Evolution of the Handle Covering of Early Medieval Swordsin the Baltic States and Ancient Rus'

The proposed article traces the stages of the evolution of the handle covering of double-edged swords of Western European warriors throughout the first millennium AD. The conclusions obtained in the article are as follows. 1. The tradition of forming the details of double-edged Western European swords of the early Middle Ages goes back to the Roman cavalry (in Byzantium − infantry) spata. An example of this is the preservation of the originally ergonomic detail of the handle design - three transverse ribs. 2. The technique of creating a metal (mostly silver) sleeve on the handle of a spatha from the early Merovingian era is preserved on Byzantine swords (already without transverse ribbing) and most likely survives until the turn of the 11th–12th centuries on prestigious swords in terms of design, granted by basileuses to their Scandinavian and Russian bodyguards. 3. On swords of the Western Balts of the 12th–13th centuries, both metal bushings and wire winding are found.