Hungarian Gods
The world is divided into three spheres: the first is
the Upper World (Felső világ), the home of the gods; the second is the Middle
World (Középső világ) where the world we know is, and finally the underworld (Alsó
világ). In the center of the world, a tall tree is standing: the World Tree /
Tree of Life / Life Tree (Világfa/Életfa). Its foliage is the Upper World. The
Middle World is located at its trunk and the underworld is around its roots. In
some stories, the tree has fruits: these are the golden apples.
The gods and the good souls live in the Upper World. Gods have the same rank,
although the most important figure of them is Isten (meaning 'God' in
Hungarian). He controls the world, shapes the fate of humans, observes the
Middle World from the sky, and sometimes gives warning by lightning (mennykő).
Isten created the world with the help of Ördög ("the devil" Evil). Other gods
include: Istenanya ('Mother God'), also known as Boldogasszony ('Blessed Lady';
later identified with the Virgin Mary), and Hadúr (War Lord or Army Lord).
The major celestial bodies, (the Sun and the Moon), are also located in the
Upper World. The sky was thought to be a big tent held up by the Tree of Life.
There are several holes on it: those are the stars.
The Middle World is shared among humans and many mythological creatures, the
latter are often supernatural. There are ghosts of the forests and waters, who
are ordered to scare humans. They have different names in different places.
There are females, for example, the sellő (mermaid), which lives in waters and
has a human torso with the tail of a fish. The wind is controlled by an old lady
called Szélanya (Wind Mother) or Szélkirály (Wind King). The Sárkány (dragon) is
a frightening beast: he is the enemy of many heroes in fairy tales, symbolising
the psychical inner struggle of the hero. The lidérc is a ghostly, mysterious
creature with several different appearances, its works are always malicious. The
manók (elves / goblins) and the törpék (dwarfs) are foxy beings living in woods
or under the ground. Óriások (giants) live in the mountains. They have both good
and bad qualities. The most favourite creatures are the tündérek (fairies), who
are beautiful and young virgins or female creatures. They aid humans, who
sometimes can ask three wishes from them. Their opposites are the bábák, who are
equated with catty, old witches. (Bába means 'midwife' in Hungarian, and
originally they were wise old women, later equated with witches as Christianity
became widespread.)
The Underworld is the place of bad souls (this includes evil spirits and the
souls of dead people who were cruel and evil in their lives) and the home of
Ördög. He is the creator of everything that is bad for humans: for example, the
creator of the annoying animals (such as fleas, lice, and flies).
A badge depicting a turul. Silver, gold-plated. From HungaryOne of the theory of
the ancient Hungarian religion is that it was a form of Tengriism, a shamanistic
religion common among the early Turkic, Uralic and Mongol people, that was
influenced by Zoroastrianism from the Persians whom the Magyars had encountered
during their westward migration.
The shaman role was filled by the táltos. Their souls were thought to be able to
travel between the three spheres (révülés). Táltos' were also doctors. They were
selected by fate; their slight abnormalities at birth (neonatal teeth,
caulbearer, additional fingers, etc.) were believed to be the sign of a divine
order. The steps of their introduction:
Climbing up on the "shaman ladder/shaman tree" symbolized the World Tree;
Drenching the ghosts: drinking the blood of the sacrificed animal.
They had the ability to contact spirits by specific rituals and praying. Thus,
they interpreted dreams, mediated between humans and spirits, cured and removed
curses, and had an ability to find and bring back lost souls. They directed
animal sacrifices and guessed the reason of an ancestor's anger.
After death, the human soul leaves the body. The body is buried by relatives on
the other bank of a river, looking towards east. If the soul had been good, it
gets to the Other World (Túlvilág), for eternal peace. If it had been bad, it
must suffer in the underworld (Alsó Világ, Alvilág), where Ördög ("the devil")
and numerous evil ghosts live.
Some Hungarian Gods;
Boldogasszony - Her name means "Blessed Lady" or "Bountiful Queen". She was the goddess of motherhood and helped women in childbirth. After Hungarians were Christianized with the help of St. Gerard of Csanad, her figure fell out of fervor for that of the Virgin Mary. She is also considered the "Queen (Regina) of Hungary"
Csodaszarvas - A central figure in the legends surrounding the origin of the Hungarian people. The name translates to "Miraculous Deer". According to Hungarian legend, while out hunting, the brothers Hunor and Magor saw a miraculous white stag. They pursued the animal, but it always stayed ahead of them, leading them westward into Levedia, where they married two princesses and founded the Hun and Magyar peoples.
