Blades and magic
The sword has always been the weapon of the nobility. The knights treated their blades as comrades in arms, and, having lost his sword in battle, the warrior covered himself with indelible shame. Among the glorious representatives of this type of cold weapon, there is also their own "nobility" - the famous blades, which, according to legend, have magical properties, for example, to make enemies flee and protect their master. There is a grain of truth in such tales - an artifact sword by its very appearance could inspire the companions of its owner. Here are 12 of the most famous deadly relics in history.
1. Sword in stone
Many remember the legend of King Arthur, which tells how he plunged his sword into a stone to prove his right to the throne. Despite the complete fantasy of this story, it is possibly based on real events, only that occurred much later than the supposed time of the reign of the legendary king of the Britons.
In the Italian chapel of Monte Siepi, there is a block with a blade firmly seated in it, which, according to some sources, belonged to the Tuscan knight Galliano Guidotti, who lived in the 12th century.
According to legend, Guidotti had a bad disposition and led a rather licentious lifestyle, so one day the Archangel Michael appeared to him and urged him to take the path of serving the Lord, that is, to become a monk. Laughing, the knight declared that it would be as difficult for him to go to the monastery as to cut a stone, and in confirmation of his words, he struck a boulder lying nearby with a blade with force. The archangel showed the stubborn miracle - the blade easily entered the stone, and the stricken Galliano left him there, after which he took the path of correction and was later canonized, and the fame of his sword, piercing the stone, spread throughout Europe.
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After exposing the block and sword to radiocarbon analysis, University of Pavia employee Luigi Garlaskelli discovered that some part of this story may well be true: the age of the stone and sword is about eight centuries, that is, coincides with the lifetime of Senor Guidotti.
2. Kusanagi no tsurugi
This mythical sword has been a symbol of the power of the Japanese emperors for several centuries. Kusanagi-no tsurugi (in Japanese - "sword that mows the grass") is also known as Ame-nomurakumo-no tsurugi - "sword that collects the clouds of paradise."
The Japanese epic says that the sword was found by the wind god Susanoo in the body of an eight-headed dragon he had killed. Susanoo presented the blade to his sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, later he ended up with her grandson Niniga, and after a while he got to the demigod Jimmu, who then became the first emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun.
It is interesting that the Japanese authorities never put the sword on public display, but, on the contrary, tried to hide it away from prying eyes - even during coronations, the sword was carried out wrapped in linen. It is believed to be kept at the Atsuta Shrine in the city of Nagoya, but there is no evidence of its existence.
The only ruler of Japan to publicly mention the sword was Emperor Hirohito: renouncing the throne after the defeat of the country in World War II, he urged the ministers of the temple to keep the sword, no matter what.
3. Durendal
For centuries, the parishioners of the Not-Dame chapel located in the city of Rocamadour could see a sword stuck in the wall, which, according to legend, belonged to Roland himself - the hero of medieval epics and legends, who existed in reality.
According to legend, he threw his magic blade, protecting the chapel from the enemy, and the sword remained in the wall. Attracted by these tales of the monks, numerous pilgrims reached Rocamadour, who retell the story of Roland's sword to each other, and thus the legend spread throughout Europe.
However, according to scientists, the sword in the chapel is not at all the legendary Durendal, with which Roland terrified his enemies. The famous knight of Charlemagne died on August 15, 778 in a battle with the Basques in the Ronseval Gorge, located hundreds of kilometers from Rocamadour, and rumors of the "Durendal" entrenched in the wall began to appear only in the middle of the 12th century, almost simultaneously with writing The Song of Roland. The monks simply tied Roland's name to the sword to ensure a steady stream of worshipers. But rejecting the version of Roland as the owner of the blade, experts cannot offer anything in return - who it belonged to is likely to remain a secret.
By the way, now there is no sword in the chapel - in 2011 it was removed from the wall and sent to the Paris Museum of the Middle Ages. It is also interesting that in French the word "Durandal" is feminine, so Roland probably had not a friendly affection for his sword, but a real passion and could hardly throw his beloved against the wall.
4. Bloodthirsty blades of Muramasa
Muramasa is a famous Japanese swordsman and blacksmith who lived in the 16th century. According to legend, Muramasa prayed to the gods to endow his blades with bloodthirstiness and destructive power. The master made very good swords, and the gods respected his request, placing a demonic spirit of extermination of all living things in each blade.
