Dali (goddess)
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Dali (also Daal or Dæl; ) is a goddess from the
mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
of the
Georgian people Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Georgian kingdoms. Significant Georgian diasp ...
of the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
region. She is a hunting goddess who serves as the patron of hoofed wild mountain animals such as
ibex An ibex ( : ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa. T ...
es and
deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
. Hunters who obeyed her numerous
taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
s would be assured of success in the hunt; conversely, she would harshly punish any who violated them. She is most prominently attested in the stories of the Svan ethnic subgroup in northwestern Georgia. Other groups in western Georgia had similar figures considered equivalent to Dali, such as the
Mingrelian Mingrelian may refer to: *the Mingrelians *the Mingrelian language The Mingrelian or Megrelian language ( ) is a Kartvelian language spoken in Western Georgia (regions of Mingrelia and Abkhazia), primarily by the Mingrelians. Mingrelian has hist ...
goddess Tkashi-Mapa (). She was usually described as a beautiful nude woman with golden hair and glowing skin, although she sometimes took on the form of her favored animals, usually with some marking to differentiate her from the herd. She was said to reside in a cavern high in the mountains, where she kept watch over the hoofed game animals who live on the cliffs. Dali was styled with a variety of regional
epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...
s reflecting her different roles and associations. Stories of the Svan people depict her taking human lovers and killing them out of jealousy, giving birth to sons such as the
culture hero A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group (Culture, cultural, Ethnic group, ethnic, Religion, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or Discovery (observation), discovery. Although many culture heroes help with ...
Amirani, and later clashing with her rival
Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...
. Some myths depict her working alongside other forest deities, and she is sometimes accompanied by the legendary hunting dog Q'ursha. After the rise of Christianity in Georgia, Dali's importance as a goddess waned, which was reflected in changes to stories told about her. Saint George was presented as having the power to overrule her, and she began to be conflated with a malicious nature spirit called the ''
ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...
''. Many authors have described parallels between Dali and stories from other
mythologies Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
. As a patron of the hunt associated with hoofed beasts, she has been compared with
Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...
of
Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
, a
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hag called the ''
glaistig The glaistig is a ghost from Scottish mythology, a type of fuath. It is also known as ''maighdean uaine'' — the Green Maiden — and may appear as a human guise, woman of beauty or hag, monstrous Wiktionary:mien#English, mien, as a half-woman a ...
'', and the maiden who tames the
unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...
. Her associations with gold, seduction, and the morning star have led scholars to draw connections with goddesses such as
Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...
and
Ishtar Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...
, who have similar mythological themes. Her story remains an important part of Georgian cultural consciousness, and she is often referenced with
eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
s and literary allusions. Although younger people treat her as a figure from mythology, some older hunters still consider her to be a real figure one might encounter deep in the forest.


