Further Discussion on the Oath of the Rus… (Responding to D.V. Puzanov)

Abstract

This article is a response to the criticism by D.V. Puzanov. The main arguments and counterarguments are summarized. New evidence is provided in favor of the hypothesis that the oaths taken by the pagan Rus and the Greeks to ratify the agreements between them assumed that the oath breakers would be magically slayed by their own “animated” weapons. This is because the Scandinavians, including the Rus, believed that their weapons were “alive” and capable of “reviving” or “dying” regardless of the owner’s desire. The images of the Scandinavian ornaments with “living” weapons acting independently of their owners are analyzed. Through a number of examples, the practical attitude of the Scandinavians to their faith is shown: they treated the gods as partners in a kind of agreement about divine help. References are provided to the historiographical sources that support the idea of animation of weapons in the Scandinavian and Rus cultures, in which weapons appeared as living creatures with their life paths and destinies, as well as capable of physical action, “reviving”, and “dying”.