Aldrachi Warblades(English: Aldrachi Warblades) - a powerful weapon forged from crystals of a mysterious mineral that was mined from the depths of the earth by the Aldrachi. Among these people, martial skills were especially valued, and war blades, capable of drawing out the souls of fallen enemies, were considered the most prestigious weapons. One of the owners of the blades was the Aldrachi Toranaar, who killed his own brother for their sake. When the Burning Legion began war against the Aldrachi, Toranaar destroyed thousands of demons and absorbed their souls into his blades. Sargeras personally entered the battle to destroy Toranaar and took his weapon, which was infused with souls.

By the beginning of the new invasion of the Burning Legion on Azeroth, the owner of the blades of Toranaar became Kariya the Fel Soul - a demon hunter who had joined the service of the Legion and received an artifact from Kil'jaeden. The Illidari wanted to take revenge on the traitor and take possession of her weapon. After a long search, they managed to track down Kariya on the Shattered shore, where she was going to perform a ritual and destroy her.The new owner of the warblades was an experienced demon hunter, who took the position of leader of the Illidari in the absence of Illidan Stormrage.

Creation

Warblades were incredibly prestigious weapons among the Aldrachi people and were valued far more than treasures or titles. They were created from rare crystals that were found deep underground. The crystals consisted of an amazing mineral with many unique properties, and the most valuable among them was the ability to absorb the souls of the dead. Blacksmiths used highly guarded technologies to enchant crystals and forge blades from them. The weapon gained the ability to absorb the souls of everyone who was killed by it. Each soul absorbed filled the blades with new powers. Among the Aldrachi, ancient blades were known that contained thousands of souls, and such weapons were revered no less than their owner.

The history of war blades that still survive today is associated with the Aldrachi Toranaar. Like other children of his people, he was forced to begin training in military craft immediately after taking the first step. Toranaar and his older brother came from a long line of respected warriors. The brother had already achieved significant success and fame, which is why much was expected from Toranaar. Years of hard training and trials turned his younger brother into a powerful fighter, and all this time he dreamed of one day taking possession of the war blades.

Aldrachi training culminated in a test in which commanders randomly selected an experienced warrior to fight the candidate. The battle continued until one of them died. When Toranaar entered the arena to fight, he met his elder brother, who held sparkling war blades in his hands. Even family ties did not force Toranaar to give up his dream. The battle lasted almost a day, and both warriors were badly wounded when Toranaar was able to disarm his brother. He grabbed the war blades and plunged them into his opponent's chest so that they would absorb his soul.

Legion Weapons

Toranaar had achieved incredible success by the time demons began attacking the Aldrachi on the orders of Sargeras. The fallen titan wanted to weaken them and turn them into his servants. But the Aldrachi successfully held off the invasion: each of them destroyed a hundred demons before dying. Toranaar fought with the greatest ferocity, clutching his weapon in his hands. The song of his blades rose above the cries of battle, and they destroyed everything in their path. Every time Toranaar killed demons, it seemed that he was filled with new strength and power. He was an army in himself.

Sargeras realized that the Aldrachi were too proud to serve him, and decided to destroy this people. The fallen titan personally entered the battle with Toranaar. It is said that the warblades were able to shed the blood of Sargeras before the brave Aldrachi was destroyed. The Blades of Toranaar contained the power of the thousands of demons they slain, and Sargeras took them with him. It took a long time before the blades received a new owner. Kil'jaeden gave them to Kariya the Felsoul, a demon hunter who betrayed the Illidari and began to serve the Burning Legion. Kariya was supposed to turn the power of this incredible weapon against the inhabitants of Azeroth with the beginning of a new demonic invasion.

Receipt

The source of information in this section is the supplement Legion to World of Warcraft.

When the new Illidari leader found himself in Dalaran, transported to the Broken Isles, Kor'vas Bloodthorn found him and asked him to arrive at Krasus's Playground as quickly as possible. Here the demon hunter met with his assistant, who explained that the order had relied on Lord Illidan for too long ", defeating the best warriors of the Legion. Without Illidan, the Illidari were weaker, but they would have a chance to solve this problem. The assistant suggested that the leader choose one of the famous artifacts, which the order would search for.

The Illidari leader became interested in the story of the Aldrachi Warblades, which once belonged to the strongest warrior of the Aldrachi people who refused to join the Burning Legion. Sargeras personally destroyed this warrior and took possession of his war blades. They now belonged to the demon hunter Kariya, who betrayed the Illidari to serve the Legion. The assistant feared that Kariya was becoming more and more powerful, taking souls with the help of her artifact.

