In the tales of various nations, the weapons of heroes and heroes always aroused genuine interest among researchers and readers. With the help of these devices, people's defenders performed some of their famous exploits, fighting various types of enemies and freeing innocent hostages. These types of heroic weapons include the sword-treasurer, a truly heroic weapon with magical powers.
Appointment
Usually, this weapon fell into the hands of the owner from some cache and usually gave its owner invincibility. Since the sword-hoarder is present in several Russian epics and tales at once , this allows us to talk about it not as someone’s personal weapon, but rather as a certain type of blade, their category.
The origin and meaning of the word
According to some scholars, the epithet in Russian comes from the word “treasure” associated with the verb “put” (there is another version: the sword that puts the enemy army). Then it becomes clear why the sword is a keeper. Other scholars derive from the word “folding”, that is, “steel” (perhaps in time immemorial, steel swords were rare, which means they were credited with magical properties). Third version: connection with weapons technology. In the old days, a block of iron was buried in the ground for a while. Poor pieces were corroded by rust. Then they dug up the future sword, cleaned it of rye and remained high-quality metal, from which the weapons were forged. There are other versions of the origin of the word itself. But in any case, the essence remains the same: the sword-treasure was a rather formidable and effectively smashing weapon for the warrior.
How to get
The formidable weapon itself can only be obtained by a worthy hero. It is usually hidden in the ground or wall (walled up), it is hidden under a stove (in one of the tales - under a stove). In order to get a sword-treasure, the hero or hero must prove his strength and abilities (to raise the stove, stove, unclear the wall). By the way, such swords and stories about them are characteristic not only for East Slavic folklore. Compare the fragment of the ancient Greek myth of Theseus, to which his mother shows the place under the stone where his father’s sword is hidden. In some cases, the hero must dig a sword-treasure from a barrow or grave. This is due to the belief that existed in the old days that weapons that belong to the dead have special magical powers. Touching “that light”, it also became a carrier of death in itself, deadly. In some epics, the sword is given to the younger hero as a gift from the older one, who is leaving for the world of the dead (the old Russian epic “Svyatogor and Ilya Muromets”).
In another epic, the sword is located under the decapitated body of a giant athlete on a battlefield. Yeruslan Lazarevich, talking with the huge severed head of an ancient warrior, finds out about this and obtains magic weapons (compare the fairy tale in the poems “Ruslan and Lyudmila” written by Pushkin - a similar theme for the extraction of an artifact by a hero is also developed there).
And the prince of Murom in his work "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia" finds a smashing sword hidden in the wall of the monastery.
Sword owners
In later folklore and literary works of authorship, such weapons are almost an obligatory attribute inherent in the protagonist. And Svyatogor, and Muromets, and Prophetic Oleg, and Dobrynya Nikitich, and Yeruslan, and Ruslan, and Bova Korolevich, and Ivan Tsarevich owned such swords at different times. Which, of course, once again indicates that these were different swords.
The Sword The Tale of Weapons
Actually, the sword-treasurer is mentioned, as already mentioned, in many folk tales, epics, and literary works. For example, in “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Sword of Sword”, the main character goes to purposefully obtain magical weapons to fight the Serpent, which traditionally burns churches and fields, takes hostages and tributes, rages in every possible way. As a result, the enemy is defeated, the people are released, the lands are liberated. And all with the magic power of this sharp instrument. By the way, the stable expression "the blunt sword-hoarder" means, figuratively, that the forces left the person (hero) and there is no longer any opportunity to continue the battle.