{{Short description|Magic sword in Russian fairy tales}} thumb|Detail of the painting The Bogatyrs by artist Viktor Vasnetsov depicting the medieval Russian knight Dobrynia Nikititch with a sword. '''Sword Kladenets''' (also '''mech-kladenets'''; {{langx|ru|меч-кладенец}}. {{IPA|ru|mʲetɕ klədʲɪˈnʲets||}}) is a magic sword in Russian fairy tales 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'', {{lang|ru|самосёк}}. {{IPA|ru|səmɐˈsʲɵk||}}) is also regarded as equivalent by certain commentators, though others consider them to be distinct.
==Etymology== Max Vasmer's dictionary defines kladenets as a modifier designating a "magic sword in Russian tales",<ref name="Vasmer 1967 loc=кладенец, Etymological Dictionary, p. 243">{{Harvnb|Vasmer|1967|loc="кладенец," ''Etymological Dictionary'', p. 243}}</ref> and the sword kladenets has been translated "magic sword" in texts.<ref name=burya-bogatyr-haney/>
The word "kladenets" can putatively be linked to the Slavic word ''klad'' ({{lang|ru|клад}}) "treasure, hoard," although "a number of philologists doubt" that this word-stem figures in the derivation of "[this] Russian epithet of this sword".<ref name="vernadsky"/>
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 hero,<ref name="vernadsky"/><ref name=meletinsky/> and George Vernadsky goes as far as to translate the ''kladenets'' weapon as "the hidden sword".<ref>{{harvp|Vernadsky|1959|p=137}}: "..'the hidden sword' (''mech-kladenets'').. this sword is usually represented as hidden under a rock, or under a sacred tree".</ref> Although Vernadsky fails to elaborate, an alternative etymology connects the term kladenets to ''klast{{'}}'' ({{lang|ru|класть}}) "to lay or put",<ref>{{Harvnb|Vasmer|1967|loc="класть," ''Etymological Dictionary'', p. 244}}</ref> and his interpretation lies in this camp.
One rational explanation derives the word from ''uklad''[''ny''] ({{lang|ru|укладъ, укладный}}) "steel" and ''kladenets'' is defined as meaning "made of steel" in the ''Dictionary of the Russian Language'' published by the Russian Academy of Sciences (and later in the ''Dictionary'' of archaic and obsolete words, published by Nauka).<ref name=burya-bogatyr-levchin/><ref>{{harvp|2nd Sect. Imp. Acad. Sci.|1907}}, ''Dictionary of the Russian Language, Volume 4: K–Kampilyt'', p. 917. Quote: "по Слов. Акад. и Д. (Словарь Академіи Наук) означающий булатный, укладный или стальной (According to the Dictionary of the Academy of Sciences, means Bulat steel or steel, or stalwort steel)".</ref><ref name=byliny-pechory-p602>{{harvp|Pushkinsky Dom|2001}}, ''Byliny Pechory'' (Slovar' fol'klora [Dictionary of Folklore] series, vol. '''2'''), p. 602</ref> Hence some sources render "sword of steel".<ref name=burya-bogatyr-levchin/>
Another explanation, credited to Alexander Veselovsky (1888), theorizes that kladenets may be a corrupted pronunciation of Kgl'arentsya or Kgl'adentsya ({{lang|ru|кгляренцыя, кгляренция}} or {{lang|ru|кгляденцыя, кгляденция}}),{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|English romanization is reconstructed from German phoneticizations "kgl'arencyja" and "kgl'adencyja".<ref name=greve/>}} the sword of {{Interlanguage link multi|Bova Korolevich|2=ru|3=Бова Королевич|preserve=1}}.<ref name="veselofsky-AfslPh-09-p310"/> The Russo-Ukrainian tale of Bova was adapted from the medieval Italian romance of ''Buovo d'Antona'', in which the original sword name is {{lang|it|Clarença|italic=no}}<ref name="veselofsky-AfslPh-09-p310"/> or {{lang|it|Chiarenza|italic=no}}.<ref name=burya-bogatyr-levchin/><ref name=buovo-ed-delcornobranca/> This etymology has been endorsed by Max Vasmer's dictionary, under the entry that defines kladenets as a "magic sword in Russian tales",<ref name=burya-bogatyr-levchin/><ref name="Vasmer 1967 loc=кладенец, Etymological Dictionary, p. 243"/> or "magic sword".<ref name=burya-bogatyr-haney/>
