also known, up to 2 kg and 120 cm. In general, the swords used in Russia do not differ much from those that existed in other European countries. In addition, light and more convenient for equestrian swords stand out opposite. If swords were mainly chopping weapons, then in the 13th century, stabbing action becomes important. Swords were imported from Western Europe, or rather, from the Carolingian Empire . However, many handles to them were made in Russia.

There was local production of the blades themselves, but it was extremely insignificant. Two artifacts with Russian signatures are known. The first is a sword from Foshchevataya (near Mirgorod ) dating back to 1000-1050, on the lobes of which a Cyrillic inscription is imposed on the damask wire - “koval” on the one hand, and “Ludosh” on the other (this inscription is fuzzy, there are other options, in particular "Ludot"). The total length of the sword is 85.7 cm, the blade is 67.9 cm, its width is 4.9-3.8 cm. The bronze hilt is made in the Scandinavian-Baltic style. The second sword was found in the Kiev district , dating from the middle of the X century . It is poorly preserved, only a fragment of the blade 28 cm and a width of 5.3 cm and a crosshair of the handle 9.3 cm long. The crosshair is decorated with copper and silver wire inlay. On one side of the blade is the Cyrillic inscription “Glory”, which was not completely preserved due to a broken sword, it was the name of the manufacturer's blacksmith (like Ludos). On the other hand, unknown, mysterious characters ^[1] . There are several more swords considered, as possibly, of old Russian production. However, their number compared to imports is extremely small, why is not known. A-seater swords were made in one of the craft centers of Ancient Rus ^{[2] [3] [4]} .

From the 10th century, Russian soldiers began to use the saber ^[5] , borrowed together with its very name from the Khazar-Magyar weapons complex. This weapon, obviously, was mainly used by equestrian warriors, and it was more common in the south and southeast. About 150 sabers were found in Russia in the 10th-13th centuries, which is slightly less than swords. It is difficult to judge the place of production of sabers - there was both import and local production; which of these excelled is impossible to say. Sabers of noble people were decorated with gold, silver, and black. In the X century, sabers are still few in number - on the ancient Russian monuments of this time only 7 sabers and their fragments were found ^[6] ; in the 11th – 13th centuries sabers penetrate the north of Russia. However, the sword, nevertheless, remains a more important weapon. In general, the sabers of Eastern Europe and their neighbors were similar. At first, their length reached 1 meter, the curvature was 3-4.5 cm. In XII-XIII, the length of the sabers increased by 10-17 cm, the curvature reached 4.5-5.5 and even 7 cm. The average width was 3-4. 8 cm, however, sometimes reached 4.4 cm. So sabers, unlike swords, became more massive. The design of the handle was actively modified, there were several of its Russian types. Reciprocating blades manufacturing technology is poorly studied. More often they were all-steel. Since the XII century, they were forged from billets of carbonized iron, after which they were repeatedly hardened using a particularly sophisticated technology, resulting in a product with the required heterogeneity - the blade was the hardest ^[7] . At the same time, and before that, non-monolithic blades were produced. In one case, they were welded from two strips - an iron strip forming a blunt was welded to a steel strip with a blade. In another, a steel blade, typically high carbon, was welded into a strip, which sometimes already consisted of iron and low carbon steel strips. ^[8]

An important additional weapon was the knife . Until the eleventh century, scramasaxes were occasionally used - large, up to 50 cm combat knives 2-3 cm wide. However, in the ninth century for Russia this weapon was already archaic, its findings were very few, and in the eleventh century the scramasax apparently disappeared altogether. Other combat knives differed little from household knives, rather rarely exceeded 20 cm and were rarely used in battle. The only difference was a thickened back and an elongated handle. The knife was an item used by both men and women. Knives worn in boots are boots. The hilt of knives was made of bone or wood, could be decorated with ornaments. Wooden handles were sometimes wrapped with silver wire. Sometimes the handles were all-metal - made of copper. Blades of knives were often made by welding a steel blade onto an iron base. Often they also consisted of three welded strips - steel in the middle and iron on the sides. All-steel or whole-iron knives were less common, and cemented knives were even less common. Other options, such as knives with difficult to weld, were very rare. Daggers in Russia were not the most common types of weapons. In their elongated triangular shape and design, they were very similar to knightly daggers of the 12th – 13th centuries.