Intercom

Hearing that the leader wanted to take possession of the blades of the Aldrachi, the assistant said that a detachment of Illidari, led by Allari the Soul Eater, had already gone in search of Kariya, but so far there had been no news from them. Jace Darkweaver was busy repairing the Legion's intercom, and all that remained was to find a power source for it. The assistant asked the leader to meet with Khadgar and ask him if the Archmage could obtain a power source for the Illidari.

The hero went to the Violet Citadel and found Khadgar there along with the rest of the Council of Six. Khadgar introduced the demon hunter to his colleagues and stated that he was ready to help him in confronting the Legion. Upon hearing about the power source, Khadgar thought for a moment and replied that he seemed to have an item that would do the job. Together with the demon hunter, Khadgar went up to his chests and, rummaging through them, pulled out a crystallized soul. Such crystals did not have a very good effect on creatures of a non-demonic nature, and the Archmage gave it to the Illidari without regret. From the depths of the crystal came faint echoes of screams.

Khadgar asked the demon hunter to promise that nothing in Dalaran would explode due to the use of the crystal. He also noted that the intercom was made by the Legion, which meant there was a non-zero chance of intercepting messages exchanged between the Illidari. The leader of the order took the crystal and returned to Krasus's Playground, where Jace Dark Weaver was waiting for him. Looking at the soul, Jace declared that it would be perfect for powering the device. The leader charged the demon device with energy and tried to find Allari's squad.

When Allari's illusion appeared in the device, Jace asked if she had managed to find the blades. Through the static, Allari replied that Kariya was on the Broken Shore and that the demon hunters were facing heavy resistance. It seemed that Allari was fighting against demons right now. The connection was interrupted and Jace announced that the news was bad. At least the Order found out where Allari's squad was located.

Broken Shore

The aide called the Chapter leader over to say that they could not land on the Broken Shore, where the enemy had air superiority. The operation was to be taken over by the leader, who was the most experienced warrior. The assistant reminded that the main target was the Aldrachi Warblades. If necessary, Allari and her squad were ready to sacrifice their lives just to kill Kariya and get the artifact. The leader jumped onto the felbat and flew towards the Broken Shore.

He descended on an island located west of the Broken Shore, noticing many demon corpses that indicated the presence of the Illidari. Nearby, the hero discovered Allari the Eater of Souls, chained to one of the pillars with Fel chains. The leader freed Allari, but she was too injured to join him. Allari reported that Kariya left her to die here, and promised to catch up with the hero at the first opportunity. The leader left Allari to regain strength and headed deeper into the island.

Kariya Felsoul sensed his arrival and shouted that such a lowlife should not have come to the Broken Ridge. The hero saw two portals opened by the Legion and immediately destroyed them to stop the arrival of the demons. The doomsayer Ak'vesh tried to protect the portals, but the Illidari leader dealt with him. Kariya promised that she would smash the entire gorge into dust if necessary, and turned to the two eredar who served her.

Allari managed to regain her strength and caught up with the hero. The two demon hunters were surrounded by the dead bodies of their brethren and Argent Crusade foot soldiers. Allari noticed that souls were torn out of their bodies while they were still alive. The Eredar who served Kariya were twins who united their life forces through magic. They tried to summon a powerful demon and managed to do this before the Illidari destroyed them. The huge ruler of the underworld, Gorgonnash, responded to the call and proclaimed that Kariya must complete the ritual and that no one would interfere with her. The hero, together with Allari, managed to deal with him. Although Allari was wounded again, she promised to clear a way out of the island while the leader dealt with Kariya.

Battle with Kariya

The hero used ghostly vision and discovered demons hiding in the cave behind the collapse. Guessing that this trail would lead to Kariya, the demon hunter destroyed the collapse and entered the underground temple. After fighting his way through the demon squads, he reached the traitor and saw that she was summoning Aldrachi Deathbringers using her war blades. Kariya screamed that she would consume all the souls of Azeroth when the ritual was completed.

The Illidari leader entered the battle and heard Kariya mention Varedis, who showed her the true path. It was because of him that she decided to serve the Legion and gain new powers from the demons. Kariya tried to tear the soul out of the hero’s body with the help of an artifact and even created several fragments of the soul, but was still destroyed. Dying, she whispered that rebirth was waiting. As the hero raised his Aldrachi Warblades, Allari rode a felbat through the rift above and reported that Legion reinforcements were on the way. The two demon hunters immediately headed back to Dalaran.

