Nart saga
Encyclopedia
The Nart sagas 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.
The Narts themselves are a race of giants
and heroes.
Some of the characters who feature prominently in the sagas are:
ian author Shora Begmurzin Nogma (written in Russian 1835-1843, published posthumously in 1861, German translation by Adolf Bergé in 1866). The stories exist in the form of prose tales as well as epic songs.
The word "Nart" is probably of Iranian
origin, from a Proto-Indo-European
root that is the source of words meaning 'man,' 'hero,' in various Indo-European languages
, and all the Nart corpora have an ancient Iranian core, inherited from the Scythians, Sarmatians
, and Alans
(the Alans being the ancestors of the Ossetians
). However, they also contain abundant local North Caucasian accretions of great antiquity, which sometimes reflect an even more archaic past.
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 clan
s 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 are more archaic 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".
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. See Historical basis for King Arthur - Sarmatian hypothesis for more details.
composed of Satanaya's one hundred sons. 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 (the latter corresponding to Sawway/Shawey).
Ossetian Nart sagas:
Abkhaz Nart sagas
Karachay-Balkar Nart sagas:
Chechen-Ingush Nart sagas:
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
. They form the basic mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
of the tribes in the area, including Abazin, Abkhaz
Abkhaz people
The Abkhaz or Abkhazians are a Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. A large Abkhazian diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the emigration from the Caucasus in the late 19th century known as Muhajirism...
, Circassian
Adyghe people
The Adyghe or Adygs , also often known as Circassians or Cherkess, are in origin a North Caucasian ethnic groupwho were displaced in the course of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century, especially after the Russian–Circassian War of 1862.Adyghe people mostly speak Adyghe and most...
, Ossetian
Ossetian
Ossetian may refer to:* The Ossetian language* A member of the Ossetian people* A person from the region of Ossetia...
, Karachay-Balkar and Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
-Ingush
Ingush
Ingush may refer to:* The Ingush language* The Ingush people, an ethnic group of the North Caucasus...
folklore.
The Narts themselves are a race of giants
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
and heroes.
Characters
Some of the characters who feature prominently in the sagas are:
- SosrukoSosrukoSosruko or Sosriqwe is a central character in many cycles of the Nart sagas of the Caucasus.Sosruko is a powerful but devious man who is the smallest of the Narts; as a character, he is sometimes cast in the light of the trickster god, comparable to the Scandinavian Loki , Georgian Amirani, or the...
(UbykhUbykh languageUbykh or Ubyx is an extinct language of the Northwestern Caucasian group, spoken by the Ubykh people...
, AbkhazAbkhaz languageAbkhaz is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken mainly by the Abkhaz people. It is the official language of Abkhazia where around 100,000 people speak it. Furthermore, it is spoken by thousands of members of the Abkhazian diaspora in Turkey, Georgia's autonomous republic of Adjara, Syria, Jordan...
and AdygheAdyghe languageAdyghe language , also known as West Circassian , is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedugh; Hatukuay, Kemirgoy, Makhosh; Natekuay, Shapsigh; Zhane,...
(Саусырыкъо), Ossetian soslan (Сослан)), a hero who sometimes also appears as a tricksterTricksterIn mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. It is suggested by Hansen that the term "Trickster" was probably first used in this...
; - SatanayaSatanayaSatanaya is a mythological figure who appears in many cycles of the Nart sagas of the Caucasus....
(Ubykh , AdygheAdyghe languageAdyghe language , also known as West Circassian , is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedugh; Hatukuay, Kemirgoy, Makhosh; Natekuay, Shapsigh; Zhane,...
(Сэтэнай), Ossetian: satana (Сатана)), the mother of the Narts, a fertilityFertilityFertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
figure and matriarch; - TlepshTlepshTlepsh is a mythological figure who appears in some cycles of the Nart sagas of the Caucasus.Tlepsh is a figure comparable to Hephaestos in Greek mythology. He was a powerful Nart who was a blacksmith and a leader, and in many cycles is portrayed as being close with Satanaya....
(AdygheAdyghe languageAdyghe language , also known as West Circassian , is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedugh; Hatukuay, Kemirgoy, Makhosh; Natekuay, Shapsigh; Zhane,...
and AbazaAbaza languageThe Abaza language is a language of the Caucasus mountains in the Russian Karachay-Cherkess Republic by the Abazins...
ɬapʃʷ, Ossetian Kwyrdaləgon (Куырдалæгон)), a blacksmith deity; - Syrdon (Ossetian: (Сырдон)) a trickster figure compared by Georges DumezilGeorges DumézilGeorges Dumézil was a French comparative philologist best known for his analysis of sovereignty and power in Proto-Indo-European religion and society...
to the NorseNorse mythologyNorse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
LokiLokiIn Norse mythology, Loki or Loke is a god or jötunn . Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Nari or Narfi...
