The knife is a symbol and a necessity! The knife has been and remains one of the most important items that accompany a person throughout his history.

Forge Dynasty remembers and honors the traditions of its ancestors and tries to make a Slavic knife in the best qualities of that time. AT ancient Russia the knife was considered a talisman and guardian of a man.

The knife has been and remains one of the most important items that accompany a person throughout his history. Now we sometimes stop noticing it, because the knife dissolves among the many other things that surround a person's life. But in the distant past, a knife was often the only metal object that a person possessed.In Ancient Russia, a knife was an attribute of any free person.

A knife hung on the belt of every woman. A child, at a certain age, received a knife with which he never parted. Why was this subject given such importance?

The knife was not only an everyday functional thing. In ancient people, the perception of the world took place through the prism of magic. Therefore, the magical functions of the knife, in which our ancestors believed, were no less important. He possessed many magical properties, which he shared with his master and they tried never to give him into the wrong hands. They swore on him. They were protected from witchcraft. The groom gave it to the bride at the betrothal. When a person died, the knife left with him, he was placed in the grave of the owner.
This is, of course, a somewhat idealized picture. In real life, they lost knives and bought new ones, lent them, gave them away, and those that had worked out - knives worn almost to the butt - were simply thrown away. The knife was a versatile and most common tool. This is confirmed by the fact that knives are often the most massive finds during excavations. In Novgorod, at the Nerevsky excavation alone, 1440 copies of knives were found. During the excavations of ancient Izyaslav, 1358 knives were found. The numbers are impressive, aren't they?
It seems that the knives were simply lost in packs. But of course this is not the case. Even if we take into account the corrosion of metal that has lain in the ground for hundreds of years, it is still clear that many knives are chipped and broken, that is, they have lost their working functions. The conclusion suggests itself that the products of ancient blacksmiths were not very high quality... In fact, their quality was relative - just like in our time. There were high-quality knives that were expensive, but there was cheap consumer goods. The first category just included those knives that in Russia any free person wore on his belt, regardless of his gender. Such knives were quite high quality and by modern standards. They cost good money. The second category consisted of those knives, whose quality was incomparably lower than Chinese stainless steel on layouts. They really often just broke. When this happened, they were given to blacksmiths for reforging. And more often, out of annoyance, they threw "to hell away, out of sight."
But we will not allow ourselves disrespectful remarks about the ancient Russian blacksmiths. Their capabilities and technical arsenal were very limited. Our contemporary, even very high level a blacksmith, deprived of quality steels and tools for working it, can do little in such conditions. Therefore, we bow deeply to the ancient blacksmiths - they are the best, because they were the first!

Berestyannik, dezhnik, karnachik, sauerkraut, dagger, hoarder, klepik, gag, block, koltik, mower, pigtail, kosnik, kosor, bone cutter, jamb, kotach, kshennik, shovel, misar, musat, knife - woman, kopeck knife, a man's knife, a chef's knife, a tyapalny knife, a spout, a secret, a cutter, a chapel, a chapel - 31 and that's not all.
The knife was used both during cooking and for various household needs: for plucking a torch, cutting brooms, in pottery and shoemaking, in the manufacture of wooden products ...
The use of a knife at the dinner table required certain rules to be followed. A knife for cutting bread at dinner, in the family circle, was served only to the owner, when everyone was already at the table; the owner took a loaf of bread and drew a cross over it with a knife, and only after that he cut it and distributed it to family members.
The knife should lie with the blade to the bread. It was not allowed to eat from a knife, so as not to become evil (here the connection with murders and bloodshed is expressed - directors widely use this technique in films).
It was impossible to leave a knife on the table overnight - the evil one could kill. It was not necessary to give someone a knife with a point - a quarrel will occur with this person. There is another explanation, but this later. The knife served as a talisman against evil spirits, therefore, they did not give it to a stranger, especially if they knew that the person was bad, because. the knife will pick up his energy (remember the Japanese and their reverent attitude towards their swords).
The knife was widely used in rituals, during love spells, in folk medicine, etc. In maternity rituals, a knife was placed under the pillow of a woman in labor, along with fragrant herbs and three woven wax candles, to protect her from evil spirits.
When a baby appeared, the father forged a knife himself, or ordered a blacksmith, and this knife accompanied the boy, the young man, the man all his life.
When a child was brought into the house, after naming, a knife, along with coal, an ax and keys, was placed on the threshold of the house, through which the parents had to step (step) with the child, often the child himself was applied to objects lying on the threshold.
The knife, along with other sharp and hard objects: scissors, keys, arrows, pebbles, was put in the cradle of the child immediately after his birth, which was supposed to make up for the “insufficient hardness of the child” and was not removed until his first teeth appeared.
If the child did not start walking for a long time, a "tow" was tied to his head. The mother, without a spindle, spun a long and thick thread, made a “fetter” out of it, with which she entangled the legs of a standing child, took a knife and cut the “fetter” between the feet along the floor. The rite was called: “cutting the fetters” and was supposed to help the child quickly learn to walk.
At the first haircut of a child, he was seated on a table, usually on a casing, under which was placed a spindle or comb for a girl, an ax or a knife for a boy.
In men's associations, parties, artels, everyone was required to carry a knife or dagger, made specifically for combat use and not used anywhere else.

The use and wearing of a knife was strictly regulated.
known three ways to wear:
1 - on the belt,
2- in the top of the boot,
3 in chest pocket.
We are interested in the position "on the belt", because. consider it more ancient.
During the ceremony, the knife was often shown hanging on the belt, while on weekdays it was worn discreetly. Hanging a knife; (dagger) on the belt was very functional in wartime.

Everywhere in the Tver region they emphasize the connection of a combat knife with the concept of manhood, honor, courage. The ban on carrying a knife was perceived as an insult to man's dignity.
The knife (dagger) appears as an attribute of the masculine principle in small folklore genres, and the image is concretized by comparison with the male organ: “What does the Cossack have above the knee, below the navel?” Answer: dagger. Apparently, the association of a belt knife - a dagger and a masculine principle is close to the archaic consciousness.
A very vivid illustration of this assumption is the Scythian idols of the 6th-5th centuries BC.
All of them, with a general stinginess of processing and a minimum presence of attributes (neck hryvnia, rhyton horn), unusually carefully depicted a knife (dagger) located in the place of the male genital organ, as if replacing it with a qualitatively whiter in a high way masculine military principle, some of them do not even show facial features, but the knife is required, because it characterizes the quality of the subject.
A very characteristic ritual challenge to battle was sticking a knife into the ground (if the ceremony was on the street and into the mother - if in a hut). It was like this: one of the fighters performed a combat dance to the ritual tune “for enthusiasm” with characteristic chants, approached the one whom he wanted to see as his rival and stuck his knife in front of him, after which he went out to the ritual dance, which grew into a ritual dance. the battle.
What is the interpretation of this ritual action? With all obviousness, we face the opposition of the male and female principles. It has long been a unanimous opinion of scientists about the deification of the earth by the Slavic peoples: the mother is the cheese earth, the native land, the motherland, the mother is the Russian land.
Feminine - the giving birth to the beginning of the earth is perceived not so much in sexual terms, but in the epic, global, cosmic, universally giving birth.
Exactly the same - epic - masculine principle was traditionally endowed with a belt knife (dagger).
The ritual intercourse of these two epic principles is not an association with a sexual intercourse or a fertility rite, the mystery transfers all the rites of the usual plan into the subtle world, elevating the evaluative characteristic of any action, refracting it into the magical world.
Therefore, the fighter himself, who sticks the knife, participates in the act of mystical coition and began only nominally, insofar as it is an act of coition of the heavenly male spirit and the earthly - female. "The sky is the father, the earth is the mother, and you are the grass, let yourself be torn."
As a result of this intercourse, we see, the fighter himself or his opponent should be born (transformed). He enters into a relationship with the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother and receives from them strength and support for exploits. It is no coincidence that, having fallen into trouble, the heroes ask the mother of the damp earth for help and strength immediately “arrives twice”. A standing knife is also compared to an erect penis, because in folk medicine, an erection is a sign of recovery, male power. Absence - dying, loss of yari - vital energy. The ability to stick a knife in and keep it stuck means to keep the status of a magical warrior, to ensure the right of access to the power emanating from the Earth-Mother and from Father-Heaven. (Pay attention to the center of the circle: the custom in communities, artels, among the Cossacks, when discussing issues, they sat down, forming a circle, in the center of which a knife was stuck: I think now it’s clear why?).
Along with the identification of the weapon with its owner, the tradition spiritualizes the weapon and endows it with, as it were, its own will, detached from the will of the owner. Everyone remembers from childhood the images of a self-cutting sword, a self-cutting club, - wonderful helpers fairytale heroes, which, at the request of the owner, begin to destroy the enemy and return themselves, having done the job. The attitude to weapons as to a comrade is constantly emphasized: "A faithful friend - for a shoe leg."