Asha Crowsong stated that the warblades looked even more impressive up close. The Illidari regretted that their brethren died on the Broken Ridge, but understood that they gave their lives for a worthy cause. Kor "vas Bloody Thorn said that during the absence of the leader, the Illidari set up a camp near the Krasus Site, so that it would be more convenient to monitor the movements of the Legion. The hero went to the camp and met with Jace Dark Weaver. He said that thanks to the artifact it is possible to create a stable portal to The Fel Hammer, which was still located on Mardum, and bring the ship into full combat readiness.The Cursed Forge of the Nathrezim was discovered on the Fel Hammer, thanks to which the hero was able to endow his blades with new powers.

December 1st, 2015

Even deadlier Russian weapons

Today, 11:01,

Moscow is considering sending approximately 10-12 more Sukhoi Su-30SM and Su-27SM3 fighters to its airbase in Latakia, whose task will include combat escort of bombers, as reported Russian newspaper"Kommersant". In addition, last week Russia sent powerful S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems and the Moskva missile cruiser to the region. As a result of the plane incident, the Russians also imposed a series of economic sanctions against Turkey.

Sending additional military equipment is not a surprise, since the Russians have stated that Russian bombers will fly combat missions exclusively under the cover of fighter aircraft. “All strike aviation activities will be carried out only under the cover of fighters,” Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy, a senior representative of the Russian General Staff, said on November 25. Russia does not have enough fighter jets in the Syrian theater to carry out these missions, so it could have been assumed in advance that it would deploy additional fighter aircraft there.

Meanwhile, the Russians began equipping all their air combat aircraft with interception capabilities. “Today, for the first time, Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers flew on a mission not only with OFAB-500 aerial bombs and KAB-500 adjustable aerial bombs, but also with short- and medium-range air-to-air missiles. The aircraft are equipped with missiles for defense,” - Russian Air Force spokesman Colonel Igor Klimov told Russian state internet portal Sputnik that the missiles are “equipped with homing heads and are capable of hitting air targets at a distance of up to 60 kilometers,” he added.

Judging by Klimov's statement, the Su-34 will be armed with one of the variants of the very powerful short-range missile with an infrared deflectable homing head, the R-73, as well as the R-27R1 and R-27ER1 missiles with a semi-active radar homing head. All of them were developed at Vympel Design Bureau.

Russian fighters observed in Syria, including the modern Su-30SM, are, for reasons that are not entirely clear, armed with rather old R-27 missiles, and not the much more effective R-77 with an active radar homing head. Perhaps the Russian Air Force decided to purchase modern aircraft, but neglected to purchase the appropriate weapons systems to equip them - which often happens in air force different countries peace.

Fighter aircraft and systems sent to Syria Air defense will help protect Russian strike aircraft, and at the same time, the military hopes to gain real-world experience combat use new weapons. According to a Kommersant source from the Russian General Staff, Moscow initially planned to deploy the older S-300PS or S-300PMU systems in Syria, but the incident with the Su-24 gave it the opportunity to send the S-400 to Syria to test it in “real world conditions.” conditions."

Likewise, the modernized Su-27SM3 is being used in combat for the first time. Unlike other variants of the Su-27, this vehicle is a modification of the initial version, which was already in service with the Soviet and Russian Air Forces. Some of the vehicles are new builds from those intended for export to China, but most of the Russian Su-27SM3 have old Soviet airframes, the structure of which has been strengthened in accordance with modern standards.

The Su-27SM aircraft, similar in technology to the Su-35S, has a reinforced airframe, a modernized glass cockpit, new system Electronic warfare and a whole range of new weapons. This heavily modernized aircraft also boasts improved data transmission systems and a new radar, the exact type of which is unknown. Some sources suggest that the aircraft uses the Su-35 Irbis-E passive phased array radar, although it is unclear whether the Su-27 can accommodate that kind of weight and provide enough power. Rather, this aircraft is equipped with an N001VEP electronically scanned radar. The Su-27SM3 is equipped with AL-31F-M1 engines, which make the structure somewhat heavier.

It is unclear when these 10-12 additional Russian fighter jets will arrive in Syria. Meanwhile, another Russian plane recently flew into Israeli airspace, but the incident was resolved peacefully without causing a major diplomatic spat. Presumably, the Russian plane entered Israeli airspace by about a kilometer, but “was immediately corrected through communication channels.”

“Russian planes are not going to attack us, so there is no need to automatically shoot them down even if some mistake is made,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said, as reported by the Guardian.

Ya'alon also said the Russians notify Israel in advance when they plan to operate near its airspace. “We do not interfere with their actions and do not participate in them as a matter of principle; in the same way, they do not prevent us from flying and acting in accordance with our interests,” the minister noted.