A very common weapon was an ax . About 1600 were found on the territory of Ancient Russia. They were used by the Slavs from ancient times, and, as weapons, written sources were mentioned as far back as the VIII century. Contrary to popular belief, heavy axes designed for logging and woodworking were not used in combat, due to their large size and excessive weight. Three groups can be distinguished:

• Special combat hatchets with decorations, characteristic in design and small in size.
• Battle axes - universal campaign and combat tools - resembled production axes, but were smaller than them.
  • Small narrow-blade hatchets with a notched butt and upper and lower squeezes are exclusively for military purposes. Used until the XII century.
  • Axes with a blade drawn down, two pairs of lateral squeezes and an elongated cut-out butt; were the most common type. Perhaps they are of Russian origin, spread at the end of the X century; in XII-XIII their design was simplified by replacing the squeegees with cape-shaped protrusions on the back of the butt.
  • Beard-shaped axes with a notch, a lowered blade, a straight upper face and lateral squeezes on the underside of the butt. They are of Northern European origin. Used from the X to the XII century. Until the thirteenth century, similar axes with two pairs of squeezes were also used, and in the thirteenth century they were completely without them.
  • Norman axes with a wide blade.
  • Narrow-blade axes with lateral squeezes, the ancestors of which in Eastern Europe belong to the first half of the 1st millennium A.D. e. They are more characteristic of the Finno-Ugric than the Slavs, and have, mainly, domestic purposes - the number of combat among them is extremely small.
  • The broad-blade poleaxes , although they were met, are rare, and were noted in the 11th century. They are the forerunners of berdysh .
• Working axes , heavier and more massive, were probably rarely used in war.

Combat axes of the total number are more than 570. The usual dimensions of the axes of the first two groups are: blade length 9-15 cm, width up to 10-12 cm, diameter of the eye hole 2-3 cm, weight up to 450 g (axes-minting - 200-350 d). The working axes are noticeably larger: lengths from 15 to 22 cm (usually 17-18 cm), blade width 9-14 cm, sleeve diameter 3-4 cm, weight usually 600-800 g. Minting axes differed in that Butts were equipped with a small hammer . They came from the southeast, and the number of finds was a little less than 100. They differed in a triangular, less often - a trapezoidal blade. Possibly, the most widespread axes with lateral squeezes, and often with a blade pulled down and an elongated notched butt, are of Russian origin. Northern type poleaxes with a rounded blade were also used. In general, the arsenal of axes used was very diverse. The axes were made of steel, and were often distinguished by a welded blade. The length of the handle averaged about 80 cm.

Maces appeared in antiquity, their distribution in the Russian army in the XI century - the result of southeast influence. Over 100 iron and bronze tops of ancient Russian maces were found. Their collective old Russian name is cue (in Polish and Ukrainian the stick is still called so, especially weighty).

• The most ancient Russian finds include iron tops (more rarely, bronze) in the form of a cube with four massive spikes located crosswise. They date back to IX-XI centuries.
• A little later, their simplified form appears - a cube with cut corners. The role of spikes was played by pyramidal ledges. Such maces were most common in the XII-XIII centuries (almost half of the finds), and were used by the general population, including peasants. The weight of the top was 100-350 g.
• Kleve maces were sometimes found. They were the same shape as the previous ones, but on the one hand they were supplied with a beak-shaped protrusion.
• In the 12th – 13th centuries, bronze, lead-filled clubs of complex shapes with 4–5 pyramidal spikes spread. Sometimes they were golden. The mass of their top was 200-300 g.
• Bronze tops with 4 large and 8 small spikes of the same weight are also spread, sometimes with decorative bulges around the spikes. This was the second most common type - more than a quarter of the finds.
• In addition to clubs with spikes, clubs with spherical tops, more often iron, as well as multi-blade clubs, were used . Their weight was 150-180 grams.
• From the 13th century, the use of the sixth century begins.

