Происхождение клятв русов «оружьем и обручьем»: славянские, германские и кельтские параллели
The origin of ”rings and weapons” oaths of Old Russians: Slavic, Germanic and Celtic parallels

Summary/Abstract: Origin of “rings and weapons” oaths of X century’s Old Russians is considered by comparative analysis of Germanic and Slavic traditions. It was demonstrated that many Slavic peoples used oaths by weapons. For some of them (Serbs, Bulgar- ians, Slovaks, Czechs) it is impossible to explain these oaths by Scandinavian influence. Celts used oaths by weapons too. The comparison between Slavic and Germanic traditions of oaths by weapons demonstrates some essential differences in the key semantic and ritual details. The Old Russian oaths by weapons are closely to Slavic tradition. “Ring oath” exists in Slavic tradition of betrothal. The analysis of linguistic and ethnographic data allows us to suppose the for-Slavic origin of this ring’s oath. Besides, we can think that this is a reminiscence of a previously existed Slavic tradition of “ring oaths” in some other contexts as well. Celts and Romans uses rings in betrothal too; Celts swear by torques. All these facts make us thinking that oaths by rings were common for many Indo-European peoples too. The comparison between Old Russians’ and Germanic oaths by rings shows the important difference too. Namely, Old Russians swear by their own rings taking them off and putting down on the ground. In contrast, Scandinavians (as well as all Germans) swear on sanctuary rings, putting them on for a ritual of oath. It looks like the Old Russians’ “rings and weapons” oath appeared as a result of their longtime contacts with Slavs.

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