The weapon of the Russian hero

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

The Russian hero, as you know, fought close combat. One on one, or one for all. What helped the hero to win the ultimatum victory over the enemy? Contact weapon.

Sword

The sword is not just a Russian weapon, but a symbol of military power. They swore with a sword in a dispute, talked to him, gave him a name, this name was written by ancient masters in the upper third of the blade.

The sword was made of a new material for humanity - metal. It was not easy to get it, it was unacceptable to forget and shameful to lose. It was exclusive to the owner, and it is not yet clear who actually owned whom.

The sword was bought for an amount of gold equal to its weight. To avoid an unsuccessful purchase, the sword was tested, first of all, by ringing: the longer, higher and cleaner the ringing of the blade, the better the metal. He also had to easily and not bluntly cut through a thick nail and cut the fabric thrown onto the blade.

Battle ax

The ax also served the heroes by faith and righteousness from time immemorial, but on foot. Was an indispensable tool for the installation of military mechanical devices, fortifications and for clearing the road in the forest. An ax in good hands could easily split a shield or tear a chain mail.

A characteristic feature of the Russian ax is a mysterious hole in the blade. Scientists put forward various hypotheses - from the fact that this is the brand of the master to the fact that a rod was inserted there so that the ax would not get deeply stuck upon impact. In fact, everything turned out to be much simpler: a leather cover was attached to this hole for safe transportation, and an ax was also hung from it to the saddle or on the wall.

Saber

The fundamental difference between a sword and a saber is that a sword is a cutting weapon, while a saber is a cutting one.

The Slavs began to use the saber on the territories bordering on the nomads, since they had to resist light horsemen, and it was very convenient for mounted warriors. It is believed that the Slavs, having adopted the saber from the steppe dwellers, advanced its spread further - to Western Europe.

Knife

Any knife exceeding 20 cm in length is considered a combat knife. The knife was thrown at the enemy, and the Slavic soldiers were distinguished in this matter by very great accuracy.

There was also a rather harsh custom that operated in remote northern villages until the 19th century. Village lads, armed with knives, gathered at night in a hut, where they extinguished all the light and stabbed "all against all," and beat them with full force. Surprisingly, there were almost no casualties, apart from minor cuts and abrasions. Scientists in this capture an echo of the ancient discipline of training young warriors: the hero must not only see, but also feel the blow coming at him, be able to parry it without the help of his eyes and correctly strike back.

A spear

In the annals, almost as a synonym for battle, the expression "break the spear" is found. Think about the strength of the blows of the Russian heroes, who broke the spear shafts 3 cm thick and about 2 meters long against opponents.

The shaft was made of birch, oak, ash, maple, often bound with metal so that the enemy would not cut it. From above, a tip with a sleeve was put on it (where the shaft was inserted). The tips reached a length of half a meter. There were cases of using whole "swords" on a stick, with which it was possible not only to stab, but also to chop well.

Equestrian heroes used spears, but not like medieval European knights in tournaments. A ram strike in Russia appeared only in the XII century due to the heavier armor. Until the XII century, the riders beat with a spear from top to bottom, having previously swung their hand. First of all, such a spear differed in length - 3-4 m and a tip. Since the 10th century, an elongated tetrahedral tip has been spreading.

It is not so much a deadly weapon as a demoralizing one - to injure, maim, stun. Anyone who believes that ancient wars were distinguished by a huge number of victims is mistaken. The main task was not to destroy the enemy without exception, as many are now trying to do, but only to break his resistance, collect tribute, drive people into slavery and thereby ensure the prosperity of his people. According to chronicle sources, there were few killed, while more than three-quarters of the army were wounded. The army "beat those", did not chop, not cut, but beat them.

The best cudgel is made from oak, elm and birch. There was also the practice of driving nails into such clubs, which further increased the crushing ability of the club. The club is a pear-shaped spiked weapon that we are used to seeing in the hands of heroes. The mace, on the other hand, has a somewhat cubic shape, which is reflected in its name - "bump", "knob".

Many artists supply their epic heroes with huge all-metal "stopudovy" clubs. In fact, the club weighed only 200-300 grams - this was quite enough for a good hit.

Brush

The brush is a weapon of a nomadic hero - an ideal tool for easy transportation. The brush is a pear-shaped weight, weighing 100-500 g, attached to the handle on a chain. It can be argued that the brush is a purely Russian invention, which was used by the Slavs back in the 6th century. Unlike a mace, a brush is universal - it can equally hit the enemy on foot and on horseback. However, the brush requires from the owner a great skill of handling himself - otherwise you will more often hit your forehead or back with a kettlebell than into your opponent. Sometimes the following technique was used: all the same weights were tied to a rope and the warrior, having wound the end of it around his hand, launched the kettlebell at the enemy.

Kistheni were also decorated, like any other weapon, on some of them you can see princely signs, intricate patterns, silver and gold inlay.