The Legend of the Turul Hawk
by Fred Hamori
The "Turul" is a giant mythical falcon, a messenger of god in Hungarian mythology, who sits on top of the tree of life along with the other spirits of unborn children in the form birds. She is often replaced by the sun in illustrations of the tree of life. (The word "Turul" is common with the Turkic "Togrul". In the Altaic languages it is a vulture, and in Sumerian it is called the im- "Dugud" eagle, which is a lion headed giant bird.) In Asian legends the Turul brings the priesthood first to the woman Emeshe (EMESH means priestess in Sumerian, Anton Diemel, "Sumerich-Akkadisches Glossar, pg 92) and her son by causing her to be fertile. They and their descendants are the first priests (KHAM), who can read the will of god from the heavens and stars. The Turul is also the symbol of the house of Atilla as well as the Hungarian Бrpбd dynasty kings of Hungary. The following mythical story explains the origin of this dynasty and its symbolism. (The Бrpбd name can be found from ancient Egypt, as the name of early dynasty kings "Erpat" to northern Mesopotamia, in the Mede rulers Arpaxad and cities of Arpad, from ancient times. It can also be simply from Бrpa meaning barley?)
According to the legend of origin of the Бrpбd clan, it was the divine intervention of god, through his messenger the Turul, which founded the royal family. The following is a recounting of the legend by the chronicler "Anonymous", the royal scribe of King Bйla III (1172-1196).(Bйla=Bay-la)
"In the year of our lord 819, Ьgyek, the descendant of King Magog (The Scythian King Magog of the Bible lived in Northern Mesopotamia during the reign of the Assyrian king, Ashur-banipal, according to surviving Assyrian records.) and a royal leader of the land of Scythia, married the daughter of Ened-Belia, whose name was Emeshe. From her was born their first son Бlmos.(In modern Hungarian the name Бlmos means sleepy/dreamer, the ancient Ugrian form of the word dream however was ADOM, ADAM. The Kiev Chronicles called him Olma.)
"The boy obtained his name because of the unusual circumstances of his birth, when his mother in a vision saw the great Turul descend from heaven on her and made her fertile. A great spring welled forth from her womb and began flowing westward. It grew and grew until it became a torrent which swept over the snow covered mountains into the beautiful lowlands on the other side. There the waters stopped and from the water grew a wondrous tree with golden branches. She imagined famed kings were to be born from her descendants, who shall rule not here in their present lands but over that distant land in her dreams, surrounded with tall mountains."
Бlmos, the new son, was born to Emeshe and he grew up to be a dark complexioned, handsome black-eyed young man, who was slender and very tall. He became a good-natured, generous and wise leader and a brave warrior. When he reached maturity he became the greatest and most powerful and the wisest of the leaders of Scythia, and for that reason, everyone in the country sought his advice on matters of importance. When he became an adult, he married the daughter of a prominent family and from their union was born their son Бrpбd, whom he brought to Pannonia [the ancient name of Hungary] and who became the military commander-in-chief of the invasion and the elected king of the united nations of Megyer, Kari, Kasi, Jenц, Kьrt-Gyarmat, Nyйk, Tarjбn.(The tribal-national names survived in various place names in Hungary) Бlmos was a great diplomat who later made alliances with the Greeks, the Kazar tribes to which the Hungarians were once allied, with and the Kabars tribes who also quit the Kazars and joined the Hungarians. The Kazars tried to keep the Hungarians from leaving their alliance and turned the eastern Petchegen Turks.
"Since the land of Scythia became too crowded with the many other local nations, and the land could no longer support them all nor accept them after their death, they decided to leave." There were also growing pressures from the expanding Mohamedan empires toward the south, pushing refugees from these areas, including Magyar clans, from the Caucasus Mtns. (The battles of Al Laks 739-740 AD, and their leader "Upas Ibn Madjar" are refered to by the Arab historians Baladhuri and Bal'ami. Discussed in Victor Padбnyi's book, Dentь-magyaria) Religious rivalry among the Kazars, who had large Muslim, Christian, and Jewish as well as the ancient Magian, and Shamanic faiths represented also caused the disunity of the empire, which exhibited freedom of religion unheard of anywhere else in this age.
"The seven chiefs of the seven nations who to this day are called the Hetumoger (7 Magyars) could no longer bear to live in their crowded and troubled lands and decided to leave their ancestral homeland and go where there was bountiful land. They selected the land of Pannonia, because it was a good rich land and was once the land of Atilla the ancestor of Бlmos, the father of Бrpбd."
"The seven rulers fully realized that the only way to succeed in the difficult venture was to unite under a common ruler and commander. Therefore with common will and free choice they elected Бlmos as their leader and guaranteed the leadership to him and his descendants. They told him, "From this day forward we select you as our leader and lord and whichever way your fortune leads, we shall follow you." After their custom each of the rulers cut themselves on their arm and let a small amount of their blood mix in an urn, representing the unification of their nations, and they made a solemn oath of loyalty and devotion to their new unity. They believed that all such oaths shall be observed until their death, saying: "As long as we shall live, as well as the lives of our descendants, we and our descendants shall be led by Almos and his descendants." The second part of the oath was as follows: "All the property we shall obtain in common, we shall share equally." The third part of the oath was: "If any of the descendants should be disloyal to the ruler and cause discord among the ruler and his relatives, then shall their blood pour out as ours does now as we make the bond of blood with you." The fifth part of the oath was as follows: "If anyone of the descendants breaks this oath should he be forever cursed."
They organized and prepared for their long journey with great care and moved from the land of Scythia, which many early Hungarians called Hetumagyar, in memory of the original ancient Scythia on the borderlands of Persia. (In the ancient legends of Persia, the Zend Avesta, the ancient Scythian nation of "Haetumat" was located in Sakastan "scythia" east of Persia.) and moved to the "land between the rivers", which in the old language was known as "Atil-kцz". Atil or Etel meant great river or water.)
"This was their temporary homeland for several years until they thoroughly scouted the surrounding lands and made alliances with their new neighbors." The Russian Kiev Chronicles recount this period well since this city was part of their country for a long time and, for a period before the occupation of Hungary, it was the residence of Бlmos. The chronicle continues: "Their next step was to prepare for the occupation of the future homeland and the unification with their western Hungarian relatives the "White Hungarians", who settled in Hungary with the Avars. Some say the late Avars were in fact Hungarians who settled in 670AD, and that is why some of the Hungarian Chronicles give this year as the year of settlement rather than the date of the Magyar confederations date of arrival in 896 AD. (Lбszlу Gyula, Kettцs Honfoglalбs, Budapest 1978, pg 83)