A knife is not just a household item or a weapon, it is a whole philosophy, deeply rooted in Slavic culture, in the traditions and customs of our Ancestors.

Unusual national knives are typical for small peoples living in any specific natural conditions. This description fits both the traditional indigenous ulu knife made from slate, and the Malay parang, ideal for cutting your way through the jungle. Our Slavic ancestors, who inhabited the middle latitudes, preferred to carry multifunctional knives of a simple design and medium size, which could be used both as a weapon and as a working tool. So, what kind of knives did our distant (and not so) ancestors have and which ones do we use now?

parensky knife

Its name corresponds to the place of origin - the Kamchatka village of Paren. By design, the parensky knife is very similar to the products common in Finland. Currently, the term “parensky knife” means a hand-forged knife with a blade made of a dissimilar composite material - they say that with parensky knives it was even possible to remove shavings from the blades of ordinary table knives. To date, the village of Paren has become a remote village, and the technology for making knives is considered lost - so, those same Paren knives remained in people's memory only in the form of legends. The knives now made under this name have little in common with these legends.

"Cherry"

He is a scout's knife of the 1943 model, he is also HP-43. The Cherry knife came to replace the HP-40 army knife, which remained in service in the armies of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries until the 60s. Why is this knife called "Cherry"? The fact is that on the guard of the knife there is a stigma - the letter "P", quite similar to this berry. "Cherry" is still in service with the Russian security forces. Of course, later years of manufacture.

scout knife

Although edged weapons finally faded into the background by the Second World War, this did not negate the fact that a soldier needed to have a simple knife in his arsenal. But strange as it sounds, before the military operations undertaken by the Soviet Union against Finland, the Red Army did not have any special blade in service. And only after the end of the Finnish company, a significant event for the Soviet soldiers took place - the appearance of a reconnaissance knife of the 1940 model.

Knife "bootmaker"

Russian boot knife - as the name implies, they were hidden behind the top of the boot. A convenient way to transport when your hands are busy and an additional means of protection in case of a dangerous situation. The shoemaker is mentioned in the printed version of The Tale of Igor's Campaign, published in the 19th century.

underside knife

An underside or underside knife was a combat knife or dagger with a long and narrow faceted blade. Its name comes from the place of wearing - under the saidak (bow case), on the side of the belt. That is why it is difficult to say exactly what shape these knives were - historians have the opinion that all large combat knives were called underside knives indiscriminately if they were worn on a belt under a sideboard.

Mower

A mower, sometimes also called a "woman's ax", is a large utility knife with a wide and thick blade. It was usually made from a fragment of a scythe (hence the name), and when the scythes stubbornly did not want to break, they were made from any scrap metal that came to hand. The mower can safely be called the Russian analogue of the machete - this huge rough knife is successfully used for chopping branches from cut down trees, clearing mowing from undergrowth, chopping bones, and even for scraping the floor in the house.

Bogorodsky knife

The name of this carving tool comes from the village of Bogorodskoye, a center of traditional woodcarving, whose symbol is the well-known toy “Blacksmiths”, depicting a man and a bear, who take turns beating hammers on the anvil, one has only to pull the movable bar. The Bogorodsk knife has a straight short blade. It is successfully used for both coarse and fine carving. It is often made by carvers for themselves, so the design, shape of the handle and the cost of such knives can vary greatly.

Samsonov's hunting knives

Yegor Samsonov was a modest Tula craftsman, but the knives and daggers he made were considered standard hunting knives by the Russian aristocracy and were considered favorites by Emperor Nicholas II. Over the mystery of the strength of the so-called "Samson knives", looking so laconic and even ascetic, after the death of the master in 1930, eminent metallurgists struggled for a long time, but they never found a solution. The exact number of knives produced by the workshop is unknown, according to some sources - 3356 pieces.

finca

In Russia, the knife that came to us from Finland was for a long time considered exclusively a weapon of criminal elements and was even banned until 1996. However, his true purpose is something completely different. The Finnish knife is multifunctional, it is perfect for cutting meat, cleaning fish, indispensable for camping and for household needs. The Finnish is characterized by a short straight blade, a bevel of the butt of the clip-point type or in Russian “pike” and a mounted handle.

Yakut knife

Without traditional Yakut knife- bykhakha, the design of which has not changed for many centuries, does not bypass any sphere of economic activity of the Sakha people. Its shape is ideal for long, painstaking work, allowing it to be carried out with minimal energy consumption. Blade profile is asymmetrical. Sharpening is subjected to a slightly convex left (if you hold the handle towards you) side of the blade, unlike other knives with an asymmetrical profile, in which, as a rule, sharpening is done on the right side. There is a logical explanation for this: the bulge on the blade facilitates the processing of wood, cutting meat and fish (including frozen), and skinning animals are simplified.

