In Russian epics and legends, he is called a sword-kladenets or a sword-self-cutting. And it was forged by Agrik, the son of King Herod, a cruel tyrant known from the biblical texts and works of the Roman historian Flavius Josephus.
According to legend, this sword emitted a bluish glow in the darkness and had supernatural properties: it cut any military armor into whispers. The enemies did not even enter the battle with the hero, armed with the sword of Agriculture, they turned back. How did the sword end up in Russia?
There is no answer to this question. In the epics there are only stories about how the bogatyrs receive a sword-kladenets from the hands of Svyatogor or find it in a deep cave. But here's what's interesting. The chronicles testify that one of the most fearless generals of Ancient Rus was Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky (born around 1109). In 1149, “obstinate” (surrounded) by enemies, on a wounded horse, the prince drew his sword and, simply holding it high above his head, managed to break through to his own. Obviously, this was the very moment when, to intimidate the enemy, it was enough only to demonstrate a miracle weapon.
So under what circumstances did Andrei Bogolyubsky get the cherished sword? But at what. Andrey's father was Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky, prince of the Rostov-Suzdal land. Until 1149, chronicle sources say nothing about the life of the young prince. Researchers A. Rybalka and A. Sinelnikov in the book "Secrets of Russian Cathedrals" make the assumption that after the death of his wife, a Polovtsian woman, Yuri Dolgoruky sent a wedding embassy headed by his adolescent son Andrei to Byzantium, to Elena Komnin.
The matchmaking was successful, and the bride took away to Russia as a dowry, among other things, the icon of the Mother of God "Tenderness", painted by Luke the Evangelist himself, which later became famous as the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God.
But after that, how did the fate of Andrei Bogolyubsky, "the founder of the well-equipped Russian statehood" (as the famous Russian historian SM Solovyov called him)? According to the above-mentioned researchers, Bogolyubsky took part in the Crusades and joined the Templar Order.
In support of their point of view, these authors cite the following lines from the Old Believers' Life of Andrei Bogolyubsky: “For many years in the Holy Land, Yerushalom Grad was at the Holy Sepulcher in fasting and prayer, serving the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, really and without self-interest, much wisdom, like Be Sholo-mon tsar, in the temple of his Holy of Holies dwells. " It will be useful to recall that the full name of the Order of the Templars sounds like this: "The brotherhood of the poor servants of Christ, the riders of the Virgin Mary, the Jerusalem Mother of God of the Solomon temple."
It is known that the Templars conducted excavations at the site of the Temple of Solomon, and, according to some sources, with great success. The Order became the owner of the Grail, the shroud, later called Turin, and the Agricova sword. When the time came for Andrei Bogolyubsky to return to Russia, the Templars presented him with the cherished weapon as a reward for his merits. Well, after the murder of the prince, with the beginning of the strife, during which the city of Vladimir, beloved by Prince Andrei, passed from hand to hand, the sword was hidden in one of the monasteries in the city of Murom.
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There will be death for me from Petrov's shoulder
A few decades later, the fate of the sword intertwined with the fate of the Murom prince Peter and his wife Fevronia (late 12th - early 13th centuries). The content of the "Tale of Peter and Fevronia", which belongs to the pen of the church writer Ermolai-Erasmus, is known to the readers. Its origin, based on Murom legends and legends, contains a mention of the Agriculture sword.
It all began in Murom during the reign of Prince Paul, Peter's elder brother. Pavel had a beautiful wife, to whom, in the absence of her husband, a winged serpent, which took his form, got in the habit of flying. The princess told her husband everything. The prince thought for a long time how to exterminate the "enemy of the human race", and came up with it.
"Find out from the serpent," he said to his wife, "what kind of death he is destined to die." Although the task was very difficult, the princess managed to ferret out the secret. "There will be death for me from Petrov's shoulder, from Agricov's sword," the snake admitted. Paul's younger brother, Peter, had heard of the Agricultural Sword, but did not know where to look for it. Deciding to rely on God's help, the young prince went to church and began to pray in solitude. And an angel appeared to him in the form of a boy and said: "I will show you where Agricov's sword is hidden, follow me."
He took Peter to the altar, where this sword lay in the gap between the stones of the altar wall. After talking with Paul in his chambers and showing him the sword. Peter went to visit the princess. And what does he see? Next to the princess is his brother, whom he had just left in the distant chambers. Having made sure that there was a werewolf in the princess's quarters, Peter struck him with the Agriculture sword. But in his dying convulsions, the serpent spattered the prince with his blood, and he became covered with festering ulcers. Well, then - a story about the recovery of the prince thanks to the healing of the virgin Fevronia.
