Mythology of the Caucasus

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For the mythologies and folklore of the various peoples of the Caucasus region see the following pages:

Nart saga

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"Nart" redirects here. For other uses, see Nart (disambiguation).

The Nart sagas (Adyghe: Нартхымэ акъыбарыхэ; Abkhaz: Нарҭаа ражәабжьқәа; Karachay-Balkar: Нарт таурухла; Ossetian: Нарты кадджытæ; Narty kaddžytæ; Chechen: Нарт Аьрштхой) are a series of tales originating from the North Caucasus. They form the basic mythology of the tribes in the area, including Abazin, Abkhaz, Circassian, Ossetian, Karachay-Balkar and Chechen-Ingush folklore.

Etymology[edit]

The term nart comes from the Ossetian name of Narts, Nartæ, which is plurale tantum of "nar".[1] The origin of the rootnar is of Iranian origin, from Proto-Iraniannar for "hero", "man", descended from Proto-Indo-European*h₂nḗr.[2] In Chechen the word nart means "giant".

Characters[edit]

Some of the characters who feature prominently in the sagas are:

Study and significance[edit]

The first written account of the material is due to the Kabardian author Shora Begmurzin Nogma (who wrote in Russian 1835–1843, published posthumously in 1861, German translation by Adolf Berge in 1866). The stories exist in the form of prose tales as well as epic songs.

It is generally known that all the Nart corpora have an ancient Iranian core, inherited from the Scythians, Sarmatians, and Alans (the Alans being the ancestors of the Ossetians).[2][5] However, they also contain abundant local North Caucasian accretions of great antiquity, which sometimes reflect an even more archaic past.[2]

Based especially on the Ossetian versions, the sagas have long been valued as a window towards the world of the Iranian-speaking cultures of antiquity. For example, the philologist Georges Dumézil used the Ossetian division of the Narts into three clans to support his Trifunctional Hypothesis that the Proto-Indo-Europeans were similarly divided into three castes—warriors, priests, and commoners.

The Northwest Caucasian (Circassian, Abkhaz-Abasin and Ubykh) versions are also highly valuable because they contain more archaic accretions and preserve "all the odd details constituting the detritus of earlier traditions and beliefs", as opposed to the Ossetian ones, which have been "reworked to form a smooth narrative".[2][5]

Connections to other mythology[edit]

Some motifs in the Nart sagas are shared by Greek mythology. The story of Prometheus chained to Mount Kazbek or to Mount Elbrus in particular is similar to an element in the Nart sagas. These shared motifs are seen by some as indicative of an earlier proximity of the Caucasian peoples to the ancient Greeks, also shown in the myth of the Golden Fleece, in which Colchis is generally accepted to have been part of modern-day Georgia.

In the book From Scythia to Camelot, authors C. Scott Littleton and Linda A. Malcor speculate that many aspects of the Arthurian legends are derived from the Nart sagas. The proposed vector of transmission is the Alans, some of whom migrated into northern France at around the time the Arthurian legends were forming. As expected, these parallels are most evident in the Ossetian versions, according to researcher John Colarusso.[5] See Historical basis for King Arthur – Sarmatian hypothesis for more details.

Differences between Nart legends[edit]

There are some differences between the various versions of the Nart legends. For example, the Ossetian versions depict the Nartic tribe as composed of three distinct clans who sometimes rival one another (the brave Æxsærtægkatæ, to whom the most prominent Narts belong, the rich Borætæ and the wise Alægatæ), while the Circassian ones do not depict such a division. The Abkhaz ones are unique in describing the Narts as a single nuclear family composed of Satanaya's one hundred sons.[6] Yet all of these versions describe the Narts as a single coherent group of mostly "good" heroes. In contrast, the Nakh (Chechen-Ingush) legends sometimes depict the Nart-Orxustxoi, a group including the most prominent Narts known from the other versions (e.g. Seska-Solsa corresponding to Sosruko/Soslan, Khamtsha-Patarish corresponding to Batraz/Batradz etc.) as warlike bandits, who fight against local good heroes such as Koloi-Kant and Qinda-Shoa.[7] (the latter corresponding to Sawway/Shawey).

See also[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. Jump up^ Abaev, V.I. "Nart". Historical-Etymological Dictionary of Ossetian language.
  2. ^ Jump up to:a b c d John Colarusso. "Nart Sagas from the Caucasus: Myths and Legends from the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs". Univ. of Toronto Quarterly. Princeton University Press. pp. xxiv, 552.
  3. Jump up^ "Nalmes ensemble clip", Youtube.
  4. Jump up^ Tsaroïeva, Mariel. Anciennes Croyances des Ingouches et des Tchetchenes. p. 199. ISBN 2-7068-1792-5.
  5. ^ Jump up to:a b c Nart Sagas from the Caucasus – Myths and Legends from the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs, John Colarusso, Circassian World
  6. Jump up^ Mify narodov mira. 1980. V.2. Narty
  7. Jump up^ Tsaroïeva, Mariel (2005) Anciennes Croyances des Ingouches et des Tchetchenes. p. 215. ISBN 2-7068-1792-5

External links[edit]

Circassian Nart sagas:

  1. Myths from the Forests of Circassia, by John Colarusso
  2. Prometheus among the Circassians, by John Colarusso
  3. The Woman of the Myths: the Satanaya Cycle by John Colarusso

Ossetian Nart sagas:

Abkhaz Nart sagas

Karachay-Balkar Nart sagas:

Chechen-Ingush Nart sagas:

Ossetian mythology

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The mythology of the Ossetian people of the Caucasus region contains several gods and supernatural beings. The religion itself is believed to be of Sarmatianorigin, but contains many later elements from Christianity, and the Ossetian gods are often identified with Christian saints. The gods play a role in the famous stories about a race of semi-divine heroes called the Narts.