Origins

Dali is attested primarily in surviving pieces of Svan folklore: myths, ballads, and round-dance songs. Linguistic anthropologist
Kevin Tuite Kevin Tuite ( Irish: ''Caoimhín de Tiúit''; born April 3, 1954) is a full Professor of Anthropology at the Université de Montréal. He is a citizen of both Canada and Ireland.
regards the surviving texts as fragmentary, representing "but a tiny fraction of the texts that would have been in circulation in the Svaneti of a few centuries ago". He also noted that most of these pieces would have been performed and likely composed by men, leaving any female perspective of Dali unclear. Dali is also attested in
oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...
s recorded in modern academic fieldwork by Georgian academics such as
Vera Bardavelidze Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarra ...
in the 1930s and Elene Virsaladze in the 1950s–1970s. According to Virsaladze, Georgian culture exhibits an extraordinary degree of live retention of ancient folklore and traditions, possibly from as far back as 3,300 years ago. It has been suggested that Dali, along with numerous other deities of Georgian mythology, had her origins in a lost common religion of the Kartvelian peoples. Variations on this idea were supported by the Georgian historians
Nikolai Marr Nikolai Yakovlevich Marr (, ''Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr''; , ''Nikoloz Iak'obis dze Mari''; — 20 December 1934) was a Georgian-born historian and linguist who gained a reputation as a scholar of the Caucasus during the 1910s before embarking o ...
and
Ivane Javakhishvili Ivane Alexandres dze Javakhishvili ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილი; 23 April 1876 – 18 November 1940) was a Georgian historian and linguist whose works heavily influenced the Kartvelian studies, modern scholarship of the ...
, both of whom independently theorized that the similarities in folklore between the various Georgian ethnic groups indicated a common religious origin. Dating the origin of this religion, and therefore of Dali in particular, may be impossible due to the lack of surviving written sources. The only thing that can be stated definitively is that these beliefs predate the adoption of Christianity in Georgia, which archaeological evidence indicates began as early as the
3rd century The 3rd century was the period from AD 201 (represented by the Roman numerals CCI) to AD 300 (CCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. In this century, the Roman Empire saw a crisis, starting with the assassination of the Roman Emperor ...
. Some archaeological artifacts have been suggested to have a connection to Dali.
Folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...
Mikheil Chikovani considered the Trialeti Chalice, a Georgian artifact from approximately the 2nd millennium BCE, to depict a round dance or ritual dedicated to a goddess of the hunt comparable to Dali. He connected the motif of the animals on the lower portion of the chalice to the hoofed animals which Dali protected. Folklorist David Hunt also suggested the Chalice could be a depiction of a mistress of beasts. Some historians have speculated that certain Phasian
drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...
coins from the 4th to 5th century may have depicted Dali or her precursors, although
numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...
John Hind argued against these interpretations in a 2005 paper.


Etymology and epithets

The etymology of Dali's name is unclear. Although many figures in Georgian mythology have origins in figures from the early
Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonl ...
, Dali is not among them. It has been suggested that the name comes from the Georgian word , meaning "morning", or the Ossetian word meaning "demon", but these links are disputed. Tuite has linked the name to the various words for "god" in the
Nakh languages The Nakh languages are a group of languages within the Northeast Caucasian family, spoken chiefly by the Chechens and Ingush in the North Caucasus. Bats is the endangered language of the Bats people, an ethnic minority in Georgia. The Chechen ...
, a group of languages in the Northeast Caucasian language family: " Chechen ''dēla'', Ingush ''dǣlə'',
Bats Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
''dalě''". These words can refer to
Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...
specifically, or can be used as a general term for pre-Islamic deities in the region. It was characteristic for central Caucasian cultures to replace sacred words with substitutes; this lexical replacement was driven by
taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
s against speaking the true words. Tuite believed Dali might originally have had a Svan name that gradually became replaced by the Nakh term for "god" as a result of this process. Dali and her equivalents were also known by various
epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...
s, reflecting local perceptions of the goddess's role or associations. At times she was simply called "Radiant", in reference to her extraordinary beauty. When focusing on her association with
New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...
, she was referred to with the epithet of ''Dæl Ešxwmiš'', or "Dali of New Year's Eve". The Svan called her "the Queen Dali". Because she was said to live high in the mountains, she was sometimes referred to as "Dali of the Rocks". In the
Racha Racha (also Račha, , ''Račʼa'') is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains. Under Georgia's current subdivision, Racha is included in the Racha-Lechkhumi and ...
and
Kakheti Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta. Kakhetians speak the ...
regions she was called "the Mistress of Beasts" and the "Angel of the Crags". The name Tkashi-Mapa, used by the
Mingrelians The Mingrelians (; ka, მეგრელები, tr) are an indigenous Kartvelian-speaking ethnic subgroup of Georgians that mostly live in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti (; ka, სამეგრელო, tr) region of Georgia. They also l ...
, translates as "the Queen of the Woods" or "the Sovereign of the Forest".