Here you"ll find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to World of Warcraft: Legion. Some of the hotfixes below take effect the moment they were implemented, while others may require scheduled realm restarts to go into effect. Please keep in mind that some issues cannot be addressed without a client-side patch update. This list will be updated as additional hotfixes are applied.

Additional information about the expansion can be found below.

October 3

Hotfixes

Mage
- Splitting Ice should now cause Glacial Spike to damage the secondary target for 80% of the damage dealt to the primary target, as intended.
Monk
- Stagger now delays 40% of damage taken (was 35%), and now quickly fades after leaving combat.
Shaman
- (Restoration) The Artifact trait Tidal Pools will now correctly heal all areas when multiple Tidal Pools are active at once.
Warlock
- Shadowflame's damage over time can now critically strike.
Warrior
- Shield Slam now generates 20 Rage (was 10).
- Ignore Pain’s maximum absorption has been reduced by 33%.
- Inspiring Presence no longer stacks on players who have multiple Warriors present.

Dungeons and Raids

(All dungeon and raid hotfixes will take effect with realm restarts in each region.)

Black Rook Hold
- Mythic Keystone target time increased to 38 minutes (was 35 minutes).
Eye of Azshara
- Mythic Keystone target time decreased to 35 minutes (was 36 minutes).
Maw of Souls
- Mythic Keystone target time decreased to 24 minutes (was 25 minutes).
Neltharion's Lair
- Mythic Keystone target time decreased to 33 minutes (was 35 minutes).
Emerald Nightmare
- Vantus Runes can now be used in Mythic Emerald Nightmare.
- Il'gynoth
  - On Mythic difficulty, Il’gynoth’s health has been increased by 200%, but loses one-third of that value each time the Eye of Il’gynoth is defeated.
  - On Mythic difficulty, each Nightmare Explosion now deals 20% more damage to the Eye of Il’gynoth.
    - Developers’ Notes: A common strategy for Mythic Il’gynoth involved using raid compositions that focus on maximizing burst damage to complete the encounter in a single phase. This approach removes huge portions of the encounter and can overly favor a specific set of classes and specializations, causing negative social pressures in groups that have yet to reach this encounter. These changes ensure that raid groups must enter Il’gynoth’s core twice in order to complete the encounter on Mythic difficulty, but offset that change by speeding up the process of destroying the Eye to shorten the overall length of the encounter.

Professions

Enchanting
- Crafted items that upgrade to epic quality should now disenchant into Leylight Shards or Chaos Crystals.

Shaman Totems will no longer take unintended extra damage from players.

Players are now able to turn in “Ritual Ruination” to Calydus in Dreadscar Rift if they don’t take the portal out of the scenario.

September 30

Hotfixes

Legion Companion App

Fixed a bug in iOS 10 that caused notification badge numbers to not clear.
The Login button now goes to your character list when possible.
The Account Selection button starts a new login with Battle.net.
The World Quest icon now shows additional info when using a filter.
Fixed a bug that sometimes made it appear that a 100%+ mission failed.

Warlock
- Unstable Affliction's dispel kickback damage is now capped at 50% of the Warlock's maximum health, but can still critically strike.
- Destruction Warlocks that are stuck on the final Artifact acquisition quest "Ritual Ruination" should now find it easier to get through all obstacles. Any Warlock that has the Artifact, but is stuck on a quest objective, can return to Dalaran to get full credit for the quest.

Class Halls

New work orders for Seals of Broken Fate will now have a shipment duration of 5 seconds.

Dungeons and Raids

Assault on Violet Hold
- The final encounters in Heroic and Mythic Violet Hold should now be properly reflected in your Statistics page upon completion.
Darkheart Ticket
- (Mythic difficulty) Oakheart should no longer reset once awoken.
Emerald Nightmare
- Xavius
  - Dead players should no longer become stuck if they release their spirit during the teleport to The Emerald Dream after defeating Xavius.

Augment Runes will now function in Mythic Keystone dungeons.

Professions

Fishing
- Black Barracuda Angling (Rank 3) should now correctly grant a chance to provide an instant pool catch.
- Fish that are instantly caught from the Black Barracuda Angling trait are now selected from fishing pools, rather than open water fishing.
Herbalism
- The droprate for seeds has been reduced to 2.5% for all herbs, except Felwort, which remains at a 25% chance to loot a seed.

Ashran
- All methods of turning in Artifact Fragments should now correctly reward honor at a rate of 1 honor for every 2 Artifact Fragments.
The Rated PvP gear weekly bonus rewards are now based on the player's PvP Rating for 2v2, 3v3, and Rated Battlegrounds.
- Developers’ Notes: Currently, rated PvP is always rewarding item level 840 gear, regardless of rating. That is not our intent. We want to correct this as quickly as possible, but don’t want to inadvertently punish players who have already collected their weekly bonus chests. This fix will be implemented with the next weekly realm maintenance (A.M. PDT on Tuesday, October 4 for North American realms).

