PART
6 –
Ch.XXXV.6
The
Great Pelasgian empire
(The
reign of Uranos - Oyranos, Munteanul)
XXXV.
6. Uranos in legends and traditions of the Romanian people.
The Romanian people
have preserved to this day some very ancient traditions about the first kings
of the Pelasgian race who had reigned at the Carpathians and the lower
Some of these
traditions are included in religious carols,
sung during the holly days of Christmas and in the first week of the New Year,
while other mentions are found in the folk heroic songs, also called “songs of old”.
In the religious
carols (which are only ante-Christian festive hymns), these glorious monarchs
of Pelasgian times appear as divine personalities, as demigods descended from
the sky, who rule at the same time over earth and sky. These carols had been in
the beginning the work of the colleges of priests and theologians, and they had
become popular only in the course of centuries. The dogma of ancient Pelasgian
theology transpires in almost each of these religious carols.
The solemn spirit
and form in which they are redacted show the purpose of these songs: to develop
the moral feelings of the population and to found a religious cult for certain
personalities who had been attributed divine honors. One of these carols
contains the following verses:
When the Lord descended,
descended on earth,
Villages he seeded,
boundaries divided.
The Lord divided, until evening came.
When night fell, the Lord departed,
High up to the great road, where he received
Dinner and light, place to rest.
(from
When examining with
all attention the historical elements of this ancient folk carol, we find here
the same tradition about the origin of human society which was also hold by the
inhabitants from Atlas mountain: that Uranos had gathered the people who lived
scattered, and had taught them to dwell in villages and in cities, that he had
taught them to till the earth, or in other words, he had divided it by
boundaries.
The memory of
Uranos (Munteanul), the first traditional king from the lower
In the solemn
oration which is recited on the occasion of this folk feast, Uranos appears
under the name “Toma the rich” (TN –
Toma cel bogat), like Uranos or Montu, who has also the name Thamus and Tum in Egyptian history.
The first kings of
Pelasgian times had been shepherds, owners of fine flocks, herds and horse
studs. “Toma the rich” of Romanian traditions lives his life in the mountains; he treads the valleys,
meadows and plains with his marvelous flocks, herds and horse studs. Toma wears
a “whip of fiery fire” as ensign, a symbol of his pastoral authority and rule.
In the mountainous
regions of Bucovina, this folk festivity, hold in the memory and honor of “Toma
the rich”, takes place in the following way: the villagers, young and old, who
wish to spend the eve of the New Year by the ancestral custom of the
“Vergelul”, gather together that night, as soon as it is dark, to the house of
one of the wealthier peasants, with more clout in the village. The signal for
gathering is given by alphorns (TN – buciume) and pastoral clarions. A clean
white cloth is laid on the table, on top of which is placed a little tub with
freshly drawn water. The youths and girls who take part in this festivity, each
places an object in the tub, rings, beads, earrings, coins, little knives, etc.
Then the prophesizing starts. One of the smarter villagers, called the prophet
(
Who passes and celebrates? Irodia
Domne!
Toma the rich passes, with whip of fiery fire,
The valleys with the sheep,
Toma holds the helm.
The meadows with the heifers, Toma drives the cows,
His cows are very good, Toma can
drive them;
Through all the plains, Toma drives the sheep;
The sheep are big as oxen, Toma follows the sheep.
Toma walks all through the mountains, choosing only fast horses;
From his large horse studs,
he chooses two strong horses,
For the wine he departs, towards the servants so he speaks…
Now, my dear youths…, the Old
year, look, it ends,
And the New one, look, appears.
You go now and kill an ox,
Tomorrow is the New Year, and
after making good roasts,
Let’s drink the gurgling wine.
The signs in this vase, they
are lots for you to draw,
To draw lots of joy, from the
year to come;
Take out a sign and say the truth: Tomorrow, which year do I begin?