(the text is a compilation of a number of articles from scientific works and practices of a number of modern pagans)
We are so accustomed to the knife that using it every day, we don’t think about what kind of object we own. It is like the air we breathe, we notice only when it is absent. The word knife itself is known to everyone from a baby to an old man, but few know how it appeared. Our ancestors used long swords, sabers, and spears in combat. When it came to combat, short leg swords were used in hand-to-hand combat. Over time, the word sword disappeared, and the knife was reduced to a short one - a knife. This word is still used to denote this ancient object. Where there is history, there are traditions and rituals. And there are many rituals associated with a knife, and this is logical. There are more than thirty names of the knife itself!
Birch bark, dezhnik, karnachik, sauerkraut, dagger, hoarder, klepik, gag, block, koltik, mower, pigtail, kosnik, kosor, bone cutter, jamb, kotach, kshennik, shovel, misar, musat, knife - woman, kopeck knife, a man's knife, a chef's knife, a tyapalny knife, a spout, a secret, a cutter, a chapel, a chapel - 31 and that's not all.
The use of a knife at the dinner table required certain rules to be followed. A knife for cutting bread at dinner, in the family circle, was served only to the owner, when everyone was already at the table; the owner took a loaf of bread and drew a cross over it with a knife, and only after that he cut it and distributed it to family members.
The knife should lie with the blade to the bread. It was not allowed to eat from a knife, so as not to become evil (here the connection with murders and bloodshed is expressed - directors widely use this technique in films).
It was impossible to leave a knife on the table overnight - the evil one could kill. Not
it was necessary to give someone a knife with a point - a quarrel will occur with this person. There is another explanation, but this later.
The knife served as a talisman against evil spirits, so they didn’t give it to a stranger, especially if they knew that the person was bad, because. the knife can be “infected” with its dirty tricks
The knife was widely used in rituals, during love spells, in folk medicine, etc. In maternity rituals, a knife was placed under the pillow of a woman in labor, along with fragrant herbs and three woven wax candles, to protect her from evil spirits.
When a baby appeared, the father forged a knife himself, or ordered a blacksmith, and this knife accompanied the boy, the young man, the man all his life.
When a child was brought into the house, after naming, a knife, along with coal, an ax and keys, was placed on the threshold of the house, through which the parents had to step (step) with the child, often the child himself was applied to objects lying on the threshold.
The knife, along with other sharp and hard objects: scissors, keys, arrows, pebbles, animal teeth, was put into the cradle of the child immediately after his birth, which was supposed to make up for the “insufficient hardness of the child” and was not removed until his first teeth appeared.
If the child did not start walking for a long time, a "tow" was tied to his head. The mother, without a spindle, spun a long and thick thread, made a “fetter” out of it, with which she entangled the legs of a standing child, took a knife and cut the “fetter” between the feet along the floor. The rite was called: “cutting the fetters” and was supposed to help the child quickly learn to walk.
At the first haircut of a child, he was seated on a table, usually on a casing, under which was placed a spindle or comb for a girl, an ax or a knife for a boy.
In men's associations, parties, artels, everyone was required to carry a knife or dagger, made specifically for combat use and not used anywhere else.
The use and wearing of a knife was strictly regulated.
There are three ways to wear:
1 - on the belt,
2- in the top of the boot,
3 in chest pocket.
We are interested in the position "on the belt", because. consider it more ancient.
During the ceremony, the knife was often shown hanging on the belt, while on weekdays it was worn discreetly. Hanging a knife; (dagger) on the belt was very functional in wartime.
Everywhere in the Tver region they emphasize the connection of a combat knife with the concept of manhood, honor, courage. The ban on carrying a knife was perceived as an insult to man's dignity.
Everywhere among the Slavs, a knife and scissors were used to protect persons in a situation of "transition": pregnant women, women in childbirth, newborns, and especially unbaptized children and newlyweds. A pregnant woman from the evil eye carried a folding knife in her pocket. Along with other sharp objects and thorny plants, a knife was placed next to the woman in labor (they stuck it in the door jamb, put it under the pillow, under the bed) to protect her from damage and evil spirits. When leaving the house in the six-week period after childbirth, the woman in labor had to take a knife with her, usually tucking it in her belt, hiding it in her pocket or in her bosom, so that she could not be spoiled and so that she could not harm anyone with her ritual impurity. A knife, along with a needle, salt, charcoal, a piece of bread, a piece of brick from the stove and other amulets, was placed under the pillow or under the cradle of the child, stuck into the cradle from below to protect him from the evil eye, to prevent evil spirits that could exchange him on his cub. When the young people left the house, heading for the church, a knife was stuck in the ground in front of them, and all the participants in the wedding stepped over it. During the construction of the house, the knife was placed at the front angle with the point to the west, so that no one could harm the house and the household, so that it would “prick” on the knife. Before putting on a new shirt, a knife was passed through it to neutralize the damage. When shoved, wound or woven, a knife was stuck in the belt to protect the work from the evil eye.
The knife was widely used to protect against evil spirits and fight it. With a knife, as well as with other iron objects, they drew a magic circle in order to protect themselves from evil spirits during Christmas divination at a crossroads or when extracting a fern flower on a Kupala night; a person who is being crushed by mora must circle the house with a knife three times (Bosn. Herzegovina.). A knife, a scythe, an ax, a sickle were placed on the threshold, on the window, stuck in the jambs of doors and gates so that evil spirits could not enter the house: sometimes it was believed that the sorcerer could not enter the house at all, because there, along with the icon and cross, there is a knife. The knife was put in bed at night to protect oneself from death (Serbian, Croatian, Dalmatian,), striga (Chorovian), vampire (Serbian), brownie (in-white), walking dead man (s-rus). The knife was placed in the coffin of the "unclean" dead: a sorcerer (poles) or a vampire (yu-glory), so that they would prick him if they wanted to get up from the grave after death. To save the deceased from the fate of a vampire, while he was lying in the house, they stuck in front of his head big knife(Bosnia).
In pastoral magic, the knife was used as a talisman against spoilage, diseases, predatory animals, witches and sorcerers. At the first pasture of cattle, a knife, like scissors, a sickle, a scythe, an ax and other iron amulets, was placed under the threshold of the barn, placed at the gate at the entrance to the paddock, making sure that the cattle stepped over them, and also stuck into the ground or above the doors through which the cattle passed, dragged with them when going around the herd, waved them crosswise over the cattle. On “dangerous calendar dates, for example, on Kupala, along with other sharp objects and thorny plants, a knife was stuck into the wall, roof, doorways of the barn, placed under the threshold, believing that in this case the witch would not be able to enter the barn and take away the milk ( forest.).
When using a knife for protective purposes, such actions as sticking a knife and crossing it with a knife had special semantics. In addition to the fact that sticking was one of the ways to place a knife in a protected space (by sticking it in a cradle, wall, door frame, belt, etc.), in some cases it could acquire a stopping semantics. So that the thunder does not hit the tree under which the person stopped, a knife is stuck into the tree (forest.). If the dead man “dreamted”, in order to stop this, they stuck a knife inside the bowl (forest).
Sticking a knife, on the one hand, blocked the path of danger, and on the other hand, symbolically "threatened" the bearer of danger to one place. It was believed that the whirlwind can be stopped by sticking a knife into the ground - in this case, the whirlwind will spin in one place until you take out the knife (woodland). When a hail cloud approached, they stuck a knife into the ground to turn the hail away from the crops (Serb.). So that there were no fleas in the house, during the thunder they stuck a knife into the ground and said: “Thunder, thunder, from fleas” (Ukrainian). When the bride was sent to the house of the young, in the courtyard of her house they stuck a knife into the ground to protect her from damage (woodland). A conspiracy knife stuck in the ground protected a person or cattle from the attack of wolves (w.-bel.); on the day of St. Yuri, on the first pasture of cattle, they stuck a knife under the threshold of the hut so that the wolf would not touch the cattle (in Bel.). In the event that the cow did not return home for the night, the healer "spotted" the lost cattle, plugging the charmed knife into the wall of the passage.
The knife is a symbol and a necessity. The knife has been and remains one of the most important items that accompany a person throughout his history. Now we sometimes stop noticing it, because the knife dissolves among the many other things that surround a person's life. But in the distant past, a knife was often the only metal object that a person possessed. In Ancient Russia (IX-XII centuries), a knife was an attribute of any free person. A knife hung on the belt of every woman. A child, at a certain age, received a knife with which he never parted. Why was this subject given such importance?
The knife was not only an everyday functional thing. In ancient people, the perception of the world took place through the prism of magic. Therefore, the magical functions of the knife, in which our ancestors believed, were no less important. He possessed many magical properties that he shared with his master and they tried never to give him into the wrong hands. They swore on him. They were protected from witchcraft. The groom gave it to the bride at the betrothal. When a person died, the knife left with him, he was placed in the grave of the owner.
This is, of course, a somewhat idealized picture. In real life, they lost knives and bought new ones, lent them, gave them away, and those that had worked out - knives worn almost to the butt - were simply thrown away. The knife was a versatile and most common tool. This is confirmed by the fact that knives are often the most massive finds during excavations. In Novgorod, at the Nerevsky excavation alone, 1440 copies of knives were found. During the excavations of ancient Izyaslav, destroyed by the Tatars, 1358 knives were found.

From the extensive theoretical part above, you have the opportunity to choose dozens of methods for using a knife by a modern pagan in his life, including in ritual and ritual practice.
It remains to make a small recommendation for the ritual knife spell, which is based on the NLG of several practitioners and the processing of ancient incantations.
For ritualistic religious practices, the knife is a frequently used tool.
In rites associated with cutting off, restriction, a knife is used if the “reification of the unmanifested” takes place in the process of the rite.
For the manufacture of many protective and ritual items, the knife is used to apply sacred graphics.
In addition, a ritual knife is used to bring animals to the trebu, if it fell out by lot to bring it with a knife.
Thus, there can be three ritual personal knives. Cutter, ceremonial knife, sacrificial knife. You can combine all functions in one. It's up to you.
The dedication of a knife is not much different from the dedication of any other ritual object. Several conditions must be met.
– The knife must be purchased specifically for this purpose.
- When buying, you can not bargain and take change.
– The knife must not be used for anything other than its intended purpose.
- A self-forged knife must be completely forged independently - from ore to product, no one should touch the material. Otherwise, it’s better not to bother, in fact, these tips are unnecessary for blacksmiths, and if you are not a blacksmith, prepare the finished product.
Consecration directly.
(this is not a dogma, but only advice)
Do not forget about APPEALS to all those Forces - to which you resort for help, and the need for these forces!
The acquired knife must lie full moon in running water so that the moon “sees it”.
After cleansing, the knife should lay the growing moon on the natural altar or temple of a God determined in advance. If he “leaves” the altar, then he is not fit.
It’s not bad to leave the knife hanging on a tree, so that the Winds fanate it, at least for a full week.
A PART of the rite is published, relating directly to the knife spell - in general, look for advice on the stages of the rites in our group!
After preparing the place, and all the stages of the beginning of the ceremony, the central part begins:
1. additional binding to the owner. Drop blood on the blade so that it spreads and dries up by itself. Do not specifically wash or rinse. ATTENTION - DO NOT CUT WITH THE KNIFE, BUT DROP IT WITH YOUR BLOOD.
Ritual Knife Spell:
In the presence of living fire, a conspiracy is pronounced three times.