These Suramar World Quests now correctly award Nightfallen reputation beyond Honored: “The Shattered Locus”, “Clear the Skies”, “Left for Dead”, and “Fiends of Tel"anor”.
(Work in progress) Addressed multiple issues with the World Quest "Electrosnack" regarding tapping and some cosmetic elements.
Players who would have otherwise died to falling damage in the Withered Army Training scenario should now be reduced to 1 hp. First Arcanist Thalyssra will now port you back to the front of the ruins.
World Quests completed with a Combat Ally will once more correctly award experience to the Follower.

September 28

Hotfixes

The ground mount speed bonus from Broken Isles Pathfinder now stacks with the passive class bonuses On a Pale Horse and Heart of Crusader.

Death Knight

Multiple Unholy Death Knights with the Armies of the Damned artifact trait can now have their Death, Pestilence, and Famine debuffs applied at the time.

Soothing Mist is no longer interrupted by Spirit Tether.
(Brewmaster) Set bonuses for the Battlewrap of the Hurricane’s Eye (Tier 18) have been adjusted:
- 2 pieces: Increases the chance for your Gift of the Ox to summon a Healing Sphere by 2% (was 5%).
- 4-pieces: Every time you gather a Healing Sphere, the remaining cooldowns of your Ironskin Brew and Purifying Brew are reduced by 1 second (was 5 seconds).

Shadow Dance should now be useable and should not be canceled when the Rogue is affected by an enemy Hunter's Flare.

Lava Beam damage increased by 23%.
(Restoration) The artifact trait Tidal Pools will now correctly heal all areas when multiple Tidal Pools are active at once.

Seed of Corruption will now properly detonate and spread if the target dies while still affected.
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Agony to not stack or generate Soul Shards.
(Demonology) The Artifact ability Thal"kiel"s Consumption will no longer sometimes fail to do damage because the target moves out of range.
(Destruction) The Artifact ability Dimensional Rift will no longer spawn portals that are out of range to do damage to your target.

Class Halls

Pet Charm missions now provide Pet Charms for both the main reward and the bonus reward.

Dungeons and Raids

Players should receive bonus roll opportunities more reliably if they are eligible for them.

The Emerald Nightmare

Immunities can no longer remove Darkening Soul or Blackening Soul. Dispelling either effect with an Imp"s Singe Magic will give the owning Warlock +25 Nightmare Corruption.

Cloak of Fel Flames now correctly reduce magic damage taken by 15% when immolation aura is active.
Shard of the Exodar no longer causes Drums of Fury to unaffected by Exhaustion/Sated effects.
Ancient Mana Gems and Ancient Mana Crystals now stack to 5.
Loot-a-rang should no longer break hostile players" stealth.

Players can now get credit and be able to bonus roll for world bosses if they are up to 200 yards away when it dies.
A number of questgivers’ pets are no longer critter-type creatures.

During “Leyhollow Infestation”, players now only drop the rock when taking damage or attacking, not when entering combat, and player speed is only reduced by 50% when carrying a rock (was 75% reduced speed).
Fixed a rare bug that could cause Guardian Druids to not obtain credit for killing Arch-Desecrator Malithar during "When Dreams Become Nightmares".
Tomes of the Tranquil Mind obtained from "In the Blink of an Eye" are now Bind-on-pickup.

September 26

Hotfixes

Developer’s Notes: After carefully considering the constructive feedback we’ve received over the weekend, we’ve made some revisions to this week’s tuning. The class changes listed in this hotfix update, as well as those from the previous update will be applied during weekly maintenance in each region. Note that several changes from the previous update have been altered or removed, which is indicated by a strikethrough in the notes below.

Demon Hunter

Havoc
- Bloodlet (Talent) now deals 150% of initial Throw Glaive damage.

Arcane
- Quickening (Talent)’s maximum stacks are now 50, and it will not refresh its duration once at 50 stacks.

Shadow
- Mind Sear damage increased by 80% and Insanity generation increased by 50%.
- Mind Flay damage increased by 20%.
- Mind Spike damage increased by 28%.
- Void Ray maximum stacks reduced to 4.
  - Developers’ Notes: Given the damage increase to Mind Sear, Mind Flay, and Mind Spike, this still results in an overall increase to the value of the talent.
- Voidform stacks no longer increase while Dispersion is active.
  - Developers’ Notes: We would prefer that Surrender to Madness not be as dominant as it is, and that it can’t be extended for quite so long. However, addressing this further would require significant changes to the spec beyond what we want to do in a tuning pass at this time. We will look for an opportunity to take a more comprehensive look at this issue in a future patch.