Depiction

Traditionally, Dali lived in a cavern high up in the mountains, far away from human settlement. Some traditions specified her home was the distinctive double-peaked mountain
Ushba Ushba ( ka, უშბა) is one of the most notable peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. It is located in the Svaneti region of Georgia, just south of the border with the Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia. Although it does not rank in the 10 highe ...
, whose ice-covered south face was sometimes called ''Dalis panjara'', the Window of Dali (). The cave's exact location varied; it could be on the side of a glacier, or at the summit of the mountain. Sometimes the entrance was concealed by a rock door which Dali opened and closed to hide her dwelling. Rarely, Dali and her flock lived inside an enormous hollowed-out
spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...
tree. As a rule, Dali did not enter civilized spaces such as villages except on rare occasions, such as the funerals of her human lovers. Dali was usually described as a beautiful young woman with long braided hair. She was most often portrayed as nude, occasionally wearing
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
jewellery Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...
. If she wore clothes, they were white. Her skin was so white it was literally radiant. Her beauty was extraordinary: "both irresistible and terrible", it could drive a man to madness if he even spoke to her. Dali's long hair was an important component of her mythology. Her hair was gold-colored; in some cases, it was actually made of gold, and shone like the sun. Some stories depicted this gleaming aspect as fire, describing the goddess leaving "little tongues of flame" in her wake, although this is less prevalent. She would sit on the cliffs combing her hair with a golden comb. In some tales, Dali used her supernaturally-strong hair to bind hunters who wronged her. In one story, she used it to strangle a hunter who had stolen one of her hairs to string his hunting bow. Although strong enough to string a bow with, her hair was not invulnerable; indeed, using Dali's hair to threaten, harm, or kill her was a recurring motif. Multiple tales depict hunters grabbing or cutting Dali's hair in order to subdue and rape her. This tactic did not necessarily prevent the goddess from later taking revenge. In a story about Dali's Mingrelian equivalent Tkashi-Mapa, the goddess agrees to marry a hunter when he threatens to cut off her luxurious hair. He eventually grows tired of her endlessly washing and combing it, and hides her prized comb so she will stop. She destroys his family, killing one of his children and stealing another, and curses his entire line of descendants. Women could also use Dali's hair against her. In one of the major Dali stories, a woman discovers her husband sleeping with Dali. She cuts Dali's hair off in a rage, killing her or banishing her from the world. A superstition recorded in 1971 described how a woman whose man had been away hunting too long might cut her own hair off, praying that God would cut Dali's hair in return, which would force the goddess to allow her husband to return home. In one unusual variation of the hair-cutting motif, a woman wishing to rid her son or her husband of Dali's influence sneaks up on the goddess while she is sleeping and washes her hair, sometimes in deer's milk. Dali is rendered so powerless, or so grateful, by this act that she becomes the woman's servant. Her Mingrelian equivalent could be dismissed with a similar method, using milk from a black cow instead of a deer.


Primary motifs


Game animals and hunting

Dali's primary mythological role was that of the mistress and guardian of hoofed game animals of the mountain. She protected her charges, which included deer, ibex, wild sheep, and goat-antelopes like ''turs'' and
chamois The chamois (; ) (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope native to the mountains in Southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra Mountains, Tatra to the Carpa ...
, just as a shepherd guards a flock. Some stories portray her milking her animals. She was responsible for granting favor or misfortune to hunters, punishing the greedy and ensuring there would always be enough game to go around. Stories involving Dali often feature animals that have been marked as special: either they are Dali's favorites among the herd, or they are the goddess herself in the form of an animal. Examples of these special features include a purely white coat, unusual markings, or golden horns. Dali could vary her size in both her animal and her human forms. When she took the shape of her favored animals, they were often significantly larger or smaller than the usual animals of that kind. She could also make her human form very small: in eastern Georgia, hunters would leave tiny pairs of shoes on the cliffs as an offering to her. Several tales recorded by Georgian folklorist Elene Virsaladze reflect the deadly consequences for a hunter who wounded or killed one of Dali's marked beasts, or hunted too greedily. Two stories describe Dali cursing a hunter's family such that his sons, and later the hunter himself, died as a result. Another story describes Dali destroying the town of Nakvderi with an avalanche as revenge after a hunter wounded a tur marked by the goddess. In another story, a hunter killed a doe and its fawn, and was cursed by the herd's protector to never have any descendants of his own. One Svan story describes the consequences for three brothers who follow one of Dali's mountain goats up into the crags and attempt to shoot it. The first two brothers both miss the goat, and are attacked and killed by Dali, who has been hiding in her cave nearby watching. The third brother watches the goat vanish into Dali's cave, and hides. Dali eventually emerges. The hunter leaps out of hiding, grabs her by the hair, and rapes her. She then becomes his mistress. The story's unusual inclusion of a hunter who overpowers Dali may indicate that it took some influence from an Ossetian legend involving two brothers overcoming a deer-herding witch.