There is an iron pillar, on that pillar is an iron man, he tempers the iron firmly - firmly, the iron is sharp, the iron is strong, which did not lie in the ground, which burned in the fire, did not burn out, did not scatter in running water - Filled with strength, Winds did not spread - the strength was full, strength according to strength, strength came out, both in height and in depth, and will overcome everything, both here and there and everywhere, be sharp as a word, be quick as lightning, where I say you go there, you will cut it so that there was nothing superfluous, nothing else, everything was according to my word, everything was in my will, everything was good and healthy!
(put a lock on the plot in your own way - some by action, some by a verbal formula, somehow think for yourself)))
After three days at night, a knife under the pillow during the day with you. Then store with ritual objects, act at your own discretion.
Also, an example of a conspiracy for a knife, the conspiracy is heavily reworked, and rather it is entirely creativity))):
On the sea of ​​Okiyane, on the island of Buyan There is an iron pillar On it is an iron husband, He tempers iron-damask steel, he says these words on iron, he says:
I speak to all Spirits, Earthly and Heavenly, Underground and Underworld, to all Forest, Meadow, Field, Water and Swamp, Wind and Mountain, Demons naughty and dissolute, And from evil people to all malice and slyness, to envy and jealousy, to all fading, to a dashing look and other evil, dirty lessons, And evil sayings Witchcraft, And witchcraft spells, And to all ailments, And all sorts of detriment to the belly of belittling!
You will not be either in the days or at night, Neither at the Dawn of the Morning, nor at the Evening Dawn, Neither at the paths, nor at the crossroads, Neither in the settlement, nor in the growth,
Not by rivers and banks, Not by mountains and dales, Not by forests and swamps, Not in a house, not in any building! Where there is iron, there is no falsehood! (The lock is up to you.)

In conclusion, I will add a conspiracy, in a small treatment for cleansing, using a knife. (processing in CAPITAL LETTERS-other-authentication)
In the golden stone is GOD'S THRONE.
There is a table, Mother Presveta MOKOSH sits on the throne, holds a copper dish, a stacking knife. Then I’ll cut off urts and portions, and lessons, cuts - both from bones and from ears, and from clear eyes, from white hands, from frisky legs, from subtarsal veins, from a single vein, from a single bone, from a single joint, from a girl from simple hairs, from a white-haired zhonka, from a peasant from a zernek. As the grains came, so go the grains, as the whites came, so go the whites - to the old master, to the old chieftain! At the morning dawn, and at the evening, and at midnight - and every day, and at every hour! SO BE IT! . (Into the water - at least for cattle, and for a person, if you like a child, you want to run in anyone. Pour water into a vessel, take a knife in your hands, lower it into the water and talk.)

1. Russian and other national knives of ancient types
A knife in the most general sense of the word, that is, just like a plate with a pointed edge, appeared at an early stage in the development of human society and had a multi-purpose, or universal purpose. Ancient tools, wrote F. Engels, "are tools for hunting and fishing: the former are at the same time a weapon." The earliest knives were made of stone and bone. Then metal came to replace these materials.
The Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the subsequent stages of the development of mankind made it possible to create more reliable and more advanced tools that a person needs in everyday life, work and military affairs. However, it is very difficult to trace the specifics of these objects, to separate the tool of labor from the weapon of war of that time. It is characteristic that even archaeologists studying the history of material culture are in no hurry to divide the knives they find into tools and weapons. At the same time, it was knives, especially for a relatively late time from the point of view of archeology, i.e. for the X-XIII centuries, are one of the most common archaeological finds. During the excavations of ancient Novgorod alone, about 8,000 knife blades were found.
Judging by the available finds, the knives of that time did not differ much in shape from modern kitchen ones. They were made mainly of two types - a blade with a blade bending towards the tip and a straight butt or a blade with the same blade and a butt bending towards the tip. The handles of the knives were wooden or bone, less often metal. The length of the blades is 4 - 20 cm (Fig. 1). A characteristic difference between these knives was that their butt was always thicker than the rest of the blade. In cross section, the blades of these knives were wedge-shaped. The angle of the blade, and hence the sharpening of the blade, was 15-25°.

Fig. 1 Old Russian knife

It is interesting to note that the ancient Russian blacksmiths used five technological methods when making knives:
1. Welding a blade of three strips in such a way that in the middle there was a strip of harder metal, and along the edges - strips of softer metal.
2: Welding on a metal strip of a steel blade.
3. Combined welding with the manufacture of a patterned butt.
4. Cementation of the iron blade of the knife.
5. Production of all-steel knives.
It is known from archaeological sources that knives found in mounds and cemeteries are found with male and female remains. It follows that they were a necessary accessory equally for men and women and were not divided according to their purpose into domestic and military ones. At the same time, many historical documents allow us to conclude that among the knives there were those that were intended specifically for military purposes. One of the oldest historical documents, The Tale of Igor's Campaign, dating back to the 12th century, contains a direct indication of the use of a certain group of knives in hostilities: "... but they are without shields with boot knives, with a click of the regiment they win, ringing great-grandfather's glory" . There are quite a few similar indications for the use of knives as weapons. However, in an effort not to load the text of the work with numerous literary and historical digressions, we confine ourselves here only to the following evidence. One of the oldest Russian researchers in the history of material culture, P. Savaitov, wrote: “Knives were used in battles, in fights with the enemy.” In this work, the author gives the name of boot knives. This name referred to knives of a special shape worn behind the tops of boots, onuchs, etc.
The external difference between such knives was reduced mainly to a slightly curved blade with fullers, a thickened butt and an elongated handle. So, if u ordinary knives the ratio of the blade width to the thickness of the butt fluctuated 4-6 times, then for the knives of this group it was reduced to 2.0-2.5 times. The handle, like other types of knives, was one-piece, mounted on the blade shank, or type-setting, consisting of a number of alternating plates mounted on the shank, or from a wide shank with two cheeks attached to it on the sides.
If you pay attention to the order of listing the types of knives in Savaitov's work, it should be noted that the boot knife is not given the first, but only the third place, after the belt (belt) and saad (under the saad) knives. Describing belt knives, the author writes that they had a short blade with two blades. Such knives are quite well known from archaeological finds in Moscow, Novgorod and other places. The blades of these knives are up to 9-15 cm long and 20-2.5 cm wide at the heel. The handle is of the same design as the other types. Usually such a knife was worn in a sheath at the belt, from where
its name originated. If we take into account the number of archaeological finds of knives of this type and compare it with the order of enumeration of knives in the named work, we can conclude that belt knives, apparently, were the most common in terms of frequency of occurrence.
The saadashny knife got its name from a set of weapons called saadak, which consisted of a bow with a bow and arrows worn in a quiver. The combat purpose of this knife follows from its very belonging to a set of weapons: it was in a special nest in the quiver. The design of this type of knife differed from the others in that its single-edged blade was longer - about 40 cm - and wide, and the end of the blade curved slightly upwards. This form of the blade most effectively ensured the penetration of chain mail.
The fourth type of knife - a field knife - had a single-edged blade 20-25 cm long with a smooth transition from the blade to the point. In cross section, the blade had a wedge-shaped shape. The handle of the knife is flat, tapering towards the blade, and ends with a metal cap. If the three types of knives discussed above were used equally as combat and hunting weapons, then the fourth type of knife had a predominantly hunting purpose.
A number of authors express a negative opinion about the combat purpose of the knives in question. A. N. Kirpichnikov supports the opinion of A. V. Artsikhovsky, who, referring to documents, claims that the chronicle testifies to the use of knives only in “an indication of the unheard of fierceness of the battle”, which, according to the annals, the use of knives, as a rule, is not associated with the struggle of the organized masses of people, but with the single combat of heroes, the murder or maiming of a defeated and unarmed person.
In our opinion, the above arguments testify not so much against, but for the combat use of knives. The knife, neither at that time nor subsequently, was the main weapon used in mass battles. The main weapon of a professional warrior - a combatant of ancient Russia - was a sword and arrows. The mass weapons that an ordinary smerd warrior was armed with for battle were a spear and an ax. However, this does not mean at all that the knife was not included in the number of weapons at all. Even in later times, with the appearance of weapons of much greater power, the knife in one or another of its modifications continued to be a means of attack and active defense in cases where other types of weapons were not effective enough: in single combat, fights in close quarters, sudden and silent attacks, and etc. During the Great Patriotic War the knife was also never mentioned in official reports on weapons, equipment, trophies, although in known modifications it was in service with all armies. The same seems to have been the case in former times. The census book of 1638, compiled for the sole purpose of finding out how many people and with what weapons could come to defend Moscow in the event of an enemy attack, testifies that the owners of 75 households “did not say that they had any weapons.” This is all the more interesting because all 75 households belonged to blacksmiths, i.e. people directly associated with the manufacture of metal products.
Based on the frequency of occurrence of knives as archaeological finds, it is difficult to assume that none of these householders or their relatives at the time of the census had a single belt, boot or other knife. It remains to be assumed that the presence of such a knife was so commonplace that they simply did not pay attention to it. In the same work, the author specifically draws the reader's attention to the fact that knives "were always carried with you, usually on a belt in a leather sheath, and used for various needs, including for cutting food."
A similar attitude to the knife took place among other peoples. A multi-purpose knife was most often worn on a belt and used as needed in the course of all activities.