Queen Ascendant (Artifact trait) is no longer consumed when a queued healing spell is immediately triggered.

Fixed a bug that prevented Rain of Fire from always doing all 8 ticks of damage on PvE and PvP targets.

Arms
- Tactician proc rate increased by 15%.
- Hamstring no longer procs Tactician.
- Exploit the Weakness (Artifact Trait) bonus reduced to 4% per point.

Suramar NPCs should no longer remove a player’s stealth at the start of their Arcane Investigation casting.
Interacting with Nomi should now take priority when his area is crowded.

Professions

Engineering: The Reaves version of the Failure Detection Pylon should now work properly.

Strike from the Shadows is now a snare, instead of a daze.

September 23

Hotfixes

Achievements

Broken Isles Pathfinder Rank 1 now properly displays the amount of the mounted speed increase.

4 272

The sword has always been the weapon of the nobility. The knights treated their blades as comrades in battle, and, having lost his sword in battle, a warrior covered himself with indelible shame. Among the glorious representatives of this type of bladed weapon there is also its own “nobility” - famous blades, which, according to legend, have magical properties, for example, putting enemies to flight and protecting their owner. There is some truth in such tales - an artifact sword by its very appearance could inspire the companions of its owner. We present to you 12 of the most famous deadly relics in history.

Sword in the Stone

Many people remember the legend of King Arthur, which tells how he plunged his sword into a stone to prove his right to the throne. Despite the complete fantastic nature of this story, it may be based on real events that only occurred much later than the estimated reign of the legendary king of the Britons.

In the Italian chapel of Monte Siepi there is kept a block with a blade firmly embedded in it, which, according to some sources, belonged to the Tuscan knight Galliano Guidotti, who lived in the 12th century.

According to legend, Guidotti had a bad temper and led a rather dissolute lifestyle, so one day the Archangel Michael appeared to him and urged him to take the path of serving the Lord, that is, to become a monk. Laughing, the knight declared that going to the monastery would be as difficult for him as cutting a stone, and to confirm his words, he forcefully struck a boulder lying nearby with his blade. The Archangel showed the stubborn man a miracle - the blade easily entered the stone, and the amazed Galliano left it there, after which he embarked on the path of correction and was later canonized, and the fame of his sword, which pierced the stone, spread throughout Europe.

Having subjected the block and sword to radiocarbon analysis, an employee of the University of Pavia, Luigi Garlaschelli, discovered that some part of this story may well be true: the age of the stone and sword is about eight centuries, that is, it coincides with the life of Signor Guidotti.

Kusanagi no Tsurugi

This mythical sword has been a symbol of power for several centuries. japanese emperors. Kusanagi no tsurugi (translated from Japanese as “sword that mows grass”) is also known as Ame-nomurakumo no tsurugi - “sword that collects the clouds of heaven.”

The Japanese epic says that the sword was found by the wind god Susanoo in the body of an eight-headed dragon he killed. Susanoo gave the blade to his sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, later it ended up with her grandson Ninigi, and after some time it went to the demigod Jimmu, who then became the first emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun.

It is interesting that the Japanese authorities never put the sword on public display, but, on the contrary, tried to hide it away from prying eyes - even during coronations the sword was carried out wrapped in linen. It is believed to be kept at the Atsuta Shinto shrine in Nagoya, but there is no evidence of its existence.

The only ruler of Japan to publicly mention the sword was Emperor Hirohito: giving up the throne after the country's defeat in World War II, he called on the temple servants to keep the sword at all costs.

Durendal

For centuries, parishioners of the Not-Dame chapel, located in the city of Rocamadour, could see a sword stuck in the wall, which, according to legend, belonged to Roland himself, a hero of medieval epics and legends who existed in reality.

According to legend, he threw his magic blade while protecting the chapel from the enemy, and the sword remained in the wall. Attracted by these tales of the monks, numerous pilgrims flocked to Rocamadour, who retold the story of Roland's sword to each other, and thus the legend spread throughout Europe.

However, according to scientists, the sword in the chapel is not the legendary Durandal, with which Roland terrified his enemies. The famous knight of Charlemagne died on August 15, 778 in a battle with the Basques in the Roncesvalles Gorge, located hundreds of kilometers from Rocamadour, and rumors about “Durandal” lodged in the wall began to appear only in the middle of the 12th century, almost simultaneously with writing "The Song of Roland". The monks simply associated Roland's name with the sword to ensure a steady stream of worshipers. But rejecting the version about Roland as the owner of the blade, experts cannot offer anything in return - who it belonged to will probably remain a mystery.