Appeasement through taboos and offerings

Despite her protectiveness towards her animals, Dali was not necessarily hostile to hunters, and would even grant them blessings if they respected certain taboos and made appropriate offerings to her. These taboos typically revolved around concerns about spiritual purity and prevention of
overhunting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...
. Offerings usually involved small personal
sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...
s given before and after the hunt. Dali was perceived as extremely sensitive to any kind of spiritual pollution entering her mountains, which were considered pure and therefore sacred. She demanded that hunters abstain from the hunt if they were impure in any of a number of ways. Impurity usually originated from women and blood, but could also come from use of foul language, commission of adulterous acts, and association with dead bodies. On the night before a hunt, hunters had to refrain from intercourse with any women, even their wives. They had to avoid any contact, sexual or otherwise, with any woman who was menstruating or in childbirth. The wives of hunters were also subject to behavioral taboos. In some regions, "the wives of huntsmen were traditionally forbidden to wash, comb, or unplait their hair" while their husbands were out on the hunt. In an extension of the hunter's menstrual taboo, women were not permitted to eat meat from the hunt while menstruating, pregnant, or in childbirth. Hunting was treated as a sacred act among the Svan. The hunt began with a sacrifice of a ceremonial bread, called ''lamsir'', which was offered to Dali with a prayer. Hunters were taught to not kill more beasts than they could carry, usually one for each man in the hunting party. If their efforts were successful, hunters would make an offering of organ meat to Dali in thanksgiving. In some traditions, the horns of the animal would be consecrated to Dali once the hunters returned to their village. It was believed that hunters who respected these taboos and made correct offerings, thereby avoiding ritual impurity, would always find enough game to ensure they and their families were fed. Conversely, hunters who became impure by failing to abide by taboos and restrictions could be punished by Dali in a number of ways ranging from failure to find game all the way to death by fatal fall. It was sometimes possible to abate Dali's rage after a transgression with appropriate offerings, as in one story where an offering of sacred bread prevented Dali from destroying a village by flooding the Inguri River.


Seduction and jealousy

Stories involving Dali often depict her taking mortal hunters as lovers, bringing both blessings and peril to the hunter. In an inversion of traditional gender roles, it is the goddess who chooses the hunter and initiates the affair. Often, her target was a hunter who had done her a favor such as protecting her from a pursuer. She would give her lovers tokens of affection such as beads, jewellery, or small objects like scissors, which he was required to keep hidden from everyone. A hunter who became Dali's lover would be guaranteed success in the hunt. The goddess might even protect the hunter from human assailants and heal his wounds. In return, he was prohibited from revealing the secret of his good fortune, and from taking any mortal lovers for the duration of the affair. Engaging in an affair with Dali was a dangerous undertaking. Dali's beauty would inflame the hunter's passions to the point of near-madness, a state that was referred to as being "''dalelukdune'', Dali-possessed" (). Afflicted hunters would wander the wilderness aimlessly waiting for the goddess to find them. After the affair was consummated, any appearance of infidelity on the hunter's part would incur the goddess's wrath. He could be attacked by her animals or lured to his death upon a dangerous cliff. Dali's Mingrelian equivalent was known to petrify hunters who offended her. Even if a hunter did survive the liaison, he might be unable to take a mortal lover for the remainder of his life for fear of angering the goddess. It was possible for a wily hunter to negotiate terms with Dali, such as limiting the length of the affair, or securing the right to marry a mortal at a later time. As long as the hunter's terms were set before the affair began, Dali would respect them. Some traditions held that a hunter could safely end an affair with Dali by giving his undergarments to a male guest, who would become the new focus of Dali's affections, allowing the original hunter to marry without enraging the goddess. Even death did not end Dali's obsessive behavior toward her beloved hunters. She would come down from the mountains into villages to grieve dramatically over the bodies of hunters, even those whose deaths she was responsible for in the first place. Some villages had family members stand guard over freshly buried bodies to prevent Dali from unearthing them to weep over. In others, the family would leave the hunter's body alone in the house, enabling Dali to dress the body and mourn over it for a short time. Although not specifically regarded as a
fertility goddess A fertility deity is a god or goddess associated with fertility, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, and crops. In some cases these deities are directly associated with these experiences; in others they are more abstract symbols. Fertility rites may a ...
, two major myths depict Dali giving birth. In one, the goddess drops her infant after the birth. It is rescued by a hunter, to whom she offers a sexual liaison as a reward. In the second, Dali seduces a hunter, becomes pregnant, and gives birth to a
demigod A demigod is a part-human and part-divine offspring of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the "divine spark" (divine illumination). An immortality, immor ...
son who becomes a
hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...
.


