Museum complex

Swords

Ancient Rus’ (Russia)
X century AD
Iron, non-ferrous metal; forging, inlay
Length-from 77 to 94 cm
Receipt: from the Archaeological Commission in 1895 (excavations under the supervision of N.E.Brandenburg in the South-Eastern Ladoga region) and in 1908 (excavations under the supervision of I.A.Tikhomirov in Mikhailovskoe); excavations under the supervision of M.V.Fechner in Timerevo in 1974
Showcase 17

Squad of the Prince was called Druzhina (derived from Slavic “druzhe” – friend) and warrior (a member of that squad) was called “druzhinnink”. Members of princely squad were bound together by very strong bonds. The sword was an inseparable attribute and symbol of the warrior-vigilante (druzhinnik) in Ancient Rus of the X century. A prestigious and expensive weapon.
In modern weapons science, the word “sword” is usually defined as an offensive double-edged weapon with straight blade exciding 60 centimeters, designed for primarily slashing blows.
With a total length of about 1 meter and a width of up to 6 – 6.5 centimeters, swords in X century weighed up to one and a half kilograms.
Structurally, the sword consisted of a straight, tapered towards point double-edged blade, a handle with a crossguard that protected the hand, and a pommel (head of the sword) that served as a balance.
Heavy slashing sword of this type appeared at the end of the VIII Century, when Charlemagne (Charles the Great) started uniting the territory of Western Europe. That is why this type sword got its name – “Carolingian sword” or sword of the “Carolingian type” (you can also find definitions a “Viking sword” or a “Frankish sword”).
The finds of these swords on the territory of Ancient Rus are concentrated in several centers connected with trade routes, which were located in the South-Eastern Ladoga region, as well as areas of Smolensk, Yaroslavl, Novgorod, Kiev and Chernigov.
As a rule, swords were found in men's graves and, judging by the richness of the inventory accompanying the deceased, they could have belonged to wealthy soldiers-vigilantes (druzhinninks), merchants, or even representatives of the princely-boyar nobility.
Researches assume the major workshops for making such swords were located in Northern and Western Europe. It is definitely determined that medieval workshops made most of the swords with assembled hilts. However, there were cases when sword hilts were redone and redecorated later according to local tastes and traditions.
Swords could have arrived to the territory of the ancient Russian state together with the Scandinavians who participated in military and trade campaigns along the river routes (“the route from the Varangians to the Greeks”). In the “Tale of the Bygone years” (a written source on the history of Ancient Rus) they were called “Varangians” or “Russ”.

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There are numerous records about Russ’ swords in written sources. Perhaps none of the weapons of the vigilantes (druzhinninks) is mentioned as often as swords.
In the reports of Arab authors, they were described terrifying as a deadly weapon and attractive as a commodity: “Russ constantly wear swords, see them as means of livelihood, fight with them in judgment duels, take them to the Eastern markets”.
The famous Arab traveler Ahmad Ibn Fadlan (who made a trip to Volga Bulgaria in the 920s, where he met the Russ) gave such description: “Their swords (i.e. Russ) are flat, furrowed (i.e. with fullers), Frankish.”
There also exists evidence about Russ’ swords from Byzantine and Armenian authors of the IX–X centuries. After the battle beneath the walls of Dorostol (971, the campaign of the Kievan Prince Svyatoslav against Byzantium) Greeks collected “many swords” from the dead Russ.

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