2. NATIONAL KNIVES AND DAGGERS

Due to geographical, climatic conditions and national traditions, each nation has developed its own type of knife over time, which differs from the knives of other peoples. Such knives, in accordance with national traditions, were called national. These include knives Abkhazian (Fig. 2), Azerbaijani (Fig. 3), Buryat (Fig. 4), Karyak (Fig. 5), Lapland (Fig. 6), Nanai (Fig. 7), Nenets (Fig. 8), Tajik (Fig. 9), Turkmen (Fig. 10), Uzbek (Fig. 11), Finnish (Fig. 12), Yakut (Fig. 13), Japanese (Fig. 14), etc.

The difference between such knives lies not only in their shape, the ratio of structural elements and dimensions, but also in the material from which the parts of the same name are made, in the methods and nature of decoration, wearing, etc. If, for example, Yakut or Finnish knives usually have wooden handles, then Nenets ones, like the scabbard, are made of bone; Lapland knives are usually decorated with images of northern landscapes, Japanese ones with images of Mount Fuji or a monkey, which is considered a sacred animal. In addition, since shark fishing has been developed in Japan since ancient times, knife handles and sheaths are often covered with shark skin. At the same time, this material, of course, is not typical for the national knives of the continental peoples.

National knives within the same type are not exactly the same. They differ both in time and place of manufacture. For example, among the Uzbek national knives, one can distinguish between old and modern knives, straight, which is most typical, and curved. Some differences in design are also observed in knives made at the same time, but in different geographical locations located on the territory of Uzbekistan (Chuet, Kara-Suv, etc.). The peculiarities of the place of manufacture can manifest themselves not only in the forms of the blades, but also in some other details. Among the same Tajik knives, Dushanbe knives, for example, differ in that the handle expands at the top and is somewhat curved towards the blade. In addition, decorations are applied to it in the form of correctly alternating rings and eyes. In Uratyubinsk knives, the alternation of similar rings and eyes is less correct.

National knives, being one of the objects of the material culture of the people, existed and developed, of course, with the development of other objects of the material culture of the same people, in particular clothing. And since both knives and clothes were constantly with a person “with him”, knives are often considered to be accessories of the national costume. In our opinion, it would be more correct to associate the presence of such knives not with people's clothes, but in general with the CONDITIONS of their existence. This, apparently, can also explain the fact that the external features of national knives in some cases became widespread among people of a different nationality living in similar climatic conditions, at a practically achievable distance and leading approximately the same lifestyle (knives of the Buryats and Mongols, Finns , Karelians and Estonians, Chukchi and Karyaks, Nenets and Khanty-Mansi). In some cases, for certain historical reasons, the same type of knife was distributed among many peoples. Thus, a knife with a total length of more than 400 mm (Fig. 15) was made in many countries of South America.

The division of labor also required the specialization of its tools. Therefore, along with the considered group of knives, another group arose - knives used only for certain purposes, primarily household purposes. For example, the fishing of a sea animal among the peoples who inhabited the coastal territory required a special tool for butchering the carcasses. These requirements were met by large massive knives 400-500 mm long, which the Chukchi and Karyaks began to use (Fig. 16). Among the same peoples, women used knives with a total length of about 100 mm for needlework (Fig. 17). Specific knives appeared in household. These include the so-called women's knives used by the Nanais (Fig. 18), Nivkhs (Fig. 19), Chukchi, and Karyaks (Fig. 20). The same group of national household knives can include Uzbek knives (about 400 mm long) for cutting meat (Fig. 21), Ossetian knives (about 300 mm), made entirely of horn and used to kill a duck during weaving, and also for smoothing seams when sewing clothes (Fig. 22), Afghan knives for cutting meat (Fig. 23), etc.

Another group of national knives acquired a more pronounced character of weapons, which were used mainly in combat operations. It is characteristic that the knives of this group, which were widely used in the last century, and in some cases even now, have pronounced national characteristics. For example, the same Afghan knives are distinguished by a massive, rather long (about 200-300 mm), almost straight butt, blade slightly widening towards the heel with a thickness of 5-6 mm (Fig. 24). In general, they are characterized by a typical Central Asian form. The scabbard is wooden, covered with leather, with a metal device, consisting of a mouth with a belt ring and a tip. The blades of Central Asian knives of this type usually have a straight thickened butt, gradually tapering towards the tip. The handle cannot be retracted into the scabbard, it is round or oval in cross-section, reminiscent of the handle of a Central Asian checker, often thickened towards the end or curved towards the blade. The same knives are Khiva (Fig. 25), Bukhara (Fig. 26, 27), Persian or Iranian (Fig. 28, 29), etc. Their scabbards are usually pasted over with leather. In some cases, they are completely bound with gold, silver, decorated with precious stones and ornament, characteristic of the area where they are made. Turkish scimitar knives have a blade about 300 mm long and about 3 mm thick with a straight butt. The bone handle expands and bifurcates in the upper part like a scimitar handle (Fig. 30), hence their name. Arab knives have a straight (Fig. 31) or curved (Fig. 32) blade about 400 mm long and 5-6 mm thick. The carved handle does not retract into the sheath, but is all outside. The scabbard is wooden, covered with leather or fabric, has a metal device consisting of several rings, a mouth and a tip.

Similar knives of the peoples of Southeast Asia are also distinguished by their unique forms. On fig. 33, 34 Malay knives are presented with a blade length of 300-400 mm and a thickness of 5-7 mm. On fig. 35 shows the combat knife of the Gurkhas, one of the peoples of Nepal. Its blade has a length of 400 mm or more with a butt thickness of up to 10 mm. The handle is usually hardwood or horn. The knife is called "kukri", which means a large curved knife. Indian (Fig. 36-38), Spanish (Fig. 39, 40) and other knives are also characterized by the originality of forms and decorations. National knives of some peoples, in accordance with their traditions, have a narrowly specific purpose.

Known, for example, japanese knife, serving to commit a suicide ceremony (Fig. 41). In general, it corresponds to the usual traditional form of Japanese national knives, it is distinguished by the meticulous workmanship. Handle and scabbard in lacquered cherry wood. The total length of the knife is about 300 mm. On the handle, hieroglyphs depict the samurai creed: "Death with honor."

Along with knives, daggers were also used as weapons. In the Caucasus, two types of daggers have long existed: with a straight (Fig. 42) and curved blade (Fig. 43) 400-600 mm long. The most widely used kama daggers with a straight blade. Their blades are parallel, approaching the end of the blade. The blades usually have stiffening ribs and valleys. The handles of the daggers are small in size, narrow, with sharp extensions in both directions. They are made of bone or horn, sometimes bound with metal. The scabbard is wooden, covered with leather or bound with metal.