Times of transition

Although she is primarily a hunting deity, Dali has strong associations with symbols and states of transition such as dawn, the
morning star Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to: Astronomy * Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise ** See also Venus in culture * Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...
, and New Year's Eve. Svan hunting lore placed significant emphasis on the morning star. Svan hunters were taught to leave their homes before dawn, and arrive at the hunting grounds by its light. Once at the hunting grounds, they would light a small fire and offer a prayer via the morning star to Dali and other hunting deities such as Apsat (the god of small game) or Saint George (the patron of hunters). In the story of the hunter Betkil, his death at Dali's hands is sometimes set at the moment the morning star appears in the sky, or the moment the night becomes dawn. Dali was also celebrated on New Year's Eve as the bringer of a peaceful transition from the old year to the new. During these celebrations, she was referred to with the epithet of ''Dæl Ešxwmiš'', or "Dali of New Year's Eve". Both male and female heads of household would make offerings of special bread baked from
consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
grain to Dali of New Year's Eve. Georgian
ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...
Vera Bardavelidze documented a number of different forms of this sacred bread from various villages based on
fieldwork Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct f ...
she conducted in the 1930s. Some loaves would be kept until spring, where they would be crumbled and sown into the earth at a planting festival.


Mythology


Affair with Betkil

The most well-known of Dali's affairs is her dalliance with the legendary hunter Betkil or Betgil, who falls to his death from a high cliff after betraying Dali's affections. The story is depicted in the traditional Svan circle dance songs ''Bail Betkil'', ''Betkan Kutsa'' and ''Betkani''. These dances were performed in the Racha region of western Georgia each year on the third Sunday following Easter, at the bottom of the cliff where Betkil is believed to have died. The exact location is uncertain: Tuite mentions the Free Svaneti communes of Mulakhi and Muzhali, while folklorist Anna Chaudhri pinpoints the village of Ghebi. The annual performance of these dances was linked to a ritual meant to summon the rain. The story begins with Dali selecting and pursuing Betkil. She gives him a token of her favor (Tuite translates it as "a bead, ring, or charm") and demands that he abstain from the touch of mortal females, including his own wife. For a time he is faithful to her and his hunts are always fruitful. Eventually, he breaks his vow with a mortal womanmost often his wife, but occasionally his sister-in-lawand this woman steals the goddess's love-token. In a rage, Dali transforms herself into a white deer or chamois and lures an unsuspecting Betkil from his village to the top of her mountain. The path closes, crumbles, or melts away behind him, forcing him to continue forward until he reaches the peak. There, Dali returns to her human form and angrily confronts Betkil about his betrayal and the loss of her token. The ground beneath Betkil's feet crumbles away entirely and leaves him hanging by one hand and one foot. Dali disappears, leaving Betkil to either jump or fall to his death. In some versions, prior to his death, Betkil entreats his family to grieve for him in various ways, and laments that his mortal lover allowed him to go out hunting while "impure". In some variations of the Betkil story, he is accompanied up the mountain by the supernatural dog Q'ursha. In this version, Betkil is trapped on the mountain for several days and runs out of food. Eventually, Q'ursha insists that Betkil kill and eat him to survive. In some versions he goes through with it. In others, he kills the hound but cannot bring himself to eat him. Finally, in other versions, he sends Q'ursha to his village for help instead. The villagers come to Betkil's aid and throw ropes to him, but Dali's mountain grows taller and taller and the ropes cannot reach him. Again, he falls to his death.