By the way, now the sword is not in the chapel - in 2011 it was removed from the wall and sent to the Paris Museum of the Middle Ages. It is also interesting that in French the word "Durandal" is feminine, so Roland probably felt not friendly affection for his sword, but real passion and could hardly throw his beloved against the wall.

Bloodthirsty Blades of Muramasa

Muramasa is a famous Japanese swordsman and blacksmith who lived in the 16th century. According to legend, Muramasa prayed to the gods to imbue his blades with bloodthirstiness and destructive power. The master made very good swords, and the gods respected his request, placing a demonic spirit of extermination of all living things in each blade.

It is believed that if the Muramasa sword gathers dust for a long time without use, it can provoke the owner to commit murder or suicide in order to “drink” blood in this way. There are countless stories of Muramasa sword wielders who went crazy or slaughtered many people. After a series of accidents and murders that occurred in the family of the famous shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, which popular rumor associated with Muramasa's curse, the government outlawed the master's blades, and most of them were destroyed.

To be fair, it must be said that the Muramasa school is an entire dynasty of gunsmiths that lasted for about a century, so the story of the “demonic spirit of bloodthirstiness” embedded in swords is nothing more than a legend. The curse of the blades made by the masters of the school was, paradoxically as it may sound, their exceptional quality. Many experienced warriors preferred them to other swords and, apparently, thanks to their art and the sharpness of Muramasa’s blades, they won victories more often than others.

Honjo Masamune

Unlike the bloodthirsty swords of Muramasa, the blades made by the master Masamune, according to legend, endowed warriors with calmness and wisdom. According to legend, in order to find out whose blades were better and sharper, Muramasa and Masamune dipped their swords into a river with lotuses. The flowers revealed the essence of each of the masters: the blade of Masamune’s sword did not inflict a single scratch on them, because his blades cannot harm the innocent, and Muramasa’s product, on the contrary, seemed to be striving to cut the flowers into small pieces, justifying its reputation.

Of course, this is pure fiction - Masamune lived almost two centuries earlier than the gunsmiths of the Muramasa school. However, Masamune swords are truly unique: the secret of their strength has not yet been revealed, even using the latest technologies and research methods.

All surviving blades of the master's work are national treasures of the Land of the Rising Sun and are carefully protected, but the best of them, Honjo Masamune, was given to American soldier Colde Bimor after the surrender of Japan in World War II, and its whereabouts are currently unknown. The government of the country is trying to find a unique blade, but so far, alas, in vain.

Joyeuse

The Joyeuse blade (translated from the French “joyeuse” - “joyful”), according to legend, belonged to the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne, and served him faithfully for many years. According to legend, he could change the color of the blade up to 30 times a day and outshine the Sun with its brightness. Currently, there are two blades that the famous monarch could wield.

One of them, used for many years as a coronation sword French kings, is kept in the Louvre, and for hundreds of years the controversy has not subsided as to whether Charlemagne’s hand actually squeezed its handle. Radiocarbon dating proves that this cannot be true: the surviving old part of the sword exhibited in the Louvre (over the past hundreds of years it has been remade and restored more than once) was created between the 10th and 11th centuries, after the death of Charlemagne (the emperor died in 814). Some believe that the sword was made after the destruction of the real Joyeuse and is an exact copy of it, or that it contains part of the "Joyful".

The second contender for belonging to the legendary king is the so-called saber of Charlemagne, now located in one of the museums in Vienna. Experts differ regarding the time of its manufacture, but many admit that it could still have belonged to Charles: he probably captured the weapon as a trophy during one of his campaigns in Eastern Europe. Of course, this is not the famous Joyeuse, but, nevertheless, the saber has no price as a historical artifact.

Sword of Saint Peter

There is a legend that the blade, part of the museum's exhibition Polish city Poznan is nothing more than the sword with which the Apostle Peter cut off the ear of the high priest's servant during the arrest of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. This sword was brought to Poland in 968 by Bishop Jordan, who assured everyone that the blade belonged to Peter. Adherents of this myth believe that the sword was forged at the beginning of the 1st century somewhere on the eastern outskirts of the Roman Empire

Most researchers, however, are confident that the weapon was made much later than the events described in the Bible, this is confirmed by an analysis of the metal from which the sword and the falchion-type blade were smelted - such swords simply were not made in the time of the apostles, they appeared only in the 11th century .