(Marian, Serbatorile la Romani. I. 53
seqq; Sezatoarea, Falticeni, II.
209).
After ending the
recitation of these solemn verses, a 10 to 13 years old boy draws out a sign
from the vase with the water, and the “vergelatoriul” prophesizes to the owner
what sort of luck the first day of the New Year will bring him or her. The
ceremony is repeated then: the “vergelatoriul” touches again the vase with the
rods, recites the same verses, the second sign is taken out, and he prophesizes
to the owner his or her luck which the day of the Epiphany will bring in the
year to come; and the procedure is continued until all the objects are taken
out of the vase with the water, and all the more important feast days of the
year are mentioned, days which will bring happiness, prosperity and joy to
everybody but in particular to those who had come to find what the new year
will bring them. In the formula of the above folk oration is invoked after each
verse “Irodia Domna” or “Arodia Domna” (TN – Irodia or Arodia
Lady), the personification of universal regeneration or bearing of fruit (TN –
a rodi = to bear fruit).
The entire spirit
of this traditional feast day has a very ancient historical character.
“Toma the rich”,
whose memory is celebrated in the above verses, appears as a venerated
ancestor. He is a legendary shepherd, rich, who teaches his people to know when
a new year starts, which are the main feast days of the year, and prophesizes
happy events for those who place lots
in the traditional vase with fresh water, symbol of prosperity and divination.
It is a
reminiscence of the same belief hold in a remote age by the inhabitants from
Atlas (or Oltul) mountain: that Uranos, who had ruled over those regions, had
taught them how to know the entire system of the year, and that he prophesized
for them many things which were later happening in the sky (Diodorus Siculus, lib. III. 56).
In the rite of this
popular festivity we also find some important elements of the ancient cult of
Uranos.
At
The priests and
prophets of
These glorious
ancestors of the Pelasgian nation appear under an entirely different aspect in
the heroic songs of the Romanian
people. In religious carols they appear as sacred personalities; in the heroic
songs though, which are the work of worldly singers (andres asidoi, viri cantores, with Hesiodus, Theog. v. 95), they have a
more profane character, more historical than theological. They are presented as
men desiring glory, with human passions and weaknesses. They love, despise and
fight each other. They usually party at big tables, feasting and merry making,
from where they later depart straight to wars, or to love adventures.
In these
traditional Romanian songs, the personality of Uranos appears under the name Toma Alimos, “Toma al lui Mos” (TN –
mos = old man, grandfather, or forefather), or “Toma Lumos”, while in the
solemn oration recited on the eve of the new year he is called “Toma the rich”,
and “Thamus”, “Tum” and “Mos” in Egyptian traditions [1].
[1. In prehistoric antiquity, the founders of dynasties were honored with
the title “mosi” and venerated with
a religious cult. The Trojans
considered Jove, (understand Uranos), a “mos” of theirs (Virgil, Aen. VII. 220). The ancient Latinii venerated as “mosi” (ex ordine avorum) Italus, Sabinus,
Saturnus (Virgil, Aen. VII. 177;
VI. 891). The Scythii venerated
Uranos under the name Papaeos = mos
(Greek pappos, Lat. pappus);
in the Macedo-Romanian language “papaus(h)” means “old mos” (Delametra, Dict. mac.- rom. 162). In
“Toma al lui Mos”
is a “strongman tall in stature, a brave man like no other”. He has sheep
flocks, cattle herds, and horse studs; so many, that they graze all the grass
and drink all the water on their way.
In the same heroic
songs which speak about Toma al lui Mos, Saturn
figures under the name Manea, as he
is called: Manes, the son of Gaea,
in the historic traditions of the Pelasgian Tursenii of Asia Minor (Herodotus, lib. I. 94; IV. 95; Dionysius Hal. lib. I. 27); Menes, Mena or Manis in
“Toma al lui Mos”
is a brave man from the low Country
(Tera de jos), from the eastern parts of the Tera Romanesca, and Manea rules
over the western parts, and is called “master of the Jii”.
