Nykhas Uastyrdzhi ( os, Ныхас Уастырджи, ) is the name of

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

in Ossetian folklore. Uastyrdzhi is the patron of the male sex and travellers as well as being a guarantor of oaths, like his Iranian counterpart

Mithra Mithra ( ae, ''Miθra'', peo, 𐎷𐎰𐎼 ''Miça'') commonly known as Mehr, is the Iranian deity of covenant, light, oath, justice and the sun. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing ...

with whom he shares a common origin. It is forbidden for women to pronounce his name; instead, they must refer to him as ''laegty dzuar'' (literally, "the saint of men"). Rural people have various other names for him such as ''Uastylag'' among others. Uastyrdzhi is invoked in the national anthems of both

North Ossetia–Alania The Republic of North Ossetia–Alania; os, Республикӕ Цӕгат Ирыстон — Алани, ''Respublikæ Cægat Iryston — Alani'', ) is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. Its population acco ...

and

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

. He is depicted as a horseman with a long beard, riding on a

white horse A white horse is born predominantly white and stays white throughout its life. A white horse has mostly pink skin under its hair coat, and may have brown, blue, or hazel eyes. "True white" horses, especially those that carry one of the dominant ...

. A large public ceremony devoted to him is held in early July at Khetag's Grove (), a wood situated three kilometres outside of

Alagir Alagir (russian: Алаги́р; os, Алагир) is an industrial town and the administrative center of Alagirsky District in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia, located on the west bank of the Ardon River, west of the republic's c ...

, near Suadag village. According to legend, Khetag () was the son of an

Alanian The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the Ala ...

king who consecrated the grove to Uastyrdzhi. Another important ceremony in honour of Uastyrdzhi is held beside a shrine called Rekom in the Tsey Valley in mid-June. Since the

fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, the cult of Uastyrdzhi has enjoyed renewed popularity in Ossetian nationalism, and there have been several claims of visitations. The attitude of the local

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

towards Uastyrdzhi is ambivalent. The festival of Jiorgwêba () is celebrated in Uastyrdzhi's honour in November (and is eponymous of the month's name in Ossetian). It involves the

sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...

of a one-year-old bull. To indicate that the victim belongs to the god, its right horn is cut off long before, forbidding any herdsman to swear on it.

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ОСЕТИНСКИЕ ПРАЗДНИКИ "Ossetian holidays"
(in Russian)

, accessed November, 2008 {{Saint George Ossetian mythology Saint George (martyr) Eastern Orthodox Christian culture Supernatural beings identified with Christian saints

See also

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