Deities[edit]

  • Huycau or Xucau (Ossetian: Хуыцау). The chief of the gods. Identified with the Jewish/Christian/Muslim God.
  • Uastyrdzhi (Уастырджи; "Saint George"). The patron of males and travellers, and the guarantor of oaths. Main patron of North Ossetia–Alania.
  • Uacilla (Уацилла; "Saint Elijah"). Also spelled Wasilla. God of rain, thunder and lightning. As protector of the harvest he is known as Хоры Уацилла (Hory Uacilla, "Uacilla of the wheat"). Anyone struck by lightning was considered chosen by the god and, if they survived, a sheep was sacrificed in their honour. His festival was celebrated in the summer with the sacrifice of a lamb and a bull and the drinking of specially brewed beer. On that day women baked bread in silence as a mark of reverence.[1]
  • Safa (Сафа). God of the hearth chain. The most important domestic deity for Ossetians.
  • Donbettyr (Ossetian: Донбеттыр). Lord of the waters. His name is a fusion of the Ossetian don (meaning water) and Saint Peter. He uses his chain to drag down those who unwarily go swimming too late to his realm at the bottom of the sea. He has many beautiful daughters, comparable to the Rusalki of Slavic mythology. Up to the 19th century, his day was celebrated on the Saturday following Easter by young girls.
  • Tutyr (Тутыр). Lord of the wolves. Identified with Saint Theodore of Tyre.
  • Fælværa (Фæлвæра). The name is possibly a conflation of Saints Florus and Laurus. Fælværa was the protector of sheep and his festival was celebrated before sheep-shearing in September.[1] He only has one eye. He is often the enemy of Tutyr.
  • Æfsati (Æфсати). The protector of wild animals, especially deer, wild boars and mountain goats.[2]
  • Kurdalægon (Курдалæгон). The heavenly smith. A close friend of the Narts.
  • Satana (Сатана). Mother goddess, mother of the Narts.
  • Saubarag (Саубараг or Сау бараджи дзуар, "black rider"), the god of darkness and thieves, identified with Satan. [1]
  • Huyændon Ældar (Хуыæндон Æлдар ). Lord of the fish. A great magician and a spirit who behaves like an earthly chief ("ældar"). His name means "Lord of the Strait" (according to Abaev, this is most probably the Cimmerian Bosphorus, the modern Strait of Kerch).
  • Barastyr (Барастыр, also transliterated Barastaer or Barastir) is the ruler of the underworld who assigns arriving dead souls to either paradise or his own realm.[3]
  • Aminon (Аминон). Gatekeeper of the underworld.
  • Alardy (Аларды). Lord of smallpox, who had to be placated.[4]

The uac- prefix in Uastyrdzhi and Uacilla has no synchronic meaning in Ossetic, and is usually understood to mean "saint" (also applied to Tutyr, Uac Tutyr, perhaps Saint Theodore, and to Saint Nicholas, Uac Nikkola). The synchronic term for "saint", however, is syhdaeg (cognate to Avestan Yazata). Gershevitch (1955) connects uac with a word for "word" (Sanskrit vāc, c.f. Latin vox), in the sense of Logos.

Kurys (Digor Burku) is a dream land, a meadow belonging to the dead, which can be visited by some people in their sleep. Visitors may bring back miraculous seeds of luck and good fortune, sometimes pursued by the dead. Inexperienced souls may bring back fever and sickness instead. Gershevitch (with V.I. Abaev) compares the name Kurys to the mountain Kaoiris in Yasht 19.6 (Avestan *Karwisa), which might indicate that the name is a spurious remnant of origin legends of Airyanem Vaejah of the Alans.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b Arys-Djanaïéva (2004), p. 163.
  2. Jump up^ Billington, Sandra; Green, Miranda (2002-09-11). The Concept of the Goddess. Routledge. pp. 167–168. ISBN 9781134641529.
  3. Jump up^ Lurker, Manfred (1987), The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons, Routledge, p. 30, ISBN 0-415-34018-7
  4. Jump up^ Arys-Djanaïéva (2004), p. 165.

Sources[edit]

  • Arys-Djanaïéva, Lora (2004). Parlons ossète. Harmattan.
  • Dumézil, Georges, ed. (1965), Le Livre des héros: légendes sur les Nartes, Paris: Gallimard (Connaissance de l'Orient)
  • Gershevitch, Ilya (1955), "Word and Spirit in Ossetic", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 17 (3): 478–489, doi:10.1017/S0041977X0011239X.

External links[edit]