It is believed that if the sword of Muramasa has been gathering dust for a long time, it can provoke the owner to murder or suicide, in order to "drink" blood. There are countless stories of the owners of the Muramasa swords who went mad or killed many people. After a series of accidents and murders that occurred in the family of the famous shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, which popular rumor associated with the curse of Muramasa, the government declared the master's blades outlawed, and most of them were destroyed.
For the sake of fairness, it must be said that the Muramas school is a whole dynasty of gunsmiths that existed for about a century, so the story with the "demonic spirit of bloodthirstiness" entrenched in swords is nothing more than a legend. The curse of the blades made by the school's craftsmen was, paradoxical as it may sound, their exceptional quality. Many experienced warriors preferred them to other swords and, apparently, thanks to their skill and the sharpness of Muramasa's blades, they won victories more often than others.
5. Honjo Masamune
Unlike the bloodthirsty swords of Muramasa, the blades made by the master Masamune, according to legends, endowed warriors with calmness and wisdom. According to legend, in order to find out whose blades are better and sharper, Muramasa and Masamune lowered their swords into the river with lotuses. The flowers revealed the essence of each of the masters: the blade of Masamune's sword did not inflict a single scratch on them, because his blades cannot harm an innocent, and the product of Muramasa, on the contrary, seemed to itself strive to cut the flowers into small pieces, justifying its reputation.
Of course, this is pure fiction - Masamune lived almost two centuries earlier than the gunsmiths of the Muramasa school. Nevertheless, Masamune's swords are truly unique: the secret of their durability can not yet be revealed, even using the latest technologies and research methods.
All the surviving blades of the master's work are national treasures of the Land of the Rising Sun and are carefully guarded, however the best of them, Honjo Masamune, was transferred to the American soldier Colde Bimor after the surrender of Japan in World War II, and his whereabouts are currently unknown. The country's government is trying to find a unique blade, but so far, alas, in vain.
6. Joyeuse
According to legend, the Joyeuse blade (translated from French “joyeuse” - “joyful”) belonged to the founder of the Holy Roman Empire Charlemagne, and for many years served him faithfully. According to legend, he could change the color of the blade up to 30 times a day and eclipsed the Sun with its brightness. Currently, there are two blades that the famous monarch could wield.
One of them, which for many years was used as the coronation sword of French kings, is kept in the Louvre, and for hundreds of years there has been a debate as to whether Charlemagne's hand was really gripping its hilt. Radiocarbon analysis proves that this cannot be true: the preserved old part of the sword exhibited in the Louvre (over the past hundreds of years, it has been remade and restored more than once) was created between the 10th and 11th centuries, after the death of Charlemagne (the emperor died in 814). Some believe that the sword was made after the destruction of the real Joyeuse and is an exact copy of it, or there is part of "Joyful" in it.
The second contender for belonging to the legendary king is the so-called saber of Charlemagne, which is now in one of the museums in Vienna. As for the time of its manufacture, the opinions of specialists differ, but many admit that it could still belong to Karl: he probably captured the weapon as a trophy during one of his campaigns in Eastern Europe. Of course, this is not the famous Joyeuse, but, nevertheless, the saber has no value as a historical artifact.
7. Sword of Saint Peter
There is a legend that the blade, which is part of the exposition of the museum in the Polish city of Poznan, is nothing more than the sword with which the Apostle Peter cut off the ear of the high priest's servant during the arrest of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. This sword was brought to Poland by Bishop Jordan in 968, who assured everyone that the blade belonged to Peter. The adherents of this myth believe that the sword was forged at the beginning of the 1st century somewhere on the eastern outskirts of the Roman Empire.
Most researchers, however, are sure that the weapon was made much later than the events described in the Bible, this is confirmed by the analysis of the metal from which the sword and blade of the "falchion" type were melted - at the time of the Apostles, such swords were simply not made, they appeared only in the 11th century …
8. Wallace's sword
According to legend, Sir William Wallace, the commander and leader of the Scots in the struggle for independence from England, after winning the Battle of Stirling Bridge, wrapped the hilt of his sword with the skin of the treasurer Hugh de Cressingham, who collected taxes for the British. Presumably, the unfortunate treasurer had to endure many terrible minutes before his death, because in addition to the handle, Wallace made a scabbard and a belt from the same material.