We arrive now at
the Romanian folk rhapsody which describes the fight of Manea with Toma a lui
Mos, and which is one of our finest and important traditional poems. Manea,
doing the rounds of his estates, finds the grasses grazed and the waters drunk
by the numerous flocks of Toma. He attacks him on the unawares, and cuts him with
his broadsword, at the fork of his chest, at the girdling of his belt.
The text of this
poem is the following, according to the version from
At the hollow with
the five elms, with five elms from the one trunk,
There camped, there
happened, strongman Toma Alimos,
Youth from the
lower country…
Version 1. Sat Toma Alimos, boyar from the low country.
2. Sits Toma
Alimos, tall in stature, great in counsel, and brave like no other.
3. Savai Toma d’Alimos, Savai from the low country.
4. Someone
like Toma Alimos,
5. There
happened, there camped, even Toma d’Alimos.
[2. Here
He sat, for a while
he sat, but hunger took him…
And he started to
eat …and from his mouth so he said:
“Much I would
appreciate, to have a strongman by me,
To drink a glass of
wine with him, I have no one to share a toast with.
I would toast, and
toast again, I would toast the weapons,
The weapons and the clubs; the weapons
are cold irons,
Sheathed by dry
wood, they cannot thank me, they have nothing to tell me.
I would toast, and
toast again, I would toast the horse,
The horse and my
companion; it has ears to hear, but no mouth to speak.
I would toast, and toast
again, I would toast the leaves,
The leaves and the branches.
Version 1. I would toast the woods, the elms and the oaks,
The
firs, the maples, they are my
little brothers.
2. I would
toast the elms, the giants of the ridges,
Which
are ready to answer me, with joyful
rustling of leaves,
In the air they shall bend, and to me they
shall bow.
The big wind
gathered, branches bent,
Leaves scattered,
to him they seemed to bow.
Version 1. And the elms when they heard, they dropped their branches,
Their tops they bent, and Toma they thanked.
The weapons from sheaths came out, and the
horse neighed.
To his mouth he
placed the bottle…. And with his eyes he looked,
What he saw, he
much enjoyed, a strongman was what he saw,
And he knew him, as
he was the strongman Manea.
Version 1. Exactly Manea
of the plains, the master of the Jii,
The master of estates, the flirt of the
girls, the lover of wives.
2. Savai Mane of the plains … cheater of
the Lords.
He came to Toma,
good day he wished him,
And from his mouth he scolded him:
“Tomo from the low
country, who brought you here,
Maybe black sins of
mine, or short days of yours?”
Version 1. “You, Toma, with your flocks,
You my waters have drunk, and my grasses
have grazed”.
2. “Why do you trespass
on our estates, and why do you spoil our hay fields?”
But Toma spoke to
him like this: “You, Maneo, brother Maneo,
Drop your anger,
come here to make merry,
Let’s drink a glass
of wine, I have no one with whom to toast”.
But Manea ……he
answered like this: “If you so much love me,
I shall come near
you, you with the bottle shall toast,
But do not keep
your eyes on me”.
And Toma listened
to him, as he fear did not know,
The bottle to his
mouth he lifted, with his eyes he did not look.
And Manea began,
his sword to draw,
Over his belly he
hit him, his guts he spilled.
Version 1. Manea his left hand
stretched, to take the bottle and drink,
And with his right, what did he do? Small blade he
twisted,
His belly he
touched.
2. Manea with his left hand took, with his right he armed
himself,
From his bosom,
blade he drew, and so well he turned it round,
And so well he
aimed it, that he cut Toma,
At the fork of his
chest, at the girdling of his belt.
3. With one hand he held the bottle, with the other drew out
the toothed blade.
