:Alatyr (mythology)

{{otheruse|Alatyr (disambiguation){{!}}Alatyr}}

The Alatyr is a sacred stone in Russian folklore.{{cite book |last1=Bane |first1=Theresa |title=Encyclopedia of Mythological Objects |date=22 June 2020 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-7688-3 |page=13 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Mythological_Objects/RAnoDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |language=en |quote=In Russian folklore, Alatyr is a magical stone with the ability to heal...}}{{cite book |last1=Oinas |first1=Felix J. |last2=Soudakoff |first2=Stephen |title=The Study of Russian Folklore |date=18 March 2019 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-081391-3 |page=319 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Study_of_Russian_Folklore/tiqLDwAAQBAJ |language=en}} It is the "father to all stones", the navel of the earth, containing sacred letters and endowed with healing properties. Although the name Alatyr appears only in East Slavic sources, the awareness of the existence of such a stone exists in various parts of the Slavdom. It is often mentioned in stories and referred to in love spells as "a mighty force that has no end."

In the Dove Book, the Alatyr is associated with an altar located in the "navel of the world", in the middle of the world ocean, on the Buyan island. On it stands the World tree. The stone is endowed with healing and magical properties. Spiritual verses describe how "from under the white-alatyr-stone" flows a miraculous source that gives the whole world "food and healing." The Alatyr is guarded by the wise snake Garafena and the bird Gagana.{{sfn|Meletinsky|1990|p=33}}

Etymology

File:Балтийский янтарь. Старение янтаря..jpg

The stone is usually called Alatyr ({{langx|ru|Алатырь}}), Alabor ({{langx|ru|ала́бор}}), Alabyr ({{langx|ru|ала́бы́рь}}) or Latyr ({{langx|ru|ла́тырь}}) and sometimes white stone or blue stone. Alatyr has an uncertain etymology. The name has been compared to the word "altar"{{cite web |title=Veselovsky |url=https://www.pravenc.ru/text/158220.html |publisher=pravenc.ru |access-date=2020-03-20 |language=ru}} and to the town of Alatyr. According to Oleg Trubachyov, the word alatyr is of Slavic origin and is related to the Russian word for amber: янтарь yantar. According to {{ill|Viktor Martynov|ru|Мартынов, Виктор Владимирович (лингвист)}}, the word alatyr derives from the Iranic *al-atar, literally "white-burning", and the epithet the white stone is a calque of the stone's original name.

According to Roman Jakobson in a review of Max Vasmer's {{ill|Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language|lt=Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language|ru|Этимологический словарь русского языка Макса Фасмера|WD=}}:

{{quote|The most precious and miraculous stone (stone for all stones) of Russian folklore, "alatyr" or "latir" is undoubtedly an alternation of the word "latygor" (derived from Latgalia) and means a Latvian stone, which is to say, amber.{{sfn|Vasmer|1986|p=69}}}}

In literature

In Russian folklore it is a sacred stone, the “father to all stones”,{{sfn|Meletinsky|1990|p=33}} the navel of the earth, containing sacred letters and endowed with healing properties.{{sfn|Petrukhin|1995|p=31}} Although the name Alatyr appears only in East Slavic sources, the awareness of the existence of such a stone exists in various parts of the Slavdom. It is often mentioned in stories, and is referred to in love spells as "a mighty force that has no end."{{cite wikisource|wslanguage=ru |wslink=МЭСБЕ/Алатырь (в русской мифологии)|title=Alatyr (in Russian mythology) |work=Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron |date=1907–1909|p=31}}

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: In the middle of the blue sea lies the Latyr stone;

: many sailors sail on the sea,

: they stop at that stone;

: they take much medicine from it,

: they send it all over the wide world.

: That is why the Latyr sea is the father of seas,

: That is why the Latyr stone is the father of stones!{{Cite book |last=Nadezhdin |first=Nikolai |title=О русских народных мифах и сагах в применении их к географии и особенно этнографии русской |volume=8 |page=35 |trans-title=About Russian folk myths and sagas as applied to geography and especially Russian ethnography |author-link=Nikolai Nadezhdin}}

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: Cреди моря синяго лежит латырь-камень;

: идут по морю много корабельщиков,

: у того камня останавливаются;

: они берут много с него снадобья,

: посылают по всему свету белому.