Wallace's sword

According to legend, Sir William Wallace, a military commander and leader of the Scots in the struggle for independence from England, after winning the Battle of Stirling Bridge, covered the hilt of his sword with the skin of the treasurer, Hugh de Cressingham, who was collecting taxes for the English. One must think that the unfortunate treasurer had to endure many terrible moments before his death, because in addition to the hilt, Wallace made a scabbard and a sword belt from the same material.

According to another version of the legend, Wallace made only a sword belt from leather, but it is incredibly difficult to say anything for sure now, because at the request of King James IV of Scotland, the sword was redesigned - the old worn finish of the sword was replaced with one more befitting of this great artifact.

Probably, Sir William could really decorate his weapon with the skin of the treasurer: as a patriot of his country, he hated traitors who collaborated with the occupiers. However, there is another opinion - many believe that the story was invented by the British to create the image of a bloodthirsty monster for the fighter for Scottish independence. We will most likely never know the truth.

Goujian Sword

In 1965, in one of the ancient Chinese tombs, archaeologists found a sword on which, despite the dampness that had surrounded it for many years, there was not a single spot of rust - the weapon was in excellent condition, one of the scientists even cut his finger when checking the sharpness blades. Having carefully studied the find, experts were surprised to note that it was at least 2.5 thousand years old.

According to the most common version, the sword belonged to Goujian, one of the vans (rulers) of the kingdom of Yue during the Spring and Autumn period. Researchers believe that this particular blade was mentioned in a lost work on the history of the kingdom. According to one legend, Goujian considered this sword to be the only worthwhile weapon in his collection, and another legend says that the sword is so beautiful that it could only be created by the joint efforts of Earth and Heaven.

The sword was perfectly preserved solely thanks to the art of ancient Chinese gunsmiths: the blade was made using a stainless alloy invented by them, and the scabbard of this weapon fit so tightly to the blade that air access to it was practically blocked.

Seven-pronged sword

This unusually beautiful blade was discovered in 1945 at the Isonokami-jingu Shinto shrine (Tenri, Japan). The sword is strikingly different from the usual edged weapons from the Land of the Rising Sun, first of all, in the complex shape of the blade - it has six bizarre branches, and the seventh, obviously, was considered the tip of the blade - therefore the found weapon received the name Nanatsusaya-no-tachi (translated . from Japanese - “Seven-toothed sword”).

The sword was stored in terrible conditions (which is very uncharacteristic for the Japanese), so its condition leaves much to be desired. There is an inscription on the blade, according to which the ruler of Korea gave this weapon to one of the Chinese emperors.

A description of exactly the same blade is found in Nihon Shoki, the oldest work on the history of Japan: according to legend, the seven-pronged sword was presented as a gift to the semi-mythical Empress Jingu.

Having carefully studied the sword, experts came to the conclusion that, most likely, this is the same legendary artifact, since the estimated time of its creation coincides with the events described in the Nihon Shoki, in addition, it also mentions the Isonokami-jingu shrine, so the relic was just lying there there for more than 1.5 thousand years until she was found.

Tisona

The weapon that belonged to the legendary Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, better known as El Cid Campeador, is now located in the cathedral of the city of Burgos and is considered a national treasure of Spain.

After the death of Sid, the weapon went to the ancestors of the Spanish king Ferdinand II of Aragon, and the king who inherited it gave the relic to the Marquis de Falces. The descendants of the Marquis carefully preserved the artifact for hundreds of years, and in 1944, with their permission, the sword became part of the exhibition of the Royal Military Museum in Madrid. In 2007, the owner of the sword sold it to the authorities of the region of Castile and Leon for $2 million, and they transferred it to the cathedral where El Cid is buried.

Employees of the Ministry of Culture were offended by the sale of the sword, and they began to spread information that it was a later fake that had nothing to do with de Vivar. However, a thorough analysis confirmed that although the worn “native” hilt of the weapon was replaced with another in the 16th century, its blade was made in the 11th century, that is, the sword most likely belonged to the hero.

Ulfbert

In our time, such swords have been practically forgotten, but in the Middle Ages, when the word “Ulfbert” was heard, the enemies of the Vikings experienced genuine horror. The honor of possessing such weapons belonged exclusively to the elite of the Scandinavian armed forces, because Ulfberts were much stronger than other swords of that time. Most medieval bladed weapons were cast from brittle low-carbon steel mixed with slag, and the Vikings bought crucible steel for their swords from Iran and Afghanistan, which is much stronger.

Now it is unknown who this Ulfbert was, and whether he was the first to think of creating such swords, but it was his mark that stood on all swords made in Europe from Iranian and Afghan metal. Ulfberts are perhaps the most advanced melee weapon of the early Middle Ages, far ahead of their time. Blades of comparable strength began to be mass produced in Europe only