The bebut dagger, compared to the kama dagger, has a somewhat curved end of the blade. The daggers of the peoples of the Caucasus are distinguished by some design features, ornamentation and the way it is made. So, Georgian daggers (Fig. 44) have a relatively short and wide blade, a small handle head. In addition, the handle often has studs with hemispherical caps and gaskets underneath. The edges of the pads are cut in the shape of flower petals. Curly cuts are often made on the heel of the blade. Khevsur daggers usually have a general Caucasian or close to Georgian form. The details of the device handles and sheaths are made of brass, decorated with a simple ornament made with a copper notch. Armenian daggers differ from the general Caucasian ones in the elongated handle head, which resembles an oriental arch in shape. Gaskets under the caps of the studs are diamond-shaped. Azerbaijani daggers are distinguished mainly by their ornament. Dagestan daggers are valued for the mastery of their artistic performance. Their blades are often made according to the Lezgin type, i.e. with the displacement of valleys in opposite directions from middle line blade. The hilt, metal scabbard device or solid metal fittings are decorated with small stylized floral ornaments.

In Turkey, daggers of two types also became widespread: straight (Fig. 45) and curved (Fig. 46). In straight daggers with a blade length of 300-400 mm, the handle is relatively thick, usually made of bone, sometimes bound with metal plates made of copper and silver. The scabbard, as a rule, is completely bound with metal with an engraved or chased ornament. The blade can also be ornamented. Blades of curved daggers have a length of 200 mm or more. They are rarely ornamented, but if they are, it is usually with a gold or silver notch. The handle is thin with sharp flat extensions at both ends. Handles and scabbards are made of wood and are often completely covered with metal (copper, silver), on which an ornament is applied by chasing or engraving. Also, daggers
sometimes decorated with precious and semi-precious colored stones.

Iranian daggers (Fig. 47) are similar in design to Turkish curved ones, but the blade has a sharper curve and a more pronounced extension at the heel. In addition, the blades at the tip are often made thicker to enhance the fighting qualities. In size, they are somewhat smaller than Turkish ones, but the handles (bone or horn) are somewhat thicker. The scabbard is wooden, pasted over with leather or covered with metal. The metal device is usually absent. Even a harness ring is not always done. Sometimes the scabbard is completely bound with metal and decorated with floral ornaments with painted or cloisonné colored enamel.

The length of the Syrian daggers (Fig. 48) is somewhat shorter than the Turkish and Iranian ones, the blade is slightly curved. But the scabbard is sharp
bend at the end, reaching up to 180 ° or more. If Turkish and Iranian daggers have an almost flat top of the handle, then the Syrian one has a different shape. The handle itself is usually thicker than the handles of Turkish curved daggers, but thinner than Iranian ones.

Scottish daggers (Fig. 50) with a total length of about 500 mm had a wedge-shaped blade and a black braided handle. A scabbard with two additional sockets, in which a knife and a fork were placed, was attached to a leather belt. This whole set was decorated with silver and amber.

For most peoples of the African continent, the dagger was not a characteristic weapon; a spear was used much more often for this purpose. Nevertheless, daggers are also known in this part of the world. The most typical blade shape for the regions of central Africa is the leaf-shaped fig. 51, for districts North Africa- less symmetrical (Fig. 52). The sizes of such daggers, apparently, fluctuate considerably. According to the materials at our disposal, the length of their blades is 200-250 mm.

Among the Arab tribes, another type of dagger was known, about 500 mm long, with a curved blade and an elaborate handle (Fig. 53). It served as a sign of the high position occupied by its owner, and was the weapon of sheikhs, leaders.

Daggers existed in India various shapes: with straight and curved blades about 170-300 mm long and 3-5 mm thick. A characteristic representative of daggers with straight blades is a kutar - a weapon for the left hand (Fig. 54), for daggers with curved blades, daggers with a double bend are most typical (Fig. 55, 56). The blades of cutars are straight and wide, sometimes narrow wedge-shaped. The handle is located perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blade. At the ends of the handle parallel to the blade are two metal plates, contributing to the correct position of the dagger in the hand and at the same time protecting the hand from enemy blows from above and below. Some kutars, mainly their Marat variety, have an additional wide plate that protects the back of the hand. It is characteristic that the handles and blades of Indian daggers are made of the same material - steel and damask steel. The handle can also be made of wood or various types of jade. Jade is usually cut with a large floral ornament, additionally decorated with inserts and overlays of precious metals and stones. The tip may have a thickening. The sheath is usually wooden, pasted over with leather or fabric, the mouth with a belt ring and the tip are metal. Sometimes the scabbard is completely covered with precious metal, decorated with floral and floral ornaments and precious stones.

The daggers of the Afridians, one of the small Afghan tribes living on the northwestern border of India, are distinguished by their peculiar shape. The blades of their daggers have a leaf-shaped curved shape with pronounced stiffening ribs located along the middle line. On the sides of the stiffening ribs are wide flat valleys. At the heel, the blade narrows sharply. The handle of the dagger is made of bone, in the upper part it is decorated with a lion's head (Fig. 57).

Japanese daggers (fig. 58) have straight blades 250 mm long or more with a stiffening rib in the middle part. Between the blade and the handle is a protective plate - "tsuba". The handle is usually wooden, fixed to the blade with a small wooden pin. The scabbard is also wooden. The handle and scabbard are covered with multi-colored multilayer varnish, inlaid with bone or mother-of-pearl inserts, sometimes covered with shark skin, on top of which metal parts are attached. In addition, the handles are often intertwined with dark-colored braid. Daggers are decorated in typical Japanese style.

The characteristic daggers of Indonesia are the kris (Fig. 59). The blades are 300 mm or more in length and are distinguished by a wavy shape, symbolizing the mythical Naga serpent. It is believed that the more sinuous the blade, the more valuable it is. At the heel, the blades expand sharply, usually more in one direction. In this place, they are often decorated with a notch or cut-out ornament. Handles are made of wood, ivory, horn, silver, gold. In form, they represent for the most part a stylized torso of a person with the head of an animal or bird, as well as their various variations on this theme.

Being one of the objects of material culture, national knives and daggers, like other things, were naturally closely connected with the whole way of life of a given people, with its customs, traditions, beliefs, often incomprehensible or seemingly unnatural for people of another nationality. It manifested itself in various ways- in the number of knives or daggers, their location, etc. Thus, a traditional Javanese wears not only his own kris with festive clothes, but also the kris inherited from his father. The groom, in addition, wears the third kris, which is presented to him by his father-in-law. The first and second kris are worn on the right, and the third on the left. In the company of high-ranking, respected persons, the kris is worn only behind the belt in the back so that its handle is at the right shoulder of the owner. In the event of an expected danger, all available kris are worn on the left. In some cases, national knives and daggers are attributed to the manifestation of certain magical powers. There is, for example, a belief that one of the varieties of Turkmen knives “dzhoukhar-pchak” saves its owner from the machinations of evil spirits. Similar features apply to other national samples. But broad generalizations are unacceptable here, since each of these features should be considered primarily in connection with the customs and traditions of only a certain people. At the same time, it is precisely the close connection of the objects under consideration with the material and spiritual way of life of each people that is the main reason for the relative stability of each sample, its preservation over time during the change of a number of generations.

Speaking of national knives and daggers, we deliberately draw attention to their characteristic features and originality, since among the same peoples, due to natural migration, trade, information exchange and other reasons, other knives also existed and exist to this day. However, each nation has always widely used its national patterns in all areas of activity.
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It can be said without exaggeration that in the Iron Age, the knife, after ceramics, is the most massive category of archaeological material. These tools are found on almost every monument, and on some - in tens and hundreds. In Volkovysk, for example, 621 knives were found, and at the Nerevsky excavation site in Novgorod - 1444. The accumulated material is huge and it is impossible to indicate even approximately the total number of finds in Eastern Europe.

Knives are ordinary material, so they are published reluctantly and carelessly. Usually, researchers confine themselves to ascertaining the presence of these tools in archaeological complexes. Often, general considerations regarding their shape are illustrated by one or more drawings of knives, sometimes rearranged, without scale, without fixing areas of breakage and loss, without the information necessary for classification.

These circumstances make it so difficult to study knives that attempts to systematize them within Eastern Europe have never been made. At best, researchers stop at systematizing the knives of specific archaeological sites or certain archaeological cultures. But small volumes of the material under consideration, according to the law of small numbers, lead to excessively amorphous schemes, making it difficult to distinguish the most characteristic leading forms. Apparently, most archaeologists have an opinion about the complete uniformity of the forms of knives, because "a knife of the usual type" is a fairly common definition of these tools.

