Uastyrdzhi

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Coordinates: 43°03′32″N 44°17′35″E / 43.059°N 44.293°E / 43.059; 44.293

Uastyrdzhi monument in Alagir Canyon, Ossetian Military Road (1995),
 WikiMiniAtlas
42°57′32″N 44°12′42″E / 42.9589°N 44.2118°E / 42.9589; 44.2118.
Unidentified image (2009 photograph)

Uastyrdzhi (Ossetian: Уастырджи, pronounced [ˈwɑʃtɨrd͡ʒi])[a] is the name of Saint George in Ossetian folklore.[1] Uastyrdzhi is the patron of the male sex and travellers as well as being a guarantor of oaths, like his Iranian counterpart Mithra with whom he may share a common origin.[2] It is forbidden for women to pronounce his name; instead, they must refer to him as лӕгты дзуар (literally, "the saint of men").[3][4] Uastyrdzhi is invoked in the national anthems of both North Ossetia–Alania and South Ossetia.

He is depicted as a horseman with a long beard, riding on a white horse. A large public ceremony devoted to him is held in early July at Khetag's Grove (Хетæджы къох), a wood situated three kilometres outside of Alagir, near Suadag village.[5] According to legend, St. Khetag (Хетаг) was the son of an Alanian king who consecrated the grove to Uastyrdzhi. Another important ceremony in honour of Uastyrdzhi is held beside a shrine called Rekom in the Tsey Valley in mid-June.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the cult of Uastyrdzhi has enjoyed renewed popularity in , and there have been several claims of visitations. The attitude of the local Russian Orthodox Church towards Uastyrdzhi is ambivalent.[3]

The festival of Jiorgwêba (Джиоргуыба) is celebrated in Uastyrdzhi's honour in November (and is eponymous of the month's name in Ossetian).[4] It involves the sacrifice of a one-year-old bullock. To indicate that the victim belongs to the god, its right horn is cut off long before, forbidding any herdsman to swear on it.[6]

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Notes[]

  1. ^ Also transliterated as Uastyrdži, Wastyrdzhi, Wastyrĝi, Wastırci, Wasterdži, Wastyrji; Digor: Уасгерги [ˈwaskerɡi].

References[]

  1. ^ Tuite, K. (2017). "St. George in the Caucasus: Politics, Gender, Mobility.". In Darieva, Tsypylma; Kahl, Thede (eds.). Sakralität und Mobilität im Kaukasus und in Südosteuropa (PDF). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. pp. 21–56.
  2. ^ Foltz, Richard (2019). "Scythian Neo-Paganism in the Caucasus: The Ossetian Uatsdin as a 'Nature Religion'" Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture". 13 (3). pp. 314–332.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Sebastian Smith (1998). Allah's Mountains: Politics and War in the Russian Caucasus (first ed.). IB Tauris. pp. 81–83.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Lora Arys-Djanaïéva (2004). Parlons ossète [Let's speak Ossetian] (in French and Ossetic). Harmattan. p. 163.
  5. ^ Konstantin Pavlovich Popov (1995). Священная роща Хетага [The sacred grove of Khetag]. Monuments of the Fatherland [Памятники Отечества] (in Russian). Vladikavkaz: Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania.
  6. ^ Charachidzé, Georges (1993). "The Religion and Myths of the Ossets". In Bonnefoy, Yves (ed.). American, African, and Old European Mythologies. Translated by Leavitt, John. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-226-06457-4.

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