Maces were more common in the south of Russia, especially in Kiev, than in the north. They were the weapons of both cavalry and infantry. The length of the handle was on average at least 50-60 cm. In the infantry, clubs , clubs , and flocks were also used .

A handgun is a light (100-250 g) and mobile weapon that allows you to deliver a dexterous and sudden blow in the midst of a close battle. Kisteni came to Russia in the 10th century, like clubs, from areas of the nomadic East and were kept in equipment until the end of the 17th century. The gun, like the knife, was both a male and a female weapon, and was used both by the common people and by the princes. Moreover, they were distributed in the south and in the north of Russia. For the period up to the 13th century, about 130 shock cargoes were found. At first, bone ones prevailed, but soon they were almost completely replaced by metal ones. They were made of iron, bronze (often filled with lead) or copper. Differ in a variety of forms.

• Bone weights, usually carved from the elk horn, were spherical or ovoid, weighing 100–250 g. They make up about 28% of finds and exist until the 13th century, but are rare after the 11th.
• Spherical or pear-shaped metal weights were often supplied with protrusions to enhance the damaging effect. They were made of iron, or bronze, sometimes filled with lead. Smooth and faceted weights date from the second half of the 10th-13th centuries. Their weight ranged from 63 to 268 g. From the 12th century, loads appeared with pea-shaped bulges weighing 120–235 g. Sometimes spherical weights were made with rollers, including spiral ones. In total, this type makes up about 36% of finds, that is, it was the main one, and the number of weights with bulges and without them is approximately equal.
• Pear-shaped flattened, cast from bronze and filled with lead, were decorated with niello. They are found only in the south, mainly in the Kiev region. They had a weight of 200-300 g and date back to the 12th-13th centuries, accounting for up to 16% of finds. Close are round, flattened weights, which appeared a little earlier and were less common.

More complex forms existed, but they were rare.

• Impact cargo in the form of an iron (less often copper) cube with cut corners, on each face of which a large ball is soldered - such were made in Russia in the XII-XIII centuries, and make up only 5%. Their weight was about 200 g.
• A bronze load with 5 massive and 8 small spikes - these are similar to 12-spiked clubs, but differ in the spherical ends of large spikes.
• Iron biconical loads - their lower part is a hemisphere, and the upper one is a cone with concave generators.

Bow with arrows , the most important weapon, have long been widely and since ancient times used in Russia. Almost all of the more or less significant battles could not do without archers and began with a shootout. If a few thousand arrowheads were found, then crossbow bolts were only over 50. Basically, high-quality complex bows were used. Usually they consisted of two shoulders attached to the handle. The shoulders were glued from different types of wood, usually from birch and juniper, glued with extremely viscous fish glue. Their length was usually more than a meter, and the shape was close to M-shaped, with smooth bends. Quite widely used and more complex bows, one of the elements of which were bone lining, sometimes a whalebone . Self-arrows were known in Russia at least from the XII century, but did not receive wide military use, since they could not withstand competition with a powerful complex bow, either in terms of shooting efficiency or in rate of fire. Their onions were sometimes made, like bows, composite. The 13th century dates from the waist hook for pulling a crossbow string from Izyaslavl . The disk from Vschizh , previously mistakenly ^[9] mistaken for the gear of the crossbow tension mechanism, was actually used to apply patterns to earthenware. Bowstrings were usually made from fine silk or tendons and were great for humid and cool climates. Sometimes bowstrings were made from "intestinal strings" - specially treated animal guts. There were rawhide bowstrings, properly crafted, such a bowstring made it possible to shoot from the bow and in wet weather. For archery, various arrows were used - armor-piercing, srezni, tomars and others. Contrary to popular belief, incendiary arrows were hardly used. The average length of the arrows was 75–90 cm. The feathers on the arrows were from two to six. Feathers of eagles, vultures, falcons and seabirds were considered the best, however, depending on availability, others were used, from cuckoo to swan, with tail feathers taken from some birds and wing from others. The overwhelming majority of tips were petiolate, but there were also sleeve ones. They were made of iron or steel and were of various shapes. Three-bladed and flat wide tips were used against armless opponents; dicotyledons stuck in the body and complicated the wound (however, they were very rare); the cuts featured a wide cutting tip and included many varieties; awl-shaped pierced chain mail, and faceted and chisel-shaped - plate armor; arrows were used with a blunt tip - the so-called. "Tomar arrows" - on the hunt for fur-bearing animals. Crossbow bolts featured a shorter length and heavier tip.