The corrupted form '''''mech-kolunets''''' ({{lang|ru|меч-колуне́ц}}) is also attested.<ref name=byliny-pechory-p602/>
==Attestations==
In some versions of the wonder-tale (''skazka'') concerning the ''bogatyr'' "Yeruslan Lazarevich", ''mech-kladenets'' is mentioned alongside the Fiery Shield and Flame Spear ({{lang|ru|Огненный Щит}}; {{lang|ru|Пламенные Копья}}).<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Savushkina |editor-first=Nina Ivanova|editor-link=:ru:Нина Ивановна Савушкина |chapter=Yeruslan Lazarevich |script-chapter=ru:Еруслан Лазаревич |title=Russkiye narodnyye skazki |script-title=ru:Русские народные сказки |publisher=Худож. лит-ра |year=1965 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GtciAAAAMAAJ&q=%22%D0%A1%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BA%D0%B0+%D0%BE%22 |page=274 (260–281)}}</ref><ref>{{citation|editor-last=Korolkova |editor-first=Anna Nikolaevna |editor-link=:ru:Королькова, Анна Николаевна |editor2-last=Pomerantseva |editor2-first=Erna Vasilyevna |editor2-link=Erna Pomérantseva |chapter=Yeruslan Lazarevich |script-chapter=ru:Еруслан Лазаревич (указатель No. 650 ll) |title=Russkiye narodnyye skazki |script-title=ru:Русские народные сказки |publisher=Nauka |year=1969 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFImAAAAMAAJ&q=%D0%9E%D0%B3%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9 |page=57 (47–64)}}, reprinted [https://books.google.com/books?id=oBdGAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PT107 Aegitas] (2014).</ref><!--A variant labeled "указатель No. 931 II" starts on p. 64-->
The sword is mentioned in passing in the tale ''Storm-Bogatyr, Ivan the Cow's Son'' (Afanasyev No. 136) but plays no significant role in the tale.<ref name=burya-bogatyr-haney/><ref name=burya-bogatyr-levchin/>
==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.<ref>{{harvp|Vernadsky|1959|p=137}}: "In Russian folk-lore, 'the self-swung sword' (mech-samosek), as well as 'the hidden sword' (mech-kladenets), is often mentioned."</ref>
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.<ref name=meletinsky/> 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,<ref name=meletinsky/> and in the tale example it gives, the "Tale of the City of Babylon" (''Skazanie o Vaviloné grade'' {{lang|ru|Сказании о Вавилоне-граде}}), the ''samosek''-sword is also called "Asp The Serpent" ({{lang|ru|Аспид-змей}}),<ref name=meletinsky/> and it was ordered hidden inside the wall by the sword's owner, Nebuchadnezzar.<ref>{{citation|last=Melencamp |first=Noble Merrill |title=Foreign and Domestic Policies of Ivan III, 1462-1505 |volume=9 |year=1956|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U1xIAQAAMAAJ&q=Nebuchadnezzar+sword |page=206|quote=According to the narrative, Nebuchadnezzar had been invincible in war owing to his possession of a self-acting sword, which at his death Nebuchadnezzar had ordered immured in the city walls}}.</ref>
Elsewhere, the self-swinging sword under command of St. George beheads a Tatar tsar.<ref name="vernadsky"/>
== See also == * Kusanagi no Tsurugi
==Explanatory notes== {{notelist}}
==References== <references>
<ref name=burya-bogatyr-haney>{{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Afanas'ev|Haney|2015}}|last=Haney |first=Jack V. |chapter=#136. Storm-Bogatyr, Ivan the Cow's Son |title=The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev |volume=1 |location= |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |year=2014 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IQQbBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT401|isbn=9781626743151 }}.</ref> <ref name=burya-bogatyr-levchin>{{cite book|last=Levchin |first=Sergei |chapter=Blast Bogatyr Ivan the Cow's Son |title=Russian Folktales from the Collection of A. Afanasyev: A Dual-Language Book |location=Mineola, New York |publisher=Dover |year=2014 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7XhpAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA153|isbn=9780486782980 }}, p. 157 and note 36.