White Mangur

Another hunter, known as White Mangur, fares unusually well in his encounter with Dali. One version of the story, recorded by academic researchers and first published in 1939, describes Mangur as a famously prosperous hunter. One night he takes shelter in an empty cave. Dali arrives and demands that he explain his presence in her cave. Mangur explains that he was overtaken by nightfall and had no other shelter available. Dali remarks that if he were any other man, she would "arrange for you an unlucky return home", but says it would be a pity to harm a man like Mangur. Instead, she invites him to her bed. He protests briefly that he has a wife and child, but quickly relents, and they have an affair. She tells him she will give him plenty of game, and if he is ever in trouble to call her name. In the morning, White Mangur leaves Dali's cave, but is soon accosted by enemies. He kills nine of his enemies, but receives nine serious wounds in return. He calls out to Dali for help, and the goddess leaps from behind the crags and massacres Mangur's enemies with an ash branch. She heals his wounds at a touch and sends him home.


"Dali is Giving Birth on the Crags"

The story of Dali giving birth on the crags has been passed down as a song accompanied by a traditional circle dance, called ''Dælil k'ojas khelghwazhale'' in Svan (). Linguistic analysis corroborated by archaeological findings indicates that the song is of ancient origin. The song begins with a hunter named Mepsay or Mepisa, who hears the goddess crying out in pain from childbirth. Immediately after giving birth, Dali drops the infant down the mountain, where it is snatched up by a waiting wolf. The hunter shoots the wolf and brings the infant back up the mountain to Dali. She offers the hunter a choice of reward: she will gift him with various game animals, or he can become her lover. He warily declines her offer of sexual favors and asks for success in the hunt. Later, he attempts to shoot an ibex with golden horns, not realizing that it is the goddess herself. His bullet ricochets off the ibex's horns and strikes him down, killing him. In this story, the name of the child's father and the fate of the child are never given.


Amirani

The second of Dali's childbirth stories has more variations, but generally describes the conception and birth of the culture hero Amirani. In the most prominent version, a hunter finds Dali in the mountains, and she takes him as her lover. After several days together, they are discovered by his angry wife, who cuts off Dali's golden hair or ties her up with it. As a result, Dali is forced to abruptly leave the world. (In some variations, the cutting of her hair kills her outright.) If she is killed, her pregnancy is discovered after her death. If she is simply banished, she announces that she is pregnant before departing. She declares that her child will be a powerful hero, though not as powerful as he would be had he been carried to term. In either case, her lover reluctantly cuts the infant from her womb. In some versions, the infant is premature and must be placed in the stomach of a bull (or the womb of a cow, or both) to complete gestation. Eventually he is left beside a spring, where he is found by either the Christian
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
or Saint George and
baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...
with the name Amirani. In another version of Amirani's birth story, a mortal hunter cuts off Dali's braids while she sleeps and rapes her; she becomes pregnant. Later, an old hunter named Sulkalmakhi hears her wailing high in the cliffs, and climbs up to her. She tells him she is dying, and begs him to cut her infant free so he does not die with her. She tells Sulkalmakhi to name him Amirani and care for him as his own. Although Amirani is generally depicted as Dali's son, there is a story from the
Guria Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia (country), Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 104,338 (2023), with Ozurgeti as the regional cap ...
region called "Dali and Amirani" in which Dali, enraged by an unspecified offense, attempts to entrap an adult Amirani. While wandering the mountains with his dog, Amirani sees a flame and begins to follow it up the cliffs, eventually discovering that the flame is Dali's hair. Dali lures Amirani to the top of the mountain by saying she has been looking for him. His dog warns him of her ill intentions, but Amirani disregards the dog's advice and climbs up to meet her. When he reaches the very top of the mountain, Dali disappears and Amirani finds himself hung from the rocks by her hair. His dog, unable to reach him, convinces a bird to pluck the hair away. Just as the bird frees Amirani, Dali returns and curses the bird and its kind to be weak and useless. This is a variation on the story in which Dali strangles an unnamed hunter at the top of a mountain after he stole a hair to string his bow.


