Sword Kladenets (also mech-kladenets; . ) is a magic

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

Russian fairy tale A Russian fairy tale or folktale (; ''skazka''; plural ) is a fairy tale in Russian culture. Various sub-genres of ''skazka'' exist. A ''volshebnaya skazka'' �олше́бная ска́зка(literally "magical tale") is considered a magical ...

s and ''byliny'' (Russian epic poetry), rendered as "sword of steel", "hidden sword", or "magic sword" in English translations. The "self-swinging sword" or ''mech-samosek'' (also ''mech-samosyok'', . ) is also regarded as equivalent by certain commentators, though others consider them to be distinct.

Etymology

Max Vasmer Max Julius Friedrich Vasmer (; ; 28 February 1886 – 30 November 1962) was a Russian and German linguist. He studied problems of etymology in Indo-European, Finno-Ugric and Turkic languages and worked on the history of Slavic, Baltic, ...

's dictionary defines kladenets as a

modifier Modifier may refer to: * Grammatical modifier, a word that modifies the meaning of another word or limits its meaning ** Compound modifier, two or more words that modify a noun ** Dangling modifier, a word or phrase that modifies a clause in an am ...

designating a "magic sword in Russian tales", and the sword kladenets has been translated "magic sword" in texts. The word "kladenets" can putatively be linked to the Slavic word ''klad'' () "treasure, hoard," although "a number of philologists doubt" that this word-stem figures in the derivation of "

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Russian epithet of this sword". Some sources point out that ''kladenets'' sword, being a treasure, is frequently connected with the motif of being hidden inside a wall, under a rock, or under a sacred tree, waiting to be discovered by the

bogatyr A bogatyr (, ; , ) or vityaz (, ; , ) is a stock character in medieval Bylina, East Slavic legends, akin to a Western European knight-errant. Bogatyrs appear mainly in Kievan Rus', Rus' epic poems—Bylina, ''bylinas''. Historically, they came i ...

hero, and

George Vernadsky George Vernadsky (; August 20, 1887 – June 12, 1973) was a Russian-born American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history. European years Born in Saint Petersburg on August 20, 1887, Vernadsky stemmed from a respectable ...

goes as far as to translate the ''kladenets'' weapon as "the hidden sword". Although Vernadsky fails to elaborate, an alternative etymology connects the term kladenets to ''klast'' () "to lay or put", and his interpretation lies in this camp. One rational explanation derives the word from ''uklad'' 'ny''() "steel" and ''kladenets'' is defined as meaning "made of steel" in the ''Dictionary of the Russian Language'' published by the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

(and later in the ''Dictionary'' of archaic and obsolete words, published by Nauka)., ''Byliny Pechory'' (Slovar' fol'klora ictionary of Folkloreseries, vol. 2), p. 602 Hence some sources render "sword of steel". Another explanation, credited to

Alexander Veselovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Veselovsky () ( in Moscow – in St. Petersburg) was a leading Russian literary theorist who laid the groundwork for comparative literary studies. Life and work A general's son, Veselovsky studied privately with Fy ...

(1888), theorizes that kladenets may be a corrupted pronunciation of Kgl'arentsya or Kgl'adentsya ( or ), the sword of . The Russo- Ukrainian tale of Bova was adapted from the medieval Italian romance of '' Buovo d'Antona'', in which the original sword name is or . This etymology has been endorsed by

's dictionary, under the entry that defines kladenets as a "magic sword in Russian tales", or "magic sword". The corrupted form ''mech-kolunets'' () is also attested.

Attestations

In some versions of the wonder-tale (''

skazka A Russian fairy tale or folktale (; ''skazka''; plural ) is a fairy tale in Russian culture. Various sub-genres of ''skazka'' exist. A ''volshebnaya skazka'' �олше́бная ска́зка(literally "magical tale") is considered a magi ...

'') concerning the ''

'' "

Yeruslan Lazarevich Yeruslan Lazarevich (), also known as Eruslan Lazarevich or, in the Tatar original, Uruslan, is the Russian folk-literature hero of ''The Tale of Eruslane Lazarevic'', which recounts the many military and amorous adventures of a young and beauti ...

", ''mech-kladenets'' is mentioned alongside the Fiery Shield and Flame Spear (; ). The sword is mentioned in passing in the tale ''

Storm-Bogatyr, Ivan the Cow's Son "Storm-Bogatyr, Ivan the Cow's Son" () is a Russian fairy tale (''skazka'') #136 collected by Alexander Afanasyev in ''Narodnye russkie skazki'', categorized as Aarne-Thompson type 300 A and 519. "Blast Bogatyr Ivan the Cow's Son" or "Ivan the C ...

'' (

Afanasyev Afanasyev (masculine; Афанасьев) or Afanasyeva (feminine; Афанасьева) is a Russian last name. It is derived from Afanasy (disambiguation), Afanasy which is etymologically directly connected to Athanasios (Αθανάσιος), a ...

No. 136) but plays no significant role in the tale.

Samosek

While Vernadsky mentions "the self-swung sword" (''mech-samosek'') alongside mech-kladenets as commonplace elements in Russian folktales, he presents the swords as distinct from one another, since the ''kladenets'' sword needs to be wielded by a bogatyr. Other sources however, present these two swords (''mech-kladenets'' and ''mech-samosek'') as equivalent, for example, a mythology dictionary with Yeleazar M. Meletinsky as supervising editor. The reasoning is not well-clarified, but this dictionary explains its view that ''kladenets'' (treasure) is often connected with the motif of being hidden inside a wall, and in the tale example it gives, the "Tale of the City of Babylon" (''Skazanie o Vaviloné grade'' ), the ''samosek''-sword is also called "Asp The Serpent" (), and it was ordered hidden inside the wall by the sword's owner,

Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...

.. Elsewhere, the self-swinging sword under command of St. George beheads a

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

tsar.

Explanatory notes

References

Bibliography