Kurdalægon ( os, Куырдалӕгон), also spelled and known as Kuịrdalägon, Kurd-Alägon, Aläugon, Kurd-Alä-Uärgon, is the heavenly
deity of
blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
s in
Ossetian mythology
Ossetian mythology is the collective term for the beliefs and practices of the Ossetian people of the Caucasus region, which contains several gods and supernatural beings. The religion itself is believed to be of Scythian origin, but contains many ...
.
His epithet is "the heavenly one"; he shoes the dead man's horse, thus helping him on his journey to the other side. He is a close friend of the
Narts.
It is important to note that despite being associated with other blacksmith deities in different Indo-European mythologies (like Vulcan) he does not have the status of a god. Ossetian mythology is considered to be monotheistic, with only
Xwytsau being considered God, and all the others (called ''zædtæ'' and ''dæwdžytæ'') being considered deities of a lower class.
Etymology
Ossetian is a
contraction of , where ''Kurd'' and ''Alæ'' are
epithets, meaning "
blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
" and "
Alan/
Aryan", respectively, and ''Wærgon'' is the original name of Kurdalægon. The whole phrase means "Alan/Aryan Blacksmith Wærgon". ''Kurd'' originates from ''*kur-ta-'' or ''*kur-tar-'', which is
agent noun of ''*kur-'' "to heat", "to incandesce". Ossetian ''alæ'' originates from ''arya-'', and originally meant "
Aryan", and later "
Alan".
The original name ''Wærgon'' is derived from
Old Ossetic ''*wærg'' "
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
" (see
Warg). The linguist
Vasily Abaev
Vaso (Vasily) Ivanovich Abaev ( os, Абайты Иваны фырт Васо; russian: Василий Иванович Абаев, also transliterated as Abayev and Abayti; 15 December 1900 – 18 March 2001) was an ethnically Ossetian Soviet ...
compares it to the name of the Roman god
Vulcan
Vulcan may refer to:
Mythology
* Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...
.
See also
*
Tlepsh Tlepsh ( Adyghe Лъэпш ) is a mythological figure who appears (as a blacksmith and also a powerful leader) in some cycles of the Nart sagas of the Caucasus, in which his Ossetian counterpart is the smith Kurdalægon. Tlepsh's name is a borrowi ...
*
Vulcan
Vulcan may refer to:
Mythology
* Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...
*
Kaveh the Blacksmith
Kaveh the Blacksmith ( fa, کاوه آهنگر – Kāve Āhangar ), is a 5000-year-old figure in Iranian mythology who leads a popular uprising against a ruthless foreign ruler, Zahāk. His story is narrated in the ''Shahnameh'', the national ...
References
Sources
*
Abaev, V.I. Historical-Etymological Dictionary of Ossetian language'
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurdalaegon
European gods
Ossetian mythology
Smithing gods