Spears were also an ancient and common weapon. Сведения об их военном использовании относятся ещё к VI веку. Их существовало несколько видов, а наконечников найдено около 800. Маленькие метательные дротики — сулицы , использовались и для нанесения колющих повреждений. Можно выделить следующие типы наконечников копий:

• Ланцетовидное, ромбическое в сечении перо, плавно переходящее во втулку. Связаны с северным (скандинавским) влиянием. X—XI века.
• Ромбическое, с гранью на лезвии. Встречались очень редко. IX—XI века.
• Широкое удлинённо-треугольное перо, в сечении ромбическое или заострённо-овальное; массивная втулка. Очень распространённый тип. Форма наконечника в данных пределах была различной, и иногда он был довольно широкий, а иногда — наоборот, и подобное копьё напоминало пику (со временем преобладают именно узкие наконечники).
• Перо продолговато-яйцевидной формы со скруглёнными плечиками, плавно переходящими в невысокую втулку.
• Перо лавролистной формы. Сюда входят рогатины — массивные копья, вес которой составлял 700—1000 г (при весе обычного копья 200—400 г). Распространяются с XII века.
• Перо в виде четырёхгранного стержня, в сечении ромбического, квадратного, или, реже, в виде равноконечного креста. С воронковидной втулкой. Это были пики . До XI—XII века они были вторым по распространённости, после удлинённо-треугольного типа, а затем превзошли его. Древнейшие находки относят к VIII веку.
• Вытянуто-треугольный наконечник с черешком . Появляются около VI века, в XI выходят из употребления.
• Копья с двушипным пером ( гарпуны ), два острия были направлены назад, чтобы обеспечить застревание наконечника в теле. Скорее всего, предназначались для охоты.
• Копья с ножевидным наконечником. Встречались довольно редко.

Хотя наконечники копий нередко ковались цельностальными (изредка цельножелезными), часто встречались и более технологичные образцы. Так, применялись наконечники из железной основы, на которую наварены стальные лезвия; а также копья с многослойным пером, вваренным во втулку; реже — цементированные наконечники.

• Каинов С. Ю. Наконечники ножен мечей из Гнёздова // Acta Militaria Mediaevalia V . — Kraków – Sanok, 2009. — С. 79-110.
• Кирпичников А. Н. Древнерусское оружие. Вып.1. Мечи и сабли IX-XIII вв. (САИ. Вып.Е1-36). — М-Л: Наука, 1966.
• Кирпичников А. Н. Древнерусское оружие. Vol. 2. Копья, сулицы, боевые топоры, булавы, кистени IX—XIII вв. (САИ. Вып. Е1-36). — М-Л: Наука, 1966.
• Кирпичников А. Н. Древнерусское оружие. Vol. 3. Доспех, комплекс боевых средств IX—XIII вв. (САИ. Вып. Е1-36). — Л: Наука, 1971.
• Кирпичников А. Н. Снаряжение всадника и верхового коня на Руси IX-XIII вв. (САИ. Вып. Е1-36). — Л: Наука, 1973.
• Кирпичников А. Н., Медведев А. Ф. Глава седьмая. Вооружение // Древняя Русь. Город, замок, село / Отв. ed. тома Б. А. Колчин . — М. : Наука, 1985. — С. 298-364.
• Kolchin B.A. Ferrous metallurgy and metalworking in Ancient Russia (pre-Mongol period) // MIA. No. 32. - M .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1953.

• Army of Ancient Russia

• Melee weapons and weapons: knives, swords, axes and daggers
• A unique sword of the X century found at the bottom of the Dnieper