The Eighth Tribe, 1977 (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1977-09-01 / 9. szám
September, 1977 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 5 The Facts and the Legend ÁRVALÁNYHAJ “The Orphan Girl’s Hair” THE FACTS OF THE ÁRVALÁNYHAJ At the Fourth World Jamboree in 1933, there was no mistaking the Boy Scouts of Hungary, the host country, as they marched into the Gödöllő jamboree arena. Each boy wore in his hat a large plume that waved in the breeze. It consisted of the soft- hair-fine, feathery top of a grass that grows in the Puszta — the dry steppes of Hungary. The grass reaches a height of three feet and is called Árvalányhaj — “The Orphan Girl’s Hair” (Stipa pinnata L.) When the original settlers arrived in Hungary, their land contained enormous virgin forests and rich grazing meadows where Árvalányhaj could not grow. Overthe next hundreds of years, much of the land was turned into fertile wheatfields. Then, in the thirteenth century, Mongol hordes swept into Europe and almost annihilated the Hungarian nation. Vast areas of the country became a dry wasteland, with Árvalányhaj taking root. The Hungarians rebuilt their land — only to have it devastated again in the sixteenth century by the Turks. Once more the Hungarians rebuilt their country. And yet again, in the twentieth century, Hungary was engulfed in war that left the country reduced in area and population. THE LEGEND OF THE ÁRVALÁNYHAJ Once there was a prince of Hungary who was a great hunter. One day on a hunt he heard the screaming of a girl. He turned his horse in the direction of the screams and galloped off. He found the girl entangled in brambles, with a wolf snapping at her. The prince placed an arrow on his bow, killed the wolf and saved the girl’s life. When he questioned the girl, he learned that she was an orphan and that she had the ability to tell the future. “How long will my people live in this land?” the prince asked. Instead of answering, the girl said: “Cut off my hair!” First the prince refused, but at the girl’s insistence, he pulled his sword and cut off the girl’s gorgeous blonde hair. The girl took the hair and threw it high in the air. The wind carried it across the fields of Hungary. Wherever a strand of hair fell, it took root and turned into a plant with a feathery plume on top. “As long as this plant grows in the fields of Hungary,” the girl said, “your people shall live in this land and the spirit of freedom shall live in their hearts.” WHY HUNGARIAN SCOUTS WORE THE ÁRVALÁNYHAJ When the Hungarian Boy Scouts Association was re-established after World War I, the boys took up the tradition of wearing in their hat a plume of Árvalányhaj. To them it was not just a symbol of the Hungarian soil and the sorrowful parts of their country’s history. Even more important: It was a challenge to them, reminding them that out of each past tribulation under which their country had suffered had come a determination in the heart of every Hungarian youth to do his utmost to carry forward his nation’s cause. Hungary no longer has a Boy Scouts Association with boys proudly wearing the Árvalányhaj in their hats. But the legend of Árvalányhaj and the spirit behind it lives on among the Boy Scouts of the free world.