Saint George

Later Svan mythology depicts Dali in opposition to
St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...
. In Georgian mythology, Saint George is regarded as a deity whose primary function is the protection of "men exploiting the world outside their villages for the benefit of the community", such as
shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...
s,
beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees, a profession known as beekeeping. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper ow ...
s, and most significantly, hunters. The Svan round dance song ''Monadire Chorla'' ("The Hunter Chorla"), a late variation of the Betkil story, depicts a significant clash between Dali and Saint George. In the song, a hunter named Chorla kills more than his share of ibexes, despite knowing this will anger the goddess. Dali punishes Chorla for his greed by binding him up on a treacherous cliff. Chorla sends his dog for help, and it returns with Saint George, who intervenes for Chorla as a reward for his faith in
Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
. Saint George threatens to pollute or destroy the mountains with storms and landslides unless Dali releases Chorla, which she does. Furthermore, he places Chorla under his protection and declares that he can hunt without limit in the future. Some versions of this story, such as the Svan ballads of the hunters Givergil and Kala, describe the hunter being tormented by a group of spirits, collectively referred to as the Dalis, rather than a singular goddess. In the ballad about Kala, the Dalis explicitly call Saint George their master when he threatens to destroy their territory. Tuite found this plural representation similar to the "St Georges" and "St Elijahs" of Ossetic mythology, which were groups of spirits sharing traits of the Christian saints they were named for. In contrast, Virsaladze found the change from singular goddess to coven of spirits to be a confirmation that Dali had been relegated to a secondary role in Svan hunting mythology.


Associated figures

Dali was not the only hunting deity worshipped by the Svans, and she was sometimes depicted working alongside others.
Georges Charachidzé Georges Charachidzé (Giorgi Sharashidze; ka, გიორგი შარაშიძე) (February 11, 1930 – February 20, 2010) was a France, French-Georgia (country), Georgian scholar of the Caucasus, Caucasian cultures. His most import ...
, a French-Georgian scholar of Caucasian culture, recorded that Dali worked with three other Svaneti forest gods to assist the Lord of the Bare Mountain, '' Ber Shishvlish''. These deities were Apsat, the god of small game like fish and birds, '' Cxek'isk angelwez'', the Angel of the Forest, who ruled over forest animals like foxes and bears, and Saint George, who was the patron of wolves and hunters. Mikheil Chikovani believed this multitude of deities represented a later development of the original
matriarchal Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of power and privilege are held by women. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. While those definitions apply in general English, ...
myth, in which Dali was the mistress of all beasts. Particularly, he saw ''Ber Shishvlish'' as an unsuccessful replacement for Dali. Some groups in eastern Georgia viewed Apsat and Dali as siblings who each took a season in turn protecting herds of wild beasts. When Apsat was in charge of the animals, hunters were said to have an easy time making kills, but when Dali took over, she watched the animals closely, making it much harder for the hunters to bring them down. The Svaneti circle dance ''Metkhvar Mare'' praises both Dali and Apsat in these roles. In some instances, Apsat is represented as Dali's husband or son, or even her father, rather than her sibling. Tuite theorized that this partitioning of roles between the two deities was the result of Apsat being adapted into a pre-existing
belief system A belief is a subjective attitude that something is true or a state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some stance, take, or opinion about something. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" ...
which featured a female figure as the primary patron of game animals. Another Georgian hunting deity, Ochopintre, is often mentioned alongside Dali. Some sources report that they worked together to herd and protect animals from hunters. In contrast, Virsaladze reports that the Khevsurian people of the
Khevsureti Khevsureti () is a historical and ethnographic region in eastern Georgia. Khevsurs are the branch of Kartvelian ( Georgian) people located along both the northern (''Pirikita khevsureti'') and southern (''Piraketa khevsureti'') slopes of the Grea ...
region viewed the male Ochopintre as their primary hunting god. They had a figure called the "forest woman", an unnamed protector of deer, but she was treated as minor in comparison. Some sources refer to Dali being accompanied by hunting dogs, sometimes specifically the legendary black-eared hunting dog Q'ursha. However, Q'ursha is not a consistent feature of Dali stories. He is more commonly depicted accompanying male hunters, including her son, Amirani, as well as the hunter Betkil.


