Rumor rushed: the kings of a foreign land
They feared my insolence;
Their proud squads
The northern swords fled.
A. S. Pushkin, So, today we continue our acquaintance with the Viking swords. Of course, it would probably be more correct to first acquaint VO visitors with the existing systems for typologizing these artifacts, but there is one problem. The fact is that, as a rule, typologies are usually created for specialists. They are complex, with a lot of cross-references and to rewrite them “just like that”, in my opinion, is “spit against the wind”. That is, the popularization of both the theory of relativity and the typologies of Scandinavian swords is a complex, responsible business and requires a lot of work from the author who has decided on such a thing. Therefore, it seems to me, one should approach the topic of typologies proper little by little. First, tell about the most interesting artifacts associated with it. Let me admire beautiful photographs, and only then, when a certain level of understanding of the topic has been achieved, we will move on to the story about the typologies of such famous specialists as Petersen, Oakshott and Kirpichnikov. Now it is only important to know that for the swords of the Vikings, the typology of Jan Petersen is considered the most acceptable today, which in relation to Eastern European finds was also considered by the famous Soviet and Russian historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor A. N. Kirpichnikov.
"Sword from Suontaki" (National Museum of Finland, Helsenki)
First of all, it should be noted that the same Petersen created his typology based on the study of 1772 (!) Swords found in Scandinavia, of which 1240 were distributed by type. And he identified 26 basic types, which he designated with letters from the Norwegian alphabet and 20 more special types designated by Arabic numerals. On the territory of the former USSR, Viking swords are also found and, although there are certainly fewer of them than in Scandinavia, today about 300 copies of such swords have been found, and they are still being found. Such swords were found in the burials of the famous Gnezdovsky kurgans, in burials on the territory of the Republic of Mordovia and even in Tatarstan. This is, let's say, the most eastern point of their location on the territory of our country, which is why we will start with these swords today.
A sword from the Purdoshan burial ground in the Republic of Mordovia.
It is clear that the finds of these swords are associated with the state of the Volga Bulgaria, located at the intersection of trade routes and at the junction of Europe and Asia. And today these two swords are the oldest exhibits of the weapons collection of the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan. Such weapons have been well studied; finds of whole swords or their parts in Europe and Russia, as already noted, are not rare. But something else is important, namely, that the territory of the Volga Bulgaria is the extreme eastern point of their distribution. Moreover, a total of 12 such swords were found here, as well as their fragments. So it can hardly be said about some kind of "overdoing" with the European influence of the Viking culture, since the artifacts belonging to it are found so far from the immediate area of its distribution. Or it was much wider than we can imagine today.
Sword from the Gnezdovsky burial mound. (Museum-reserve of the Gnezdovsky burial mound)
Both swords are rather heavy weapons with straight blades, equipped with a wide fuller and a massive, characteristic shape with a pommel. One of the interesting features of these swords is the inscriptions made inside the valley in large letters of the Latin alphabet. Similar inscriptions are present on both Kazan swords. After special clearing in Leningrad, on one side of both these blades, a pattern of intertwining stripes was found, and on the other side, the word "ULFBERT" was made out. This inscription is well known to both historians and archaeologists. It is known that it is a brand of one of the famous workshops in Europe, which produced swords of very high quality. Naturally, since people are people, no less their number were fakes, of more or less good quality. However, it is assumed that originally, it was the name of a blacksmith, whose blades were famous for their quality. Then it passed to his heirs and became a kind of brand of the Middle Ages, and so it became entrenched for a whole group of gunsmiths or even weapons workshops. Because one master would never have made so many swords. In addition, swords with this inscription can be found throughout Europe in the period from the end of the 9th to the beginning of the 11th century, and most often for some reason in the north and also in the east. The place of their production is located in the Middle Rhine region, approximately in the area between cities such as modern Mainz and Bonn.
A sample of illustrations from Jan Petersen's book "Norwegian Swords of the Viking Age" (St. Petersburg: Alpharet, 2005) In the first case, the pommel and crosshair are decorated with a simple dimple ornament, in the second - inlaid with thin silver wire.
