The Eighth Tribe, 1979 (6. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1979-01-01 / 1. szám
January, 1979 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 11 Hungary, Bishop St. Gerard (Gellért), and the legend of St. Stephen’s son, St. Emeric (Imre). These legends were still all written in Latin. But as members of the Hungarian clergy were obliged to deal with the Magyar-speaking population of Hungary, they also had to prepare Magyar language prayers and orations. None of the early versions of these prayers and sermons survived, probably because fewer of these were written down than their Latin counterparts. Thus, the first complete Magyar language text to survive is the famous Funeral Oration [Halotti beszéd) that was preserved in the late twelfth-century Codex Pray. According to most authorities, however, the existing text is only a copy of an earlier original, which may have been written down in the middle or at the beginning of that century. Although not an original creation, but a free translation of a Latin sermon, the Funeral Oration is still a very valuable literary testament to medieval Hungarian culture. It has preserved much of the flavor and some of the vocabulary of twelfth-century Magyar, and demonstrates the relative sophistication of that language, notwithstanding the dominance of the Latin. (Sőtér: Magy. írod. tört., 1,56-65.) Art and Architecture Although early Hungarian Christian culture is best preserved and appreciated in its literary creations, its achievements are not limited to literary and scholarly works. The monasteries, churches and royal dwellings built after the coming of Christianity are all testaments to the achievements of this culture. True, very little of early Hungarian Christian art and architecture has survived. But even those few fragments that remain (e.g. the lower levels and some of the ornamental pieces of the churches and monasteries of Pannonhalma, Tihany, Pécs, etc. I speak well of the rich achievements of that art and architecture. The most eminent of the early Hungarian centers of stone-carving was the “workshop” or “school” of Pécs. This workshop dominated Hungarian monumental architecture and the plastic arts through much of the late eleventh and the twelfth centuries. Its architectural style, its ornamentations, its sculptures are all representatives of the early Romanesque. Yet, the Hungarian version of this art form also reveals the influences of both Byzantine and pre-Christian Magyar art. The influence of the latter is even more evident on the gold, silver 126 and bronze artifacts and textile products of that period. Most of the latter were made to fill the needs of the Church, but many of them also found their way into the royal court. The art of gold and silversmithing, of course, had been part of Magyar traditions for many centuries before the conquest. Apparently this tradition was continued even after the acceptance of Christianity and of European Civilization, even though the elements of ornamentation were now increasingly representative of the newly found religion and culture of the Magyars. (Dercsényi: Magy. művészet, I, 9-48; Kolba: Goldsmith's Work, 5-9.) 127 Hungarian ancestry. The Eighth Tribe, on behalf of million and half descendants of Hungarian parentage, wishes Miss Susan Ann Horvath the best of luck in Mobile. Ala. We hope and pray that she will be the next America’s Junior Miss. QUEEN OF FOLK FAIR A 16-year-old of Hungarian descent was selected to serve a queen of the 19th Annual International Holiday Folk Fair held in Chicago, Illinois. Melinda Polgar, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Polgar of Chicago, was picked by a spin of a wheel in Mayor Bilandic’s office from among 20 young women representin various countries. Miss Polgar, representing the ‘Tulipántos Láda’, a Hungarian folk society, speaks Hungarian and was in the Hungarian dance group that performed Sunday afternoon as part of the two-day fair. The Holiday Folk Fair is one of the most popular Chicago events of the year. Joseph Balasa, the mayor’s coordinator of special events, said attendance has averaged about 100,000 in past years, but the popularity of last summer’s Chicago Fest on Navy Pier expected to boost this year’s attendance to about 150,000 for the two days.