. - PkharmatPkharmatthumb|right|224px|Pkharmat bringing fire to mankind, guided by Goddess [[Satanaya|Sela Sata]]Pkharmat is a legendary hero of the Vainakh people who brought fire to mankind. This allowed them to forge metal, cook and illuminate their houses. As a result of this, the people united and became a nation...
, in VainakhNakh peoplesNakh peoples are a group of historical and modern ethnic groups speaking Nakh languages and sharing certain cultural traits...
epos, a blacksmith figure that steals fire from the gods for the mortals .
Study and significance
The first written account of the material is due to the KabardKabard
Kabarda or Kabard ; are terms referring to a people of the northern Caucasus more commonly known by the plural term Kabardin . Originally they Kabarda or Kabard ; are terms referring to a people of the northern Caucasus more commonly known by the plural term Kabardin (or Kebertei as they term...
ian author Shora Begmurzin Nogma (written in Russian 1835-1843, published posthumously in 1861, German translation by Adolf Bergé in 1866). The stories exist in the form of prose tales as well as epic songs.
The word "Nart" is probably of Iranian
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
origin, from a Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
root that is the source of words meaning 'man,' 'hero,' in various Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
, and all the Nart corpora have an ancient Iranian core, inherited from the Scythians, Sarmatians
Sarmatians
The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....
, and Alans
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
(the Alans being the ancestors of the Ossetians
Ossetians
The Ossetians are an Iranic ethnic group of the Caucasus Mountains, eponymous of the region known as Ossetia.They speak Ossetic, an Iranian language of the Eastern branch, with most also fluent in Russian as a second language....
). However, they also contain abundant local North Caucasian accretions of great antiquity, which sometimes reflect an even more archaic past.
Based especially on the Ossetian versions, the sagas have long been valued as a window towards the world of the Iranian
Iranian languages
The Iranian languages form a subfamily of the Indo-Iranian languages which in turn is a subgroup of Indo-European language family. They have been and are spoken by Iranian peoples....
-speaking cultures of Antiquity. For example, the philologist Georges Dumézil
Georges Dumézil
Georges Dumézil was a French comparative philologist best known for his analysis of sovereignty and power in Proto-Indo-European religion and society...
used the Ossetian division of the Narts into three clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
s to support his Trifunctional Hypothesis that the Proto-Indo-Europeans
Proto-Indo-Europeans
The Proto-Indo-Europeans were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language , a reconstructed prehistoric language of Eurasia.Knowledge of them comes chiefly from the linguistic reconstruction, along with material evidence from archaeology and archaeogenetics...
were similarly divided into three castes—warriors, priests, and commoners.
The Northwest Caucasian
Northwest Caucasian languages
The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called Abkhazo-Adyghean, or sometimes Pontic as opposed to Caspian for the Northeast Caucasian languages, are a group of languages spoken in the Caucasus region, chiefly in Russia , the disputed territory of Abkhazia, and Turkey, with smaller communities...
(Circassian
Adyghe language
Adyghe language , also known as West Circassian , is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation, the other being Russian. It is spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people: Abzekh, Adamey, Bzhedugh; Hatukuay, Kemirgoy, Makhosh; Natekuay, Shapsigh; Zhane,...
, Abkhaz
Abkhaz
Abkhaz and Abkhazian may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Abkhazia, a de facto independent region with partial recognition as a sovereign state, otherwise recognized as part of Georgia...
-Abasin
Abasin
Abasin or Abaseen can refer to:*The Pashto name for the Indus River in South Asia*An alternate name for the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan...
and Ubykh
Ubykh
Ubykh may refer to:* The Ubykh language* The Ubykh people* Ubykhia, a historical land of Ubykhs...
) versions are also highly valuable, because they are more archaic 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".
Some motifs in the Nart sagas are shared by Greek mythology. The story of Prometheus
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
chained to Mount Kazbek or to Mount Elbrus
Mount Elbrus
Mount Elbrus is an inactive volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia. Mt. Elbrus's peak is the highest in the Caucasus, in Russia...
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
Golden Fleece
In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece is the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram, which can be procured in Colchis. It figures in the tale of Jason and his band of Argonauts, who set out on a quest by order of King Pelias for the fleece in order to place Jason rightfully on the throne of Iolcus...
, in which Colchis
Colchis
In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgian state kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgian nation.The Kingdom of Colchis contributed significantly to the development of medieval Georgian...
is generally accepted to have been part of modern-day Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
.
