The Eighth Tribe, 1974 (1. évfolyam, 1-7. szám)
1974-04-05 / 1-2. szám
Page Two THE EIGHTH TRIBE August, 1974 • LEGENDS • Legends are the most ancient type of folklore. They must be treasured as one of the most precious heritages of a nation, because they reflect not only the long-forgotten past, but those venerable national values which enabled a certain group of people to make its mark on the face of this earth. Thus legend’s enrich the history of mankind. There are three kinds of legends. The myths, which originate in pre-historic times, and have preserved man’s first ideas about the unknown, about the mystery of life and death, about divinity, as such. The historic legends, which were based on factual events, and must be regarded as un-written history. Finally, the geographical legends, which were created around a certain geographical location, and based either on geological facts, such as an earthquake, or on historical facts, such as battles, or on social facts, such as famines, evil landlords, etc. The geographical legends usually gave ample opportunity to the story-teller for the use of fantasy, and as centuries went by, and everyone added something to it, they became almost like fairy tales. With one difference — that fairy tales are completely the product of fantasy, but in the case of geographical legends, one can always detect under the embellishments of the fantasy, the geological or human event which gave birth to the legend. The folklore of the Hungarian nation is unusually rich in historical legends. These legends are also historically accurate. This can easily be proven today by collating their data with the contemporary Byzatine and Roman Chronicles, as well as with the stone tablets found in the latest Sumerian excavations. The reason for this unusual accuracy is the fact that the Huns, as well as the Magyars, already had well preserved written history when they entered the Carpathian Basin. Their Chronicles were carved on long wooden poles or sticks, which were carefully guarded by their high priests, the TÁLTOS. During the forced Christianization under King István the Saint (1000 A.D.), the over zealous Italian priests and German knights burned all these ancient “pagan” relics. Whoever was found harboring one of them or even using the old Runic script, was sent to the gallows. Thus the history of the nation’s past was forced “underground”, and was told only around campfires, in the still of the night, where the old related to the young the deeds of their fore-fathers. From then on, these legends were handed down from generation to generation, mouth to mouth, and thus became part of the Hungarian folklore. ALBERT WASS THE STORY OF CREATION The story of creation, which dates back thousands of years, clearly proves that the ancient Huns and Magyars already believed in a one-God concept. UR-ISTEN has ruled over the world since it first existed. HE rules from his sun-drenched tent high up in the sky, together with his two beautiful sisters, BOLDOGASSZONY (BLESSED WOMAN), who is arrayed in shimmering sunbeams, and ORDONG, (THE EVIL ONE), who is clad in the black of the night. Now when He decided to create the Earth, URISTEN gave the work of beautifying the barren soil to his two sisters. Unfortunately, the two sisters’ work had directly opposite results. BOLDOGASSZONY let down the seven braids of her shining hair, and as she stroked her tresses gently over the Earth, seven rivers began to flow: Whereas when ORDONG’S hair touched the Earth, muddy swamps appeared at once. WHEN BOLDOGASZSZONY created the busy little honey-bee, ORDONG made a stinging, unproductive wasp. BOLDOGASSZONY planted the Earth full of fruit-bearing trees and bushes, edible mushrooms, and useful plants, while ORDONG created nothing but poisonous fruits and toadstools which were deadly poison. UR-ISTEN found out what ORDONG had done, and He forbade her making any more of her magic. ORDONG, in her anger, descended to the bottom of the sea that she might bring up a mouthful of wet clay, from which she prepared to fashion her own designs. At the very moment ORDONG came to the surface of the sea with her mouth filled with clay, UR-ISTEN gave the command from his heavenly tent for everything on the Earth to grow. Therefore, the clay in ORDONG’S mouth began to grow, too. She nearly suffocated. Her beautiful face became distorted and dark. Just as she was strangling on the clay, she was able to spit it out onto the surface of the Earth. Now up to that time, the surface of the Earth was as flat as the palm of God’s hand, but wherever ORDONG’S clay hit the surface of the Earth, it turned into rocks and mountains. THE EIGHTH TRIBE Editor ........................................................... Sándor E. Chomos Contributing Editor ............................................... Albert Wass Published and printed by.................The Bethlen Press, Inc. P.O. Box 637, Ligonier, Pa., U.S.A. Application to mail at second-class postage rates is pending at Ligonier, Pa. 15658. Subscription: $8.00 yearly.
