Were weapons of the Normans and Rus' 'alive'?

Abstract

Weapons, according to the Northern Germans, could directly influence the world. Many researchers interpret it as evidence that the Normans identified their weapons with living beings. This article shows that the Northern Germans’ beliefs in actor weapons can be better understood through the lens of their deep conviction that any weapon has its “biography”, whereas trying to understand their views based on the idea of “partially animate” weapons is unhelpful. Provided that various material items accumulate their “biography”, one can potentially explain the grounds for the belief in such forms of the activity of weapons that are not related to the features of a living being. For example, an enchanted weapon affects the world by means similar to computer algorithms. The magical properties of a weapon could have been determined by the person who made it. Having been considered as special items, weapons were used to cast spells during the conclusion of international treaties. The historical sources focused on the idea of “weapons coming to life” only reveal that some mythological creatures (gods or magicians) have the power to invisibly control weapons. Therefore, these sources fail to confirm that the Normans and Rus’ believed in “animate” weapons.

Keywords

• rus’
• normans
• weapons
• swords
• magic items
• animals
• international relations
• oath