According to another version of the legend, Wallace made only a harness from leather, but it is incredibly difficult to say anything for sure now, because at the request of King James IV of Scotland, the sword was altered - the old worn out trim of the sword was replaced with a more befitting this great artifact.
Perhaps Sir William really could have adorned his weapons with the skin of a treasurer: as a patriot of his country, he hated traitors who collaborated with the occupiers. However, there is another opinion - many believe that the story was invented by the British in order to create the image of a bloodthirsty monster for the fighter for the independence of Scotland. We will most likely never know the truth.
9. Sword of Goujian
In 1965, in one of the ancient Chinese tombs, archaeologists found a sword on which, despite the dampness that surrounded it for many years, there was not a single speck of rust - the weapon was in excellent condition, one of the scientists even cut his finger when he was checking the sharpness blades. Having carefully studied the find, experts were surprised to find out that it is at least 2.5 thousand years old.
According to the most common version, the sword belonged to Goujian, one of the Wangs (rulers) of the Yue kingdom during the Spring and Autumn period. Researchers believe that this particular blade was mentioned in the lost work on the history of the kingdom. According to one of the legends, Goujian considered this sword the only worthwhile weapon in his collection, while another legend says that the sword is so beautiful that it could only be created by the joint efforts of the Earth and Heaven.
The sword was perfectly preserved solely thanks to the art of ancient Chinese armourers: the blade was made using a stainless alloy invented by them, and the scabbard of this weapon was so tightly attached to the blade that air access to it was practically blocked.
10. Seven-toothed sword
This unusually beautiful blade was discovered in 1945 at the Isonokami-jingu Shrine in the Japanese city of Tenri. The sword is strikingly different from the edged weapons familiar to us from the Land of the Rising Sun, first of all, the complex shape of the blade - it has six bizarre branches, and the seventh, obviously, was the tip of the blade - therefore the weapon found was named Nanatsusaya-no-tachi (in. with Japanese - "Seven-toothed sword").
The sword was stored in terrible conditions (which is very unusual for the Japanese), so its condition is poor. On the blade there is an inscription according to which the ruler of Korea presented this weapon to one of the Chinese emperors.
A description of the exact same blade is found in Nihon shoki, the oldest work on Japanese history: according to legend, the seven-toothed sword was presented as a gift to the semi-mythical empress Jingu.
Having carefully studied the sword, experts came to the conclusion that, most likely, this is the same legendary artifact, since the estimated time of its creation coincides with the events described in Nihon shoki, in addition, it also mentions the Isonokami-jingu shrine, so the relic just lay there. there for more than 1.5 thousand years, until they found it.
11. Tizona
The weapon that belonged to the legendary Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, better known as El Cid Campeador, is today in the Cathedral of Burgos and is considered a national treasure of Spain.
After the death of Sid, the weapon fell to the ancestors of the Spanish king Ferdinand II of Aragon, and the king who inherited it presented the relic to the Marquis de Falses. The descendants of the marquis for hundreds of years have carefully preserved the artifact, and in 1944, with their permission, the sword became part of the exposition of the Royal Military Museum in Madrid. In 2007, the owner of the sword sold it to the authorities of the Castile and Leon region for $ 2 million, and they transferred it to the cathedral, where El Cid is buried.
The employees of the Ministry of Culture were offended by the sale of the sword, and they began to spread information that it was a later forgery, not related to de Vivard. However, a careful analysis confirmed that although the worn-out "native" hilt of the weapon was replaced with another in the 16th century, its blade was made in the 11th century, that is, the sword probably belonged to a hero.
12. Ulfbert
In our time, such swords were practically forgotten, but in the Middle Ages, when the word "ulfbert" was used, the enemies of the Vikings experienced genuine horror. The honor of possessing such a weapon belonged exclusively to the elite of the Scandinavian armed forces, because the ulfberts were much stronger than other swords of that time. Most of the medieval edged weapons were cast from brittle low-carbon steel with an admixture of slag, and the Vikings for their swords bought crucible steel from Iran and Afghanistan, which is much stronger.
Now it is not known who this Ulfbert was, and whether he was the first to guess to create such swords, but it was his brand that stood on all swords made in Europe from Iranian and Afghan metal. Ulfberts are perhaps the most advanced edged weapons of the early Middle Ages, far ahead of their time. Blades of comparable strength began to be mass produced in Europe only in the second half of the 18th century with the beginning of the global industrial revolution.