</ref> <ref name=buovo-ed-delcornobranca> {{citation|editor-last= Delcorno Branca |editor-first=Daniela|editor-link=<!--Daniela Delcorno Branca--> |title=Studien über den Roman Buovo d'Antona in Russland |publisher=Carocci |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TJMLAQAAMAAJ&q=Chiarenza |pages=82, 85|isbn=9788843044412 }} </ref> <ref name=greve> {{citation|last=Greve|first=Rita |title=Studien über den Roman Buovo d'Antona in Russland |publisher=In Kommission bei O. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden |year=1956|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chgcAAAAIAAJ&q=%22kgl'adencyja |page=44}}. Cited in {{Harvnb|Vasmer|1967|p=243}}. </ref> <ref name=meletinsky>{{cite encyclopedia|author=А. Ч. |editor-last=Meletinsky |editor-first=Yeleazar M. <!--Е.М Мелетинский-->|editor-link=Yeleazar Meletinsky |chapter=Mech-kladenets |script-chapter=ru:Меч-кладенёц |trans-chapter= |title=Myfologiya |script-title=ru:Мифология |publisher=Большая российская энциклопедия |year=1998 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1iSQAAAAMAAJ&q=%22%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%87+%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4+%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B9%22 |page=364|isbn=9785852702807 }}</ref> <ref name="veselofsky-AfslPh-09-p310"> {{citation|last=Wesselofsky|first=A. |title=Zum russichen Bovo d'Antona |journal=Archiv für slavische Philologie |volume=9 |year=1888|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d9FWAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA310 |page=310|language=de}}. Cited in {{Harvnb|Vasmer|1967|loc="кладенец," ''Etymological Dictionary'', p. 243}} </ref> <ref name="vernadsky"> {{citation|last=Vernadsky|first=George|title=The Origins of Russia|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1959|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cPHTAAAAMAAJ&q=kladenets|page=137}} </ref>
</references>
== Bibliography == *{{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Pushkinsky Dom|2001}}|editor=Institut russkoy literatury (Pushkinsky Dom) Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский дом) |title=Byliny Pechory: Sever Yevropeyskoy Rossii |script-title=ru:Былины Печоры: Север Европейской России |volume=2 |series=Slovar' fol'klora Словарь фольклора |publisher=Nauka|year=2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLJiAAAAMAAJ&q=%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9 |page=602|isbn=9785773501220 }} [http://feb-web.ru/feb/byliny/texts/bl2/bl2-5832.htm e-text] [Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) ed. (2001), ''Pechora Byliny: North European Russia'' (Dictionary of Folklore series, vol. 2), p. 602] {{in lang|ru}} *{{citation|last=Vasmer|first=Max|title=Etimologicheskiy slovar' russkogo yazyka |script-title=ru:Этимологический словарь русского языка |trans-title=Etymological dictionary of the Russian language |volume=2 |year=1967|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RMtJAQAAIAAJ&q=%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%86|pages=243, 244|language=ru}} *{{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|2nd Sect. Imp. Acad. Sci.|1907}}|editor=Vtorym Otdyleniem Imperatoskoy Akademii Nauk Вторымъ Отдѣленіемъ Императорской Академіи Наукъ |title=Slovar' russkago yazyka: K.-Kampilyt |script-title=ru:Словарь русскаго языка: К.-Кампилйтъ |volume=4 |series=Словарь |publisher=Флегон Пресс |year=1906–1907 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XmaWVmEF_GsC&pg=PA917 |page=917}} [Second Section of the Imperial Academies of the Sciences ed. (1907), ''Dictionary of the Russian Language, Volume 4: K–Kampilyt'', p. 917] {{in lang|ru}} {{Notable swords}} {{Slavmyth}}
Category:Russian mythology Category:Medieval European swords Category:Mythological swords Category:Fictional swords