: Потому Латырь-море морям отец,

: Потому Латырь-камень каменям отец!

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: Под восточной стороной есть окиан-синее-море,

: на том окияне на синем море лежит бело-латырь-камень,

: на том бело-латыре-камне стоит святая золотая церковь,

: во той золотой церкви стоит свят золот престол,

: на том злате престоле сидит сам Господь Исус Христос, Михаил-архангел, Гавриил-архангел ...{{Cite book |last=Korinfsky |first=Apollon |url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D1%8C_(%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%84%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9)/%D0%A1%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B5_%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B5 |title=Народная Русь (Коринфский)/Сине море |language=ru |author-link=Apollon Korinfsky}}

: To the East there is an ocean-blue-sea,

: on that ocean, on the blue sea, lies the white Latyr-stone,

: on that white Latyr-stone stands a holy golden church,

: in that golden church stands a holy golden throne,

: on that golden throne sits the Lord Jesus Christ himself, Michael the archangel, Gabriel the archangel ...

Dove book

: С-под камешка, с-под белого латыря

: Протекли реки, реки быстрые

: По всей земле, по всей вселенную —

: Всему миру на исцеление,

: Всему миру на пропитание...{{Cite book |last=Korinfsky |first=Apollon |url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D1%8C_(%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%84%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9)/%D0%A1%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B5_%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B5 |title=Народная Русь (Коринфский)/Сине море |language=ru |author-link=Apollon Korinfsky}}

: From underneath the little stone, from underneath the white Latyr

: Rivers flowed, swift rivers,

: All over the earth, all over the universe -

: To bring healing for the whole world ,

: To bring food for the whole world...

In Polish folk culture and language the stone is located on the borderline of the worlds, beyond the places of human residence. On the stone, things are happening related to change or the state of waiting for it. It symbolizes the center of the world and the transition from one world to another, it is related to the dead and evil spirits. In folklore this stone is named white stone, cerulean stone, grey stone, golden stone, sea stone, heavenly/paradisiac stone, and less often black stone.{{sfn|Bartmiński|1996|p=349}} White stone together with water and a tree is in a sacred place. It is connected with fertility (a girl is waiting on a stone for a boy or waiting with him, waiting for her state to change, lovers are parting, etc.), death (Jesus dies on the stone) and lies somewhere far away (behind the city, behind the village, in paradise).{{sfn|Bartmiński|1996|pp=381–384}} The golden stone occurs mainly in wedding and love songs, less often others and usually occurs with a lily (wedding flower).{{sfn|Bartmiński|1996|pp=384–386}} God's feet are stones on which Jesus, Mary, Mother of God or the saints left their footprints, handprints or traces of objects (e.g. Mary tripped and left a mark on the stone; St. Adalbert taught on the stone and left a trace of footprints). These stones are directly called altars, sacrifices are made on them, are built into churches or church altars; they are considered sacred and have healing powers.{{sfn|Bartmiński|1996|pp=390–394}} In Polish folklore there is also the devil's stone and as such it does not appear in cultures other than Slavic. This stone lies abroad in distant lands, but instead of prosperity brings misfortune. The folklore does not speak about the origin of the stone but about the fact that it was brought by the devil to demolish a church, castle or other building.{{sfn|Bartmiński|1996|pp=386–390}}

In popular culture

The Legend of the Young Boyar Duke Stepanovich (In that rich India ...) (Duke Stepanovich)

{{quote|An eagle is sitting on a stone, Whether on a stone on a plate}}

Poem by K. D. Balmont, Alatyr Stone (1906)
Short story by Yevgeny Zamyatin, Alatyr (1914){{Cite book |last=Zamyatin |first=Yevgeny |title=Short Stories : Alatyr', Sever, Bich Bozhiy, Lovec Chelovekov |date=January 17, 2017 |publisher=Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US |isbn=978-1-78435-209-7 |author-link=Yevgeny Zamyatin}}