What is hidden behind this legend? Maybe in the "reserved and dense, terrible Murom forests" there were really winged snakes that took on a human form? Or maybe there are quite earthly affairs hidden in it? After all, some enemy of Paul could have gotten himself into the princely environment, tried to seduce the princess in order to find out where the cherished sword was kept. Did not work out. But at the "last gasp" this werewolf could, for example, throw some poison in the face of Prince Peter …
And Khostovrul converged with Eupatius
It is clear that the precious relic began to be protected more than ever. True, the sword did not have to lie down for long. In the winter of 1237, 140 thousand Mongol horsemen, led by Batu, approached the borders of Russia (many researchers also call another figure - 300 thousand people). The Muromo-Ryazan principality fiercely resisted. And yet Ryazan fell on December 21.
But soon one of the governors of the Ryazan prince Yuri Igorevich, Evpatiy Kolovrat, who was in a long absence, gathered a squad of 1,700 people, and on January 15, 1238, five thousand Mongolian soldiers, led by brother-in-law Baty Khostovrul, fought with the guards of Evpatiy. The chronicle says: “And Khostovrul and Eupatius came together. Evpatiy was full of power and cut Khostovrul into floors (in two halves - A. O.) to the saddle. And he began to whip the power of the enemy, and beat many famous heroes Batyevs here, cut some in half, and cut others to the saddle."
In a fleeting battle, Hostovrul's detachment was almost completely destroyed, which puzzled Batu. Even if we admit that Evpatiy Kolovrat was a bogatyr of heroes, all the same, how could he deal alone with dozens of well-armed enemies? Maybe Kolovrat had a sword in his hands? Maybe he left Ryazan after him when he learned about the impending threat?
Faced with unprecedented resistance, Batu decided to encircle the camp of Kolovrat's detachment, which had only four hundred vigilantes left alive, with an army of many thousands and bring up "vices" (throwing weapons). Without engaging in open combat, the Mongols threw stones at the brave Russians. And then, by order of Batu, the soldiers brought the body of Evpatiy Kolovrat to him. The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu says: “And King Batu said, looking at the body of Evpatievo:“Oh, Kolovrat Evpatiy! You treated me well with your little squad, and beat many heroes of my strong horde, and defeated many regiments. If such a man had served with me, he would have kept him close to his heart. " And he gave Evpatiy's body to the remaining people of his squad, who were taken away for the slaughter. And King Batu ordered to let them go and not harm them in any way.
Hitler's directive
Did Batu know about the existence of the Agricov sword? Hard to say. At least the above words from "The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan" inspire hope that the miracle sword was carried from the battlefield by the surviving Russian soldiers.
Confirmation that the sword did not leave the borders of Russia are the events that happened more than seven hundred years after that battle.
According to some reports (materials of the secret organization "Ahnenerbe", which operated as part of the SS), in December 1941, Field Marshal von Bock received Hitler's directive banning shelling and bombing of the five-kilometer zone along the Oka, from Ryazan to Murom. A group of commandos from the "Ahnenerbe", engaged in the most secret affairs of the Reich: from the creation of "techno-magical" discs and other Wunderwaffe ("miracle weapons") to the search for the Holy Grail and the Agrikov sword, was dropped into these places. December, of course, is not the most suitable month for searches and excavations, especially in conditions of hostilities.
But, apparently, the Nazis had reliable information about the presence of a miracle sword in the Ryazan region. Some researchers believe that they could have gleaned such information from the Russian annals, which migrated abroad during the 1917 revolution and the civil war. Indeed, the "researchers" from "Ahnenerbe" searched all the occupied countries of Europe, trying to find the indicated artifacts or evidence of them. Why did Hitler need weapons of bygone days? What, could it compete with the "Katyusha" or "T-34"?
You need to know that the ideology of fascism grew out of occult and mystical roots, nourished by everything: from the theory of the superiority of the "Nordic race" to the "revelations" of the Germanic pagan priests. There was also a place in it for artifacts that Hitler wanted to "put next to him for a sense of universal strength and power."
As for the Nazi commandos sent to the Murom forests, they say that only two of them were able to get out of the front line, with frostbitten and empty hands.