The SWORD of the CAROLINGIANS

Vyacheslav Molodin

Having levered up the sword with the blade of a digging knife, I raised it slightly; then, holding it by the hilt and sharpened end, I lifted the weighty sword from the ground. Of course, I had seen such objects in museums and in books on archaeology, but it was the first time I was holding such a sword in my own hands: the sword looked as if it had come from a Russian folk tale about epic heroes. Besides, everything I had seen before was preserved much worse than our find. Slowly, I turned the sword in my hands. On the hilt and in the center of the blade, there glittered silver specks, showing through the rust…

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