A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 1957 (Debrecen, 1958)

Gunda Béla: A totemizmus maradványai a magyar táltoshagyományban

Traces of Totemism in Hungarian Folk Tradition Béla Gunda Hungarian folk belief has an interesting figure, the so-called táltos. The táltos is mostly a herdsman of miraculous power and abilities. He can cure animals, and falling asleep, may sometimes be transformed into various animal forms (bull, stallion etc.). According to folk belief there are táltoses who, in the shape of bulls, fight with others similarly transformed. G. Róheim has proved that the táltos is identical with the shaman of Central and Northern Asia, and derives from elements of Hungarian folk-lore antedating the tenth or eleventh century. Róheim's opinion was recently corroborated by V. Diószegi. Folk tradition maintains that one of the ancestors of the táltos is an animal or he is born by an animal. The táltos may be born from a horse. Once a táltos was brought to the herdsmen by a bull between its horns. A girl bore a son from a wolf and the son's qualities were those of a táltos. "We know of a táltos who was said to be descended from a cow. Another táltos was visited by a raven which summoned him as its son. Some táltoses were reared, according to folk tradition, by cranes and eagles. All these beliefs are indicative of totemism. Similar traces of totemism survive in Asia, especially among the Turkish tribes living in the Altai Mountains. These facts show that the shamans of this territory, like táltoses with the Magyars have preserved the memory of their animal parentage. 72