Hunor and Magor - Legendary twin patriarchs of the Huns and Magyars (Hungarians), respectively. They were said to be the sons of the Biblical Menrot (Nimrod), or of Japheth according to a slightly different version of the legend.
Álmos - Son of Ügyek and Emese. He was a semi-legendary figure born in c. 819 and the ancestor of the house of Árpád. Álmos ruled the Magyars in Levedia and Etelköz. His name means "dreamy" as his birth was foretold in his mother's dream (see the legend of his birth at Emese.)
Emese - Wife of Ügyek, mother of Álmos (meaning, "the one from/with the dream"). She was impregnated by a turul bird, which appeared to her in a dream and told her "a river will spring from your womb, which will flow and spread to a new land". The táltos (shaman) explained the dream as saying that she would give birth to a son, who would be the ancestor of a great ruling family in a foreign land.
Bába - Meaning "old woman", she was originally a good fairy who later degraded and became evil. Although she had magical abilities, she was not a witch (boszorkány). She was thought to live in fountains, and if young children went too close to her lair, she lured them in.
Boszorkány - A hostile, harm-doing, supernatural old lady, the witch. She had an ability to transform, fly and curse. A boszorkány corrupted the animals, for example, soured the milk of the cows. For humans, she brought an abrupt illness. They "operated" in the night, or in the nightfall.
Bubus - A small being that lives in caves. Dula (person) Dula's name appears in the Legend of the Csodaszarvas. He is said to be a prince of the Alans. In fact, he probably was a kind of chief of the Volga Bulgarians.
Fene - The demon of illness. Today, a common saying still uses its name: "A fene egye meg!", which literally means "Let it be eaten by the fene!", and is uttered when something does not occur as one wishes. "Fene" is also considered the place where demons roam, i.e. the popular Hungarian curse "menj a fenébe!" is equivalent to the English "go to hell!".
Garabonciás - A male figure who learned magic, unlike the →táltos, who had the ability by birth. He is able to create storms. Some alumni were thought to possess these abilities as late as the 19th century.
Guta - A fearsome Hungarian demon who beats his victims to death, often associated with strokes, heart attacks, or sudden paralysis.
Hadúr - Short for Hadak Ura, meaning "War Lord" or "Army Lord" and was the war god in the religion of the early Hungarians (Magyars). He was the third son of Arany Atyácska (Golden Father) and Hajnal Anyácska (Dawn Mother) and was also the metalsmith of the gods. He wore armor and weapons made of pure copper, which is his sacred metal, and it was said that he forged the Sword of God (Isten kardja) which was discovered by Attila the Hun and secured his rule. It was customary for the Magyars to sacrifice white stallions to him before a battle.
Napkirály - Meaning "King of the Sun", he is the Hungarian sun god and is the oldest son of Arany Atyácska (Golden Father) and Hajnal Anyácska (Dawn Mother), brother of Hadúr and Szélkirály. He rides his silver-haired horse fron East to West every day, seeing everything below him.
Szélkirály - Meaning "King of the Wind", he is the Hungarian god of wind and rain, and is the second son of Arany Atyácska (Golden Father) and Hajnal Anyácska (Dawn Mother), brother of Hadúr and Napkirály. His armor and weapons are made of pure silver, his sacred metal.
Szépasszony - Meaning "Fair Lady", she is a female demon with long hair and a white dress. She appears and dances in storms and hail, and seduces young men.
Turul - The great bird resembling to a falcon that was sent forth by Isten to guide the creation and destiny of the Magyar people. The first kings after St Stephen I. were the hereditiary of Turul ("Turul nemzetség")
Vadleány - Meaning "Forest Girl", she is an elusive forest sprite who seduces shepherds, saps their strength and makes the forest rustle. She is usually nude and her long hair reaches the ground. She can sometimes be lured and caught with one boot (she tries, to put two of her feet to one boot).
Griff - Also known as griffin in Western Europe, but without special features. In Hungarian mythology, it is similar to turul. Featuring in some fairy tales (like Fehérlófia, The son of the white horse), it is a cruel, greedy bird eating humans, but its the only way to get back from Under World to Middle World.
Sárkány - Appearing in almost all folk tales, a creature not similar to Chinese dragon or dragon from West Europe. He is always man-shaped, can ride a horse, and has usually 7 heads, sometimes 3, 12 or 21 (relating to numbers in astronomy). Dragons usually symbolised human behaviour or characteristic, i.e. when the hero was fighting with him, he was fighting to overcome his own bad behaviour, habit or characteristic.