It should be said about one more, perhaps, universal delusion. In archaeological literature, the term "knife" refers only to the blade. It is not right. Blades of knives, sickles, braids. the tips of spears and arrows that came out from under the blacksmith's hammer are only parts of tools and weapons. Typically, the classification covers the preserved parts of objects. However, a single type of spearheads does not yet indicate a single type of spears themselves. The poles could be of different lengths, therefore, there could be different battle tactics. Arrowheads of the same shape could be from complex and simple bows.

The same applies to knives. The blades could be made locally, or they could be acquired as a result of an exchange or trade. Both now and in the past, fragments of various tools were adapted for blades, which was reflected in the presence of random forms. So, for example, the results of a metallographic study of blacksmith products from the early Slavic settlement of Khanska-II, Kotovsky district of the Moldavian SSR, allowed G. A. Voznesenskaya to come to the conclusion that all the knives of this settlement were forged from a very heterogeneous metal used a second time. The raw material for the local blacksmith was mainly iron scrap 1 .

The external design of knives - scabbards, handles, methods of their manufacture, ornamentation, and the way they were worn were regulated by ethnic traditions. Only this set of concepts, and not a random set of features, can determine the "knife type". Therefore, it should be said with certainty. that there are no “ordinary type knives” at all, on the contrary, there are a huge number of types.

The author has been collecting data on the knives of the early Iron Age for a number of years. The richest collections of the State Hermitage, domestic and foreign literature. Total collected material about 10 thousand items. The collection of material and its systematization have not yet been completed, but what has been collected is sufficient for a number of preliminary conclusions that are directly related to the topic of interest to us.

Despite the apparent monotony, the knives of the second half of the 1st millennium AD. e. Eastern Europe clearly fall into four broad groups, in each of which, with a detailed study, numerous options can be distinguished.

Group I(Fig. 1) is represented by knives with the following characteristic features. The line of the edge of the back of the blades, representing a smooth arc with a peak in the center, directly passes into the handle. Blades come across with a weakly pronounced transition to the handle (Fig. 1, 5-6), but these differences are not fundamental. for both forms coexist and represent the same archaeological monuments. The blade, together with the handle, has a length of 6 to 20 cm. Fluctuations in size in either direction are known, but rare. A stalk in the form of a narrow triangle 4-5 cm long, as a rule, is separated from the side of the cutting edge by a smooth ledge. The maximum width of the handle is about half the width of the blade. It can be noted that the back of the knives (together with the handle) is identical in design to the back of the sickles common in the forest zone of Eastern Europe 2 , and this is not surprising, because the areas of these sickles and knives of the first group coincide.

The width of the blades of knives of group I is about 2 cm, the thickness is about 2 mm. The cutting edge of whole specimens is straight and only towards the end is bent upwards. The ratio of the length of the blade to the length of the handle is about 3:1 or 2:1. Heavily worn blades are extremely rare - the length of the blade, as a rule, exceeds the length of the handle.

The handles of the knives were wooden and round in cross section. The handle was hammered into the handle by about half its length. The scabbard was leather - there are no traces of wood on the blades.

The origin of Group I knives can be traced very clearly. Their prototypes are knives with a humpbacked back of the forest zone of the early Iron Age - Milogradskaya, Yukhnovskaya, Zarubnetskaya, Dnieper-Dvinskaya, Dyakovskaya, Gorodets and other cultures 3 . The process of straightening the back began in the first centuries of our era on the southern outskirts of the forest zone (Chaplinsky, Korchevatovsk, and other Zarubinets burial grounds) 4 . In the Upper Dnieper and Upper Volga regions, knives with a humpback back are still found in the 4th-5th centuries. (Trinity settlement near Moscow. Tushemlya in the Smolensk region, etc.) 5 . In the third quarter of the 1st millennium A.D. e. knives with a humpbacked back practically disappear, and knives of group I become the leading form in the territories of the Upper Dnieper region (starting from Novy Bykhov), the Upper Volga region. Baltic countries 6 and Finland 7 . They are found in the Baltic and Late Dyakovo sites around the settlement of Tushemlya (Tushemlya, Dekanovka, Uzmen, Bantserovskoye. Kolochin I, etc.), in the "long mounds" of the North-West of the RSFSR (Soviy Bor, Podsosonye, ​​Lezgi. Severik. Black Creek. Kryukovo) eight . In the VIII-XI centuries. these knives still exist 9 , but together with the knives of groups II and IV that appeared in the forest zone (see below).

Group II(Fig. 2) is represented by knives with the following characteristic features. The back of the blades is most often in the form of a weak arc, slightly raised at the edges. The handle is in the form of a narrow triangle, usually 3-5 cm long, separated from the blade by pronounced ledges 3-5 mm high. The ledges are most often asymmetric relative to each other and form obtuse angles with the back and the cutting edge. The greatest width of the cuttings is about half the width of the blade.

The width of the blades is up to 2 cm. The thickness is 1.5-2 mm. The cutting edge of well-preserved specimens is slightly S-shaped. The length of the blades ranges from 10 to 20 cm. Strongly ground blades are extremely rare. The ratio of the length of the blades to the length of the handle is approximately 3:1 or 2:1.

The handles of Group II knives were mostly wooden, round in cross section. The handle was driven into the handle about half its length. The scabbard was leather - there are no traces of wood on the blades.

The earliest pronounced forms of knives of group II appear on the so-called "post-Zaru Binets" monuments of the II-V centuries. and the Desenie and Middle Dnieper (Kazarovichi, Pochepskoe, Lavrikov Les, Tatsenkn, Khodorov, Shchuchnka) 10 . Since the second half of the 1st millennium, knives of this group have been the leading form on Slavic monuments in the territories of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, the GDR, Moldavia and the Ukrainian SSR 11 . In the Upper Dnieper region, knives of the P group appear around the 8th century. and. e. Them. along with knives of group I, they are found in the Smolensk and Belarusian groups of "long mounds" (Fig. 2. 12, 14-15) 12 . On the Gnezdovsky settlement, located on the right bank of the river. Pigs in the Smolensk region, the time of occurrence of which dates back to the time no later than the beginning of the 9th century, its knives, with the exception of single ones, belong to group II 13.

Unfortunately, published knives of the VIII-IX centuries. there are extremely few from the Upper Dnieper and the North-West of the RSFSR, so it is difficult to say how massively the I group is represented here. So far, one can only take revenge that these knives appear here no earlier than the 8th century, that they coexist with knives of group I, and that there is no evolutionary connection between these groups.

From the X-XI centuries. the vast majority of knives in graves and in rural-type settlements are already represented by group II 14 . The trend of separating the handle from the blade with ledges to the X-XI centuries. extends to all parts of the forest zone.

However, it would be wrong to consider only the influence of Group II knives as the reason for the change in the local traditional form. Approximately simultaneously with them, but already from the north, knives of the IV group appear (see below), under the strong influence of which, in contrast to the rural one, was the handicraft production of the northern Old Russian cities.

Group III (Fig. 3) is represented by tools in wooden scabbards. Knives in a wooden sheath were one of the elements of the cultures of nomadic tribes. steppe zone Eastern Qurope. North Caucasus, vast expanses of Siberia and Central Azin. The evolution of these antiquities is well traced from the Scythian and Sarmatian eras.

Of course, give a detailed classification, highlight all the nuances of the problem of the origin and division of knives group III impossible in one study. In this paper, the author considers only one of the variants of knives of this group - the early Middle Ages Alanian from the territories of the Don region and the North Caucasus. Nomads - Alans - were the eastern neighbors of the Iodneprovsk Slavs. The cultures of both have fundamental differences, and this can be clearly seen in the traditional forms of knives that characterize these ethnic arrays.

Alanian knives, represented by the antiquities of the Saltov culture, have already been considered in the literature. Several knives that characterize the Saltov culture as typical were noted by I. I. Lyapushkin 15 . S.S. Sorokin, examining the iron inventory of Sarkel and Velaya Vezha, divided all the knives found here into two sets and attributed about 40-50 items to the lower - Saltov - layer 16 . Recently, a group of Ukrainian archaeologists investigated the Saltovskaya knives of the basin of the river. Don. which they have divided into five different types 17 .