4. When the sun dropped towards evening, he felled Toma.
And where did he
run and hide? Under that caved-in cliff,
Where he’d escaped before. And poor
Toma,
He stared at his guts, and began to
gather them,
In his belly he pushed them, and
with a cloth he tied them,
To the horse he talked like this:
“You horse, my little horse,
Listen to what I have to tell you:
come to me,
To climb on you,
Manea to follow….
He has shortened my
days, and had cut me like a woman,
But I shall cut him
like a brave man”.
The horse
understood him, to Toma he came,
A little he
kneeled, Toma climbed on him,
Manea he followed.
Where he reached him,
In two he split
him, dead he left him.
Back he turned
then, the hollow he reached,
And from his mouth
he said like this:
“You horse, my
little horse, now it is my turn to die.
Version 1. “You horse, my little horse, may God keep you,
By me to stay, tonight I shall die”.
2. “And take me with the
speed of thought
There, to those ridges,
to the hollow with
the five elms”.
If I shall die,
with your hoof you should scratch,
And a pit you
should dig me, with your teeth drag me in,
The great wind will
gather, lots of leaves will drop, me they shall bury”…
A little time
passed, and Toma died.
And his horse
began, with his hoof to scratch,
A little pit he
dug, with his teeth he dragged him in,
The great wind
gathered, lots of leaves dropped, and buried Toma [3].
Version 1. His soul he gave up, the woods
shivered,
Elms and firs shook, oaks and maples bent,
His brow they cooled, his hand they kissed,
And with rustling they mourned him.
[3. As results from his Theogony (v.
178-182), Hesiodus knew a version of
this folk song, because some verses of his seem to be just a simple imitation
of the ancient song reproduced above. The borrowing from the folk text is shown
especially by the words “he stretched his left hand, while with the right he
caught the terrible broadsword, long and with sharp teeth”.
In the version published by Radulescu-Codin, the roles are
inversed. Here Toma Damolschi cuts Manea, and the elm leaves cover the
fallen Manea. Under this form, this tradition was also known to the ancient
Egyptians (Pierret, Le Pantheon
egyptien, p. 54: Seb - Saturn is
often figured lying on the ground, all his members covered with foliage) ].
As we see, we have
here the same ancient tradition also found in the Greek theogony.
According to
Hesiodus, Saturn the “astute”, attacks Uranos during the night, and cuts his
genitals with a broadsword, or a sword, or a curved toothed sword. In the
Romanian tradition, Manea, the “cheater of the Lords”, attacks Toma al lui Mos
in the same way, suddenly, with a broadsword or a toothed sword (TN – “ager”),
cuts his belly and then runs to the caved-in cliff, where he had escaped
before.
In the above
ancient song, Toma al lui Mos is the “little brother of the woods, of the firs
and the elms”, as with Hesiodus Uranos is a brother of the “High mountains” (Ourea
machra).
Like Uranos, Toma
al lui Mos dies during the night, or about the time when the sun sets (Arbore, Basarabia, p. 187).
Tum (Montu or
Uranos) of Egyptian theology was also called the “setting sun” [4].
[4. We have another important
detail, proving the identification of Toma
al lui Mos with Tum or Montu of
In the version published by Corcea (Balade, p. 20), it is said at
the end that Toma had a brother in the Turkish
country, who later came, removed Toma’s remains from the sunken place
(Gropana) with five elms, and took and buried them with great pomp in a big village in the Turkish country.
Theba of
In the ancient
Greek theogonies we have the same characters as in the Romanian folk poem, and
the action takes place in the same way.
When Toma toasts,
he is saluted and thanked by the ridges of the mountains with their huge trees,
and with the great wind; and when he dies, the woods shiver and bend down, while the elms, the firs, the oaks
and the maples mourn him with their rustling, and the great wind covers him
with their leaves.
Here Toma al lui
Mos has something of the majestic and the divine. He is a personality superior
to all the heroes of antiquity.
In this heroic
poem, Toma has the symbolic
characteristics of Zeus anaxi Pelasgichos of
At