Ancient Slav tales tell of "the white burning stone on Buyan", possibly referring to Alatyr.{{Cite book |last=Brlic-Mazuranic |first=Ivana |title=Croatian Tales of Long Ago |publisher=Frederick A. Stokes Co. |year=1922 |location=New York |pages=256–257 |translator-last=Fanny S. Copeland |ol=OL13446306M |ol-access=free}}

In Latvian, Belarusian and Russian healing charms, a raven is invoked as a helping animal: it is called upon to take away the disease from the patient, fly away to the ocean and place the illness on a white or gray stone. In a Russian charm, this stone is explicitly called "Latyr-stone".{{Cite book |last=Vaitkevičienė |first=Daiva |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7829/j.ctt2tt29w.12 |title=Baltic and East Slavic Charms |work=The Power of Words: Studies on Charms and Charming in Europe |publisher=Central European University Press |year=2013 |editor-last=Ryan William |pages=222–223 |jstor=10.7829/j.ctt2tt29w.12 |isbn=9786155225109 |editor2-last=Pócs Éva}}

References

Bibliography

{{Cite book |last=Bartmiński|first=Jerzy|title=Słownik stereotypów i symboli ludowych. Kosmos. 1, Niebo, światła niebieskie, ogień, kamienie|publisher=Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej|year=1996|isbn=83-227-0901-3|volume=1|location=Lublin|language=pl|trans-title=Dictionary of stereotypes and folk symbols. Cosmos. 1, Heaven, heavenly lights, fire, stones}}
{{ВТ-ЭСБЕ|Голубиная книга|ref=Брокгауз и Ефрон}}
{{cite book | title = Голубиная книга | trans-title = Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary | location = St. Petersburg | quote= 1907-1909}}
{{Cite book |last=Korinfsky|first=Apollon|url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D1%8C_(%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%84%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9)/%D0%A1%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B5_%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B5|title=Народная Русь : Круглый год сказаний, поверий, обычаев и пословиц русского народа|publisher=Izdaniye knigoprodavtsa M. V. Klyukina|year=1901|language=ru|trans-title=Folk Russia: All year round tales, beliefs, customs and proverbs of the Russian people}}
{{Cite book | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LbcnAAAAYAAJ |title= Алатырь |work=Soviet Encyclopedia |year=1990 |isbn=5-85270-032-0 |editor-first=E.M. |editor-last=Meletinsky |page=333 |publisher= Советская энциклопедия |language=ru |trans-title=Alatyr }}
{{Cite book |last=Petrukhin |first=Vladimir |url=https://openlibrary.org/books/OL586238M/Slavi%CD%A1a%EF%B8%A1nskai%CD%A1a%EF%B8%A1_mifologii%CD%A1a%EF%B8%A1 |title=Алатырь |work=Slavi͡a︡nskai͡a︡ mifologii͡a︡ |publisher=Ėllis Lak |year=1995 |isbn=5-7195-0057-X |location=Moscow |pages=31–416 |trans-title=Alatyr |ol=586238M |author-link=Vladimir Petrukhin}}
{{Cite book |title=Этимологический словарь русского языка М. Фасмера |language=ru |trans-title=Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language |editor-first= Max |editor-last= Vasmer |year=1986 | url = https://archive.org/stream/EtimologicheskySlovar}}

External links

{{Cite web | url = https://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=%2fusr%2flocal%2fshare%2fstarling%2fmorpho&morpho=1&basename=morpho\vasmer\vasmer&first=1 | title = Alatyr | work = Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language = Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch }}
{{wikisource-inline|ru:МЭСБЕ/Алатырь (в русской мифологии)|Alatyr (in Russian mythology) // Small encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron}}
{{wikisource-inline|ru:ТСД2/Алабор|Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language}}

Category:Russian mythology

Category:Mythological objects