In these studies, mainly the material of the settlements was considered, a number of which are multilayer monuments. The richest material of burial grounds was not involved. Some details were not paid attention to, which are fundamental features for Saltovski knives. These shortcomings turned out to be so significant, and the identified features were so subjective, that the image of the early medieval Alanian knives, which can be imagined from these works, was distorted.

If we turn to the materials of the burial grounds of the VIII-IX centuries. In the Don region and the North Caucasus, one can be convinced that the Alanian knives represent a surprisingly stable, uniform series. They have the following characteristic features. The back of the blades forms a weakly pronounced arc, smoothly descending towards the nose. The cutting edge is arcuate, but steeper than the back. The central axis of the blade and handle is shifted towards the back. The length of the blades ranges from 6 to 14 cm. The thickness is 1.5 mm, the width of the blade at the base is 1-1.5 cm (depending on the length). The handle is subtriangular in shape, 2-4 cm long. The width of the handle at the base is about half the width of the blade. The ratio of the length of the blade to the length of the handle is slightly more than 3:1.

The handle is always separated from the blade by strictly perpendicular ledges, which are structural features. A narrow - 1.5-2 mm wide and thick iron clip was welded to the base of the blade, which is a kind of lock that locks the knife in the sheath. This is a very fragile, often unpreserved part. Its presence is evidenced by the strict perpendicularity of the ledges and the traces imprinted by it, which can be seen on the unrestored metal.

Several hundred such blades were found in Dmitrovsky. Ust-Lubyansky. Verkhnesaltovsky, Borisovsky 18 burial grounds and in burial grounds on the river. Durso near Novorossiysk, in North Ossetia, and in the vicinity of Kislovodsk 19 .

Group III knives, including Alanian ones, had a wooden scabbard. The Alanian scabbard was made from two halves of an originally split plank. The split edge was not subsequently processed, so the connection of the halves was perfect. After the wooden base was made, a leather sheath with a seam on the left side was stretched over it, apparently in a wet state. Very often, the scabbards were paired and built into one common leather sheath, and the cutting edges of the blades were located on opposite sides of each other. obviously to reduce the overall thickness of the scabbard. Sometimes a bronze or silver tip and clip were put on top of the scabbard. In cases of twin and triple scabbards, the clip and tip were common. The need for a leather case was determined by the fact. that the wooden planks of the Alanian scabbards were not fastened with pins.

The scabbard was narrow and thin. Their width slightly exceeds the width of the blade, the thickness is less than 1 cm. At the end, the scabbard is slightly tapered, at the end there is a straight or slightly arched cut. The length of the knives exceeds the length of the blade by about one third.

Unfortunately, several well-preserved Alanian scabbards have been published without a detailed description of their design 20 . The author did not have the opportunity to examine these finds. However, finds in the burial grounds of Polomsky, Brodovsky (Prikamye), Mosheva Balka ( North Caucasus), where sheaths of other variants of group III were found, make it possible to identify general patterns. characteristic of the whole group. Based on these materials, the missing parts of the Alanian sheaths can be reconstructed.

The socket for the blade was slightly oval in longitudinal section, so that only the clip and the tip of the blade were fixed in the scabbard. This feature is typical for all wooden scabbards, including ethnographic ones. If the nest ideally repeated the parameters of the blade, it would be impossible to pull the knife out of its sheath in conditions of high humidity.

In addition to the blade, part of the handle was also included in the sheath. This is evidenced both by the remains of the turf from the sheath on the handles, and the sheath from the Moshcheva Beam (Fig. 3. 12). The handles were unusually thin, oval in cross section. Their width was the same as the width of the blade, the thickness was about 0.5 cm. The handles were made from wood other than the sheath, or from a different material altogether. This is evidenced by the remains of a bright yellow substance preserved on the cuttings. One bone handle from the Dmitrovsky burial ground is known (Fig. 3,4). but this is a unique case. The shape of the handles was flat, long, slightly subtrapezoidal, with a slight expansion at the back end.

Paired and triple sheaths, a kind of cassettes, are known to the author only on Alanian monuments. In the burial grounds of Durso, sometimes up to 6 blades, i.e. 2-3 cassettes, were found with the buried. The thinness and lightness of the handles gives the Alanian knives good ballistic qualities, and the numerous knives in the graves and the completeness of their packaging allow us to make an assumption that the Alans used the scabbard as a throwing weapon.

Group IV(Fig. 4) is represented by tools with a narrow shank 6 to 12 cm long. The most common shank is 8-10 cm long. The tip of the stalk is awl-shaped. sometimes bent and riveted. Occasionally, there is a quadrangular iron or bronze washer on the bent tip. The bent tip and the washer, apparently, have been broken off and lost for many knives of this group. This design of the cutting is due to the fact. that he pierced the handle through and bent at the back end.

The blades of the sheath of group IV, as a rule, have clear ledges, about 2 mm high, separating them from the handle. The spine of the blades is straight and only slightly lowered at the end. The width of the blades is 1.5-2 cm, which is about two thirds of the width of the handle at the base. Back thickness 2-3 mm. It is difficult to indicate the true length of the blade, because this is, perhaps, the only group of knives in general, the blades of which are sharply worn, sometimes almost to the ground. Probably the most common were blades with a ratio to shank length between 2:1-1:1. The knives had a long cylindrical handle and a leather sheath - there are no traces of wood on the blades.

The origin of group IV knives can be traced quite clearly. In the Merovingian and Viking times they existed in Norway and Sweden 21 . From there, they spread to the territory of Finland, but here they exist along with knives of group I 22. In Eastern Europe, the same knives appear in the last quarter of the 1st millennium and. e. The earliest finds come from horizons E 3 -E 1 of the earthen settlement of Staraya Ladoga and from the hills in the vicinity of this settlement. In the future, these knives are distributed about Prnladoga. fall into the Baltic and the Yaroslavl Volga region. Wherever there are Scandinavian burials or Scandinavian materials, knives of group IV 23 are also known.

A very interesting situation develops in the northern territories of the Old Russian state in the 10th-11th centuries. Novgorod knives of this time have a strict narrow stern-backed blade with a slightly rounded end, giving it a dagger-like appearance, a long narrow handle, which is rarely less than 10 cm. A small but distinct ledge on the blade (Fig. 4, 17) 24 . Judging by the publications and constant references to Novgorodian materials, similar knives are known in the Baltic states, in all northern ancient Russian cities without exception, and in large burial grounds, such as Gnezdovo and others. 25

The shape and design of Novgorod knives of the X-XI centuries according to B. L. Kolchin was created on the basis of centuries-old experience of blacksmithing 26 . But whose experience? Knives of group I-III could not serve as a basis for Novgorod ones. In addition, they coexist with Group IV knives in parallel. Knives of the 10th-11th centuries, such as Novgorod ones, are closest to group IV, the evolutionary chain of which they continue. It is hardly possible to be mistaken in concluding that the Northern Russian urban craft production in the field of knife making in the 10th-11th centuries. was under strong Scandinavian influence.

At the beginning of the XII century. the picture changes dramatically. In Novgorod and other cities, knives appear, the blade of which has become wider and much thinner. The back on the blade slightly rises to the base and end, the ledges increase, the handle and stalk are shortened. the technological scheme of manufacturing is simplified (Fig. 2. 16) 27 . These are already Group II knives. Therefore, we can conclude that by the beginning of the 12th century, the influence of the Scandinavian form was weakening, and the urban North Russian handicraft production, following the rural district, switched to the manufacture of knives of a common Slavic type.

So, we have established that the Early Middle Ages Eastern European knives are divided into 4 broad groups with their own development history.

Group I is typical for the Baltic, Finnish tribes and the population of the Upper Dnieper and the North-West of the RSFSR in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. e.

Group II is typical for the population of the "post-Zarubinets" culture of the III-V centuries. in the Desenye and Middle Dnieper regions and for the Slavic population (starting from the 6th-7th centuries) living outside the forest zone. Around the 8th century group II knives appear in the Upper Dnieper region, and begin to spread by the 12th century. become universal.

Group III is typical for the nomadic population. In this paper, the Alanian version of the knives of this group was considered, which is one of the persistent elements of the culture of the early medieval Alans.

Group IV is typical for the German-speaking population of Northern Europe. In the middle of the VIII century. knives of this group appear on the northern borders of Eastern Europe, spread until the 12th century. have a strong influence on the Northern Russian urban handicraft production.

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27. Ibid., p. 48.