In the book From Scythia to Camelot, authors C. Scott Littleton
C. Scott Littleton
Covington Scott Littleton was an American anthropologist and academic.Born in Los Angeles, he served in the Army during the Korean War. Littleton obtained his B.A. , M.A. , and Ph.D...
and Linda A. Malcor
Linda A. Malcor
Linda Ann Malcor Ph.D is an American scholar of Arthurian legend. She is one of the proponents of the theory that states that the historical basis for King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were a 2nd-century Roman officer named Lucius Artorius Castus and Sarmatian auxiliary horsemen,...
speculate that many aspects of the Arthurian legends are derived from the Nart sagas. The proposed vector of transmission is the Alans
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
, some of whom migrated into northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan 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. See Historical basis for King Arthur - Sarmatian hypothesis for more details.
Differences between Nart Legends
There are various differences between the various versions of the Nart legends. For example, the Ossetian versions depict the Nartic tribe as composed of three distinct clans that sometimes rival with each other (the brave Æxsærtægkatæ, to whom the most prominent Narts belong, the rich Borætæ and the wise Alægatæ), while the Circassian ones don't depict such a division, and the Abkhaz ones are unique in describing the Narts as a single nuclear familyNuclear family
Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...
composed of Satanaya's one hundred sons. Yet all of these versions describe the Narts as a single coherent group of mostly "good" heroes. In contrast, the Nakh
Nakh peoples
Nakh peoples are a group of historical and modern ethnic groups speaking Nakh languages and sharing certain cultural traits...
(Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
-Ingush
Ingush
Ingush may refer to:* The Ingush language* The Ingush people, an ethnic group of the North Caucasus...
) 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 (the latter corresponding to Sawway/Shawey).
See also
- Chechen-Ingush mythologyVainakh mythologyThe Vainakh people of the North Caucasus include the modern Chechens and Ingush, who are today predominantly Muslim in religion. Nevertheless, their folklore has preserved a substantial amount of information about their pre-Islamic pagan beliefs...
- Epic poetryEpic poetryAn epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
- Norse SagaNorse sagaThe sagas are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families...
- Ossetian mythologyOssetian mythologyThe mythology of the Ossetian people of the Caucasus region contains several gods and supernatural beings. The religion itself is believed to be of Sarmatian origin, but contains many later elements from Christianity, and the Ossetian gods are often identified with Christian saints. The gods play a...
- Scythian mythology
- The Magic Pipe (film)The Magic PipeThe Magic Pipe is a 1998 Russian stop motion-animated feature film directed by Mikhail Tumelya. Work on the film started in 1993, and it was Russia's fifth feature-length animation to be released after the collapse of the Soviet Union . Over 120 puppets were used in the film...
- Turkic mythology
- Uastyrdzhi
External links
Circassian Nart sagas:- Nart Sagas from the Caucasus: Myths and Legends from the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs. Assembled, translated, and annotated by John Colarusso.
- English translations of some Circassian Nartic legends
- Russian translations of Circassian Nartic legends
- Circassian Nartic legends in Circassian (only Sosruko cycle available)
- Articles including some texts of Nartic legends:
- Myths from the Forests of Circassia, by John Colarusso
- Prometheus among the Circassians, by John Colarusso
- The Woman of the Myths: the Satanaya Cycle by John Colarusso
Ossetian Nart sagas:
- English translations of some Ossetian Nartic legends
- Russian translations of Ossetian Nartic legends
- Ossetian Nartic legends in Ossetic
- Ossetic texts of Nartic legends on Titus
Abkhaz Nart sagas
Karachay-Balkar Nart sagas:
- An English-language paper on Karachay-Balkar folk belief by Dr. Ufuk TAVKUL Contains a brief outline of Karachay-Balkar Nartic legends (in English).
- A detailed Russian language retelling and discussion of Karachay-Balkar Nartic legends
- Russian translations of Karachay-Balkar Nartic legends (part 1)
- Russian translations of Karachay-Balkar Nartic legends (part 2)
Chechen-Ingush Nart sagas:
- The Inception of Chechen artistic writing: ethni-historical and aesthetic prerequisites by Kh.R.Abdulayeva; In: The Culture of Chechnya: History and Modern Problems Contains discussion of Chechen and Ingush Nartic legends (in English).
- Russian language accounts of Chechen and Ingush beliefs by Ch.E.Akhriev (part 1) at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
. Contains Nartic legends. - Russian language accounts of Chechen and Ingush beliefs by Ch.E.Akhriev (part 2) at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
. Contains Nartic legends. - A large collection of Russian translations of Chechen tales, many of which are about the Narts.