The inscription was made in a simple and reliable way: the master cut grooves in the strip of the blade along the contour of the future letters and placed in them pre-measured pieces of wire made of damask steel (patterned steel obtained by forging welding of interlaced strips or rods with different carbon content). The wire was then hammered and welded to the base of the blade at a high temperature. Then the entire surface was polished and chemically treated. As a result, due to the contrast of the material of the blade and the damask wire, letters appeared on it.
If the shape of the blade of such swords has changed relatively little over time, then by the shape of the details of their hilts the swords can be dated quite accurately. For example, swords from the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, which have a fairly good preservation, are classified by the Norwegian scientist J. Petersen as type "S" and "T-2". Type "S" experts usually refer to the second half of the X - the first half of the XI century. The sword is distinguished by the presence of a massive hilt pommel of three rounded parts, connected by rivets. The crosshair of the sword at the ends widens somewhat, and they themselves are rounded. Initially, the entire surface of the handle parts was covered with a silver notch with an engraved ornament. But although it has survived to this day only fragmentarily, the braided ribbon pattern on it is still clearly visible. It was made of thin twisted silver wire. That is, its development at that time was not difficult at all.
The pommel of the hilt of the second sword has been lost, which complicates its identification. A. N. Kirpichnikov classified this specimen as a rather rare T-2 type and dated it to the 10th century. Its well-preserved crosshair has very interesting decorations. The entire surface is covered with a silver cut. Three horizontal rows of fairly large cells with a depth of a little more than 2 mm are drilled into the metal of the crosshair. The cells of the adjacent rows are diagonally connected to each other by channels through which a thin twisted silver wire is again stretched. In the extreme rows, the wire is folded around the circle into loops, in the central one - two wires intersect in the center of each hole and form crosses in them. The lost thimble was probably decorated using the same technique. But this is already interesting, because more swords with such decorations have not been found. And - most importantly, how it was done. After all, the holes are very small and the wires are thin. But in order to get "crosses" in the holes, you need to drill through the metal with a very thin drill, and then pull the wire through the resulting channels! It is clear, of course, that before the atomic war of 1780 in Europe (about which there are already a lot of materials on the Internet!) There was an ultra-high civilization and its representatives just drilled such "holes" in the crosshairs and tops of swords with a powerful laser. Well, the swords themselves were required by her representatives for entertainment. But if you still try to abstract yourself from these newfangled theories, the question still remains. Because the holes are too small and the wires are too thin!
Photocopy of the crosshair from the National Museum of Tatarstan. Holes with wire crosses inside them are clearly visible.
The exact place and circumstances of the finding of these swords are unknown, and one can only guess whether the Bulgar warriors used them or the Scandinavian merchants carried them somewhere from distant Western Europe to the East. It is also clear that such a luxurious type of weapon, of course, has always been of great value, and only a very noble and wealthy person had the opportunity to possess it. In the Scandinavian sagas, such swords are often referred to as a treasure, they are paid for, taken as payment, inherited, as a family property, and, of course, as a particularly valuable gift they are received from the king.
One of the latest finds in a river in Western Ukraine (2013). The sword belongs to group IV, type W according to Jan Peterson's typology. Dated to the middle of the 10th century. Length 955 mm, weight - about 1000 g, the blade is very sharp. The handle is made of bronze.
Now let's turn our gaze to our northern neighbor, Finland, and look at the equally unusual finds of swords in the ancient land of Suomi. It seems that this land was close to the habitat of the Vikings, but relatively few swords were found there, but nevertheless, they are.
"Sword from Swontaka" - in the center. (National Museum of Finland, Helsenki)
We are primarily interested in the "Sword from Suontaki", discovered in Finland in … a female burial in 1968. It dates from about 1030, and had a handle made of bronze. Moreover, its handle is very similar, at least in its shape, to the handle of the "sword from Langeide", which was discussed in the last article. No, the decoration of the pommel and crosshairs is different on them. But the shape of both of these parts is very similar. It is a pity that Petersen himself died in 1967 and could not see the "sword from Swontak".
Graphic drawing of the "sword from Swontaki" with an inscription on the blade on both sides.
