Part 2 (1/2)
Which being interpreted meaneth that he was commanded to give much gold, leather, and crimson dye in exchange for the maiden. So also they sing of the wedding:
”It rained showers of gold when Artasches became a bridegroom, It rained pearls when Satenik became a bride.”
For it was the custom of our kings to scatter coins amongst the people when they arrived at the doors of the temple for their wedding, as also for the queens to scatter pearls in their bride-chamber. [42]
The couplet quoted is still sung by the Armenians, and it is still customary for the bridegroom to scatter money on his way to the church, and though it may be for queens to scatter pearls, the Armenian bride is not to be outdone. She is given a partly opened pomegranate which she throws at the door of the bridegroom upon the arrival at the bridegroom's home after the ceremony at the church, the bits of pomegranate scattering themselves about as pearls.
After fifty-one years of a very prosperous reign, Artasches, who was very much beloved by his people, died. The funeral procession was a most magnificent one, and many of the people killed themselves, out of love for their dead king, according to the custom of the time. And when the body was laid in the grave they threw precious jewels, gold, and silver after it. Nor did the lamenting and suicide stop after his burial, for upon the grave of their dead king the n.o.bles and the people continued to kill themselves. So great was the slaughter that Artavasd, son of Artasches, and king after his father's death, addressed the spirit of his dead father, saying, ”Behold, thou art taking all with thee; dost thou leave me to rule over ruins and the dead?” The words given by Moses of Kh.o.r.ene are: ”Now that thou art gone, and hast taken with thee the whole land, how shall I reign over the ruins?” [43] Whereupon the spirit of Artasches cursed him and said,
”When thou ridest forth to hunt Over the free heights of Ararat, The strong ones shall have thee, And shall take thee up On to the free heights of Ararat.
There shalt thou abide, And never more see the light.” [44]
These words together with those of Artavasd spoken to his father's spirit were sung by the singers of the time. [45]
One day while out hunting Artavasd was seized by some visionary terror and lost his reason. Urging his horse down a steep bank he fell into a chasm where he sank and disappeared. Old women told how he was confined in a cavern and bound with iron chains which his two dogs gnawed at daily in order to set him free. But somehow at the sound of the hammers striking on the anvils, the chains were continually strengthened, and it was customary among the blacksmiths of the time to strike the anvil three or four times to strengthen, as they said, the chains of Artavasd. And so the tradition was kept up by singers and blacksmiths; the blacksmiths and old women having consigned the jealous king to the world's nethermost regions, while the singers left him to the solitude of Ararat in accordance with the curse of Artasches.
SECTION 8. CONCLUSIONS
Such are the ancient legends of Armenia, in their respective historical settings: the legends of Haic, of Semiramis and Ara, of Vahakn, of Artasches and Satenik, and of Artavasd. All of them antedate the Christian era, and some of them by many centuries. Each one of them is told by Moses of Kh.o.r.ene. But as to origin and probable historic roots Moses was silent, for he was writing a history. He constantly laments the absolute dearth of material and sources and begins his accounts of these legends with the words ”This is as it is told,”
or ”the singers say,” indicating that his only sources for them were the songs and reports current among the people during his own time. The legends of Haic and of Semiramis and Ara are told by Moses as though he believed them historic fact, but of course Moses had no materials to serve as a basis of criticism. He is careful to quote Mar Apas Catina as his only source for this material. The other three legends are regarded as such. Artavasd is spoken of as an historical king who lost his reason while riding horseback and fell into a deep chasm. The practice of suicide at the death of Artasches, his father, was a pagan custom. The curse of the spirit of the dead father, the chains, the dogs, and the anvils were of course recognized as the work of ingenious fancy. In view therefore, of the questionable character of Moses' sources these legends have very little historic value. They do, however, have a high social value inasmuch as the common knowledge of them among the people was the only ultimate source at the disposal of the historian.
The second conclusion is that these legends formed a very important part of the larger ma.s.s of tradition and songs that served to cement the people into a nation. Just how important, it would be difficult to say, but the fact that they were current at the time Moses wrote indicates that they were current and pa.s.sed on from generation to generation during the whole period of the Arsacidae kings. And as the people had no alphabet during this whole period, they must have been pa.s.sed on by song and word of mouth. This was a time of special activity on the part of the minstrels and singers, and therefore the development of the national consciousness characteristic of the period must have been brought about in a large measure through the medium of these legendary beliefs.
