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TheNart sagas (Abkhaz:Нарҭаа ражәабжьқәа,romanized: Nartaa raƶuabƶkua;Adyghe:Нарт тхыдэжъхэр,romanized: Nart txıdəĵxər;Ossetian:Нарты кадджытæ / Нарти кадæнгитæ,romanized: Narty kaddžytæ / Narti kadængitæ) are a series of tales originating from theNorth Caucasus. They form much of the basicmythology of the ethnic groups in the area, includingAbazin,Abkhaz,Circassian,Ossetian,Karachay-Balkar, and to some extentChechen-Ingush folklore.
The termnart comes from theOssetianNartæ, which isplurale tantum ofnar.[1] The derivation of therootnar is ofIranian origin, fromProto-Iranian*nar for 'hero, man', descended fromProto-Indo-European*h₂nḗr (the name of the Roman emperorNero also derives from this same root).[2] InIngush andChechen, the wordnart means 'giant'.
Some of the characters who feature prominently in the sagas are:
The first Westerner to take note of the Nart stories was the German scholarJulius von Klaproth, who traveled to the Caucasus during the first decade of the 19th century.[4] The earliest written account of the material is attributed to theKabardian authorShora Begmurzin Nogma, who wrote in Russian in 1835–1843, published posthumously in 1861. A German translation byAdolf Berge was published in 1866 (Berge 1866). The stories exist in the form of prose tales as well as epic songs.
It is generally known that some of the Nart corpora have an ancient Iranian core, inherited from theScythians,Sarmatians, andAlans (the latter being the ancestors of theOssetians).[5] However, they also contain abundant localNorth Caucasian accretions of great antiquity, which sometimes reflect an even more archaic past.[2]
The Ossetes consider the Nart epic to be a central feature of their national identity.[6] Based especially on the Ossetian versions, the Nart stories have been valued by scholars as a window towards the world of theIranian-speaking cultures of antiquity, and as an important source for comparative Indo-European mythology. For example, the philologistGeorges Dumézil used the Ossetian division of the Narts into threeclans to support hisTrifunctional Hypothesis that theProto-Indo-Europeans were similarly divided into three castes—warriors, priests, and commoners.
TheNorthwest 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]
Research shows that the core of the Nart Saga has Iranian cultural roots (Scythian, Sarmatian, Alan).[7][8]A Russian comparative study, Shahnameh and the Nart Epic of the Ossetians: A Symbolic Comparison, highlights overlapping symbols and narrative structures.[9]Comparative studies have identified similar symbolic motifs, e.g., the “winged bird” motif appears in both epics as a mythic symbol.[9]
Some motifs in the Nart sagas are shared by Greek mythology. The story ofPrometheus chained toMount Kazbek or toMount 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 theCaucasian peoples to the ancient Greeks, also shown in the myth of theGolden Fleece, in whichColchis is generally accepted to have been part of modern-dayGeorgia.
In the bookFrom Scythia to Camelot, authorsC. Scott Littleton and Linda A. Malcor speculate that many aspects of theArthurian 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 researcherJohn Colarusso.[5] For more details, see "Historicity of King Arthur – Lucius Artorius Castus and the Sarmatian connection".
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 that sometimes rival one another: the brave Æxsærtægkatæ (to whom the most prominent Narts belong), the rich Borætæ, and the wise Alægatæ; the Circassian versions do not depict such a division. The Abkhaz versions are unique in describing the Narts as a singlenuclear family composed of Satanaya's one hundred sons.[10] All of these versions describe the Narts as a single coherent group of (mostly) "good" heroes.
Some Nakh (Chechen-Ingush) legends include a group called theNart-Orxustxoi, which includes the most prominent Narts known from the other versions (e.g. Seska-Solsa corresponding to Sosruko/Soslan, Khamtsha-Patarish corresponding to Batraz/Batradz, etc.) In contrast to the Ossetian and Abkhaz versions, the Nakh legends depict the Narts as warlike bandits who fight against local good heroes such as Koloi-Kant and Qinda-Shoa (with Qinda-Shoa corresponding to Sawway/Shawey).[11]
Shayan Javadi, the Persian translator of "Nart" by matching the Ossetian, Abkhaz, Abaza, Circassian, and Ubykh versions, has been able to identify the lineage of some characters who have only been named. For instance, by recreating a character named "Qânzezâd (Abaza: Qanzhoquo)," he believes that he is the son of Azaukhan in the Ossetian version.[12]
Media related toNart Sagas at Wikimedia Commons
