Knife in the Slavic tradition

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Since ancient times, a knife has been both a weapon and a household item. It is difficult to list all the areas of activity where the knife was used and is used: cooking, pottery and shoemaking, making wooden products, hunting.

In addition, a knife has always been considered a worthy and expensive gift. After all, a sacred property was also attributed to a knife at all times. And the use of this weapon was often accompanied by special rituals and conspiracies.

In ancient times, a man received a knife almost immediately after birth. The father personally forged a knife for the newborn or ordered it from the blacksmith. Often, a knife, along with other sharp and hard objects: scissors, keys, arrows, pebbles, animal teeth, was folded into the boy's cradle. It was believed that this provided strength, endurance, strength of character. These objects were removed from the cradle after the appearance of the child's first teeth. When a child's hair was cut for the first time, he was seated on a table, usually on a casing, under which a spindle or comb for a girl, an ax or a knife for a boy was placed. The knife was used as a talisman in many rituals, love spells. He protected from evil spirits, gave strength and confidence. The knife should not be given to a stranger. In the minds of our ancestors, the knife was a powerful carrier of energy, both good, creative, and aggressive and destructive.

Knife in battle

In the 6th century, the Byzantine chronicler Procopius of Caesarea wrote about the weapons of the Slavs: “Shields for warriors are made of bull skin, light, and all weapons are light - spears made of strong wood …, elbow-long swords and short knives, as well as scabbards for them, are made successfully. " The above quote describes the combat equipment of a Slavic warrior of the 6th century. It is also known that a few centuries later the knife did not lose its status as a military weapon. It is known that the strong and combat-ready squad of Prince Svyatoslav was armed, including for boot knives. Researcher Maria Semenova writes: “Each soldier had a knife with him, a convenient household and marching tool, which, of course, could serve in battle as well. The chronicles, however, mention their use only in heroic single combats, when finishing off a defeated enemy, as well as during especially stubborn and fierce battles."

When calling the enemy into battle, they also used a knife. In this case, the weapon was stuck into the ground or into the "mat", if the case took place indoors. Currently, scientists call "combat" knives over 20 cm long.

Combat knives: 1 - scramasax, 2 - a side knife, that is, worn at Saadak, 3 - a boot knife, 4 - a hiking knife, 5 - daggers.

Knife as an attribute of the masculine principle

In Russia, there have been cases when the ban on carrying a knife was perceived as a direct insult to manhood.

Usually the knife was worn on the belt or in the bootleg. The first method is considered to be more ancient. During holidays or ceremonies, the knife was usually displayed, put on display. It is believed that most of the rituals associated with sticking a knife into the ground are associated with fertility. Mother Earth, Mother-Cheese-Earth personified the feminine principle and fertility. A knife or dagger, respectively, is masculine. The knife that entered the ground symbolized the fertilization of the earth. It is not for nothing that on some ancient figurines among idols, a dagger was very clearly depicted instead of a male reproductive organ.

But the perception of the earth as a woman, and of the knife as a symbol of the masculine principle, was rather not sexual, but epic, global, generally giving birth.

The knife at the dining table

The attitude to the knife at the table was no less solemn. For example, either the owner of the house or an older woman cut the bread. When the family gathered at the table, the owner dignifiedly, with great respect, cut the bread, holding his chest. It was forbidden in ancient times, and is still considered a bad omen, to eat with a knife. On the table, the knife was placed only with the blade to the bread. At night, all sharp objects were removed from the table to avoid quarrels and conflicts.

Video on the topic:

A cycle of programs with V. I. "All About Knives"

Chulkin Viktor Ivanovich designer (37 models of knives), technologist, inventor, creator of the patented multipurpose knife "Siberian Bear", trainer in throwing knives. Teaches topics: 1. Traditions and rituals, 2. Design, 3. Manufacturing 4. Operation, 5. Sharpening, 6. Throwing, 7. Forensic science, etc.