Furthermore these legends are known by the Armenian people to-day and are taught in the schools that are not too severely under the rules of Turkish and Russian censors.h.i.+p. Naturally enough, they are a source of great pride since they breathe national independence and loyalty. But of course, the Turks and Russians have suppressed all public singing of songs, and public teaching of history and legend that may possibly be construed as partaking of the national spirit.
It may be argued that these legends slumbered between the covers of Moses' history during the centuries known as the dark ages, and that they had no social value until the contagion of the European spirit of the Renaissance awoke the legends and the people at the same time. But the mere dearth of record is no proof of this Rip Van Winkle theory. There is at least one reliable authority sufficient to disprove it, viz., Grigor Magistros, a scholar of the eleventh century who wrote that he heard the Artasches epic sung by minstrels. [46] Besides the unreasonableness of the supposition, there is the added fact of an independent Armenian kingdom known as the Bagradouni dynasty, whose capital seat was at the famous city of Ani. This kingdom included greater Armenia and continued from A.D. 887 to 1079. [47] But 1079 does not mark the end of Armenian independence though it marks the destruction of Ani, for Reuben, a member of the royal family, made his way into Cilicia in the year 1080, and rallying a handful of Armenians about him, overpowered the Greeks and founded what is known as the Rupenian Kingdom of Cilicia, which continued during a period of 300 years. So that here again is a period of very nearly five hundred years (889-1380), during which time the Armenian people enjoyed national political independence. [48] And this during the very period of the dark ages, about which we know so little! We could not, therefore, for a moment suppose the traditions and legends to have had no social importance during these centuries, for such an a.s.sumption would be in flat contradiction to the witness of Grigor Magistros, and to the facts of Armenian history.
CHAPTER III
LEGENDS OF THE CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY
SECTION 1. PRE-CHRISTIAN MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION
The second body of legends which I wish to consider is chiefly concerned with the introduction of Christianity into the country. These, together with the traditional beliefs centered about the chief geographical feature of the land, Mt. Ararat, const.i.tute a group bearing a very distinct religious stamp. For this reason, and also because they have a later origin, they are to be marked off very distinctly from those already taken up. In view of their religious bearing I shall introduce them with a brief account of the various forms of pagan wors.h.i.+p that preceded the Christianization of the people.
The chief religious influences have been the a.s.syrian, the Persian, and the Greek. It seems, however, that a kind of monotheism prevailed before the G.o.ds of any of these were taken over. The very ancient Armenian kings planted groves of poplars around their cities and the wors.h.i.+p was carried on in these groves. [49] An altar was placed among the trees, where the first male descendant of the royal family (and perhaps other families) offered sacrifices to the one G.o.d, while the priests derived oracles from the rustling of the leaves. Even now the poplar groves are held in uncommon regard. This is a survival of the old belief that they were the dwelling place of G.o.d, and of the later practice of consecrating children in them. The belief that G.o.d dwelt among the leaves must have been suggested by the slightest trembling of the leaves, even at the gentlest breeze, and one can well imagine the people looking up at them in the impressive silence of the forest with an awe and wonder no other environment could possibly induce. The Armenian for poplar, ”Sossi” is used to-day as a name for girls, and the poplar tree, although not held sacred by Armenian people to-day, is certainly regarded with great reverence. [50]
The influence of Persian wors.h.i.+p is more clear. Aramazd, the architect of the universe, lord and creator of all things, was the chief Armenian G.o.d, and is unquestionably the Persian Ormuzd named in the inscription of Xerxes on the rock of Van. Armenians have given him the t.i.tle of ”father of the G.o.ds,” and the qualifications ”great, and strong, creator of heaven and earth, and G.o.d of fertility and of abundance.” The Greeks identified him with Zeus. [51] There were numerous sanctuaries erected in his honor, and at the annual festival celebrated in his name, white animals, especially goats, horses, and mules, were sacrificed and their blood used to fill silver and golden goblets. [52] Tir, or ”Grogh” meaning in Armenian ”to write”