The coat of arms of the city of Yaroslavl depicts a bear with an ax. In the "Legend of the construction of the city of Yaroslavl" there is a legend according to which at the time of Yaroslav the Wise there was a Bear Ugol tract on this place, where pagans lived - worshipers of the god Veles, who were engaged in hunting, cattle breeding and robbery of merchants sailing along the Volga.
Prince Yaroslav decided to put an end to this outrage and came to put things in order with the squad. Local residents released a certain "fierce beast" with a pack of dogs - "let the prince and those with him be amused." Yaroslav beat the beast with his ax, the dogs fled, and the pagans, horrified by the relics of the prince, fell on their faces before him and recognized his power. This is how the city of Yaroslavl was founded.
The Yaroslavl emblem is one of the oldest in Russian heraldry. The bear with the ax marked the Yaroslavl land already on the seal of Ivan IV. In 1730 the coat of arms for the banners of the Yaroslavl regiments was approved.
Archaeological excavations have confirmed that the inhabitants of Medvezhy Ugol were really engaged in hunting and cattle breeding, which speaks of the veracity of the "Tale". If so, then we have a unique message about the combat use of the bear.
The bear was set against the prince and his retinue. A pack of dogs was given to help him, which speaks of long training and coordination of actions of the animal combat group. After all, the animals did not rush at each other, but the whole group as a whole pounced on the prince's squad. Presumably, the battle was not easy, but the prince and his people are professional soldiers, so the victory remained with them.
The question arises: should the combat use of a bear be considered an isolated incident or a common practice?
The bear is a formidable, powerful predator, but also a very quick-witted, intelligent beast that sticks to its owner. Familiar with the methods of dog training, our ancestors could well have also attracted bears and enemies. And aren't the Norwegian legends about berserkers - "bear skins" invulnerable to the blade, echoes of battles with real bears, which the Slavs released into the thick of battle?
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Stick with hooks
From this point of view, it is useful to look at Nizami Ganjavi's Iskander-Name. Nizami Ganjavi is a classic of Persian literature who lived in the XII century. The work of interest to us (created in 1193-1197) tells about Iskander's war with the Russians. Specifically, Iskander defends his vassal region - Caucasian Albania and its capital Berdaa - from the attack of the hordes of the Russians.
Eastern sources report that the Russians really attacked Berdaa in 943-944. The city was plundered, the region was devastated, but an epidemic of some kind of intestinal disease began among the Russians, so they preferred to load all the loot on ships and leave.
And now attention: the Russians used an unknown creature in battle! That's right: an unknown creature. The Persians are at a loss. They had never met this creature before and found it difficult to classify it. Let's look at the enemy through the eyes of the Persians and try to identify him.
First of all, we note that the unknown creature is not supernatural. It does not have magical and other incredible abilities. It is dressed in a shaggy fur coat, the battle is on foot, but it is immediately noted that it is better to meet with a hundred horsemen than with him alone. And one more thing: it is chained by the leg. The chain is long enough not to interfere with movement and free movement around the battlefield. The creature is heavy, the ground crumbles under his steps. His skin is so strong that the sword does not take it, but, again, this is not magical invulnerability, it is her physical quality. The creature is armed with some large hooked stick. The fighting technique is interesting: it picks up the opponent with a stick, also rakes, breaks necks, tears heads and legs.
A battle bear in armor from a computer game may have existed in real history.
Or maybe not with a stick, but with a paw? He rakes in a man, crumples, breaks his neck, tears the skin from his head … Bear! It is described as a person who has never met bears before and who saw the fight from afar could describe it. Further description only confirms this version.
From the edge of eternal darkness
Further, the Persian sages give Iskander a certificate about the life of an unknown creature. It is very informative for us too. It turns out that these creatures live in the edge of eternal darkness, in the same places where sables are mined. Creatures sleep in trees, and their sleep is very long. The Russ hunt them in this way: they track them down while they sleep in the trees, tie them with a rope, chain them and lower them to the ground. The hunting method is quite fantastic, most likely, the informant of Tsar Iskander himself did not see such a hunt, but mentally reconstructed it. But then the story becomes even more interesting: it turns out that the Russians lead these creatures on a chain through the villages, and everyone gives the counselors money and food.
True, the informant says that the unknown creature has a horn on its forehead, and it sleeps in the trees, resting its horn on the trunk. Also, the creature is described as red-faced, with turquoise eyes.
Let's not be too hard on the informant. Russov is still called bears. As for the horns, in battle, artificial horns could be put on tame bears to intimidate the enemy and as an additional weapon of destruction.
Further, the source reports that the creatures are engaged in sheep breeding. This is not far from the truth. The Chukchi, for example, call wolves deer herders. A similar metaphor for an unknown entity could be taken literally by the Persian informant.
Further, Iskander-name describes the creature as not fluent in articulate speech, but understanding human language. Iskander managed to capture the creature with the help of a lasso, then freed him from the chain and befriended him. It brought Iskander from Russian captivity the beautiful Nestan-Darejan, a warrior maiden, and itself began to fight against the Russians. The frightened Russians surrendered to Iskander, who seized rich booty, took the ruler of the Russians under his arm, and the Russians withdrew from Berdaa. Iskander rewarded the unknown creature with a flock of sheep, with which he also went to their lands.
Bear habits
So, what do we have in the bottom line. In Persia, bears were not found, and the encounter with a huge shaggy powerful beast, similar and not similar to humans, should have impressed the Persians. And so it happened. They did not even dare to name him in any way, for the Persians he remained an unknown creature. However, the keen gaze of the observer allows us to accurately describe this creature, and we can recognize it as a bear.
He does not mount a horse. He does not speak, but is understanding. He has a heavy gait, he inflicts lacerations with a clawed paw, his blows are raking, crushing, he breaks his sides, folds his necks. Very accurate description of bearish behavior.
The observer is a professional warrior, he does not understand who the enemy is, but he accurately captures his movements, and we can see the battle through his eyes and understand that the enemy is a bear. The description of the informant confirms the guess: yes, in a place where sables are found, in the edge of eternal darkness, he climbs trees, he sleeps for a long time, he hunts sheep. The Russians lead them on a chain through the villages, and the people give them money and bread. It's like that. But the informant also reports that the Russians are using bears in battle.
So, we have two independent sources describing the combat use of bears by the Russ. This means that the battle in Yaroslavl was not an exceptional case. The Slavs tamed bears not only to make them dance to a tambourine for the amusement of an idle crowd. Bears were also trained to fight with humans.
Galina BAEVA
"Secrets of the XX century" May 2012