Post-Christianization depiction

As
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
became more prominent in Georgia, beginning with its arrival in the 3rd century, many pagan beliefs were altered or appropriated to fit Christian ideology. Dali's functions as the mistress of the hunt began to be shifted to Saint George, as in the story of the hunter Chorla.
Ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...
Maka Khardziani Maka or MAKA may refer to: * Spider-Girl#Funhouse, Funhouse (Makana "Maka" Akana), a Marvel Comics supervillain * Maká, a Native American people in Paraguay ** Maká language, spoken by the Maká * Maka (satrapy), a province of the Achaemenid Emp ...
identified Saint George's victory over Dali in the Chorla story as emblematic of the weakening of pagan beliefs in the face of Christian influence. David Hunt suggested that the story in which Dali attempts to strangle Amirani reflects a Christian rejection of the female goddess, who is reduced to a malicious and "witch-like" figure. Dali's loss of status and power in the Christian era was reflected in altered folk practices. Prayers and sacrifices once offered to Dali were instead offered to Saint George. In the village of Tskheta in historic
Lechkhumi Lechkhumi ( ) is a historic province in northwestern Georgia (country), Georgia which comprises the area along the middle basin of the Rioni river, Rioni and Tskhenistskali and also the Lajanuri river valley. Now part of the Racha-Lechkhumi and K ...
province, hunters who encountered "the forest woman" could dismiss her simply by speaking George's name, confirming his power over her. Virsaladze writes that as Saint George began to eclipse Dali, she became increasingly associated with evil spirits and demonic imagery. Her character became entwined with a kind of evil spirit called the ''
ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...
''. The ''ali'' retained Dali's connection with hunters and high crags, but her supernatural beauty, particularly her radiant hair, was inverted into horrifying ugliness. A spell to protect travelers from the ''ali'' described her as having misplaced features, backwards limbs, a terrible visage, and "ghastly hair, soiled with blood". Her malicious aspects were emphasized and her patronage and protection of hunters were downplayed. Dali's favored animals, such as the wild goats and chamois she often transformed into, were used in Christian imagery to depict
Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...
, an evil entity who opposes God. This degraded version of Dali is sometimes depicted in the company of
devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...
s. Virsaladze and Hunt have both suggested these changes to the Dali myth are a direct consequence of the Christian church altering existing pagan beliefs to associate them with evil in an effort to discredit them. According to Virsaladze, this was not entirely successful, and belief in Dali persisted alongside Christianity, particularly in remote mountainous regions where the Christian church had less influence. One elderly man she interviewed during her research in the mid twentieth-century described Dali as both a deity and as a tormenting spirit, indicating that both versions of the myth were still extant in the modern era.


Mythological parallels

More than one author has discussed significant parallels between Dali and other mythological figures from other cultures with similar roles and associations. Equivalent figures to Dali appear in the mythologies of many Caucasian groups. Scholarly comparisons to various figures from
Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
are also prevalent, and some have argued that these similarities are a result of sustained contact between the peoples of
ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
and ancient Georgia. Other work has compared Dali to
Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...
ern goddesses, as she shares similar motifs including dawn associations and mortal lovers. Finally, it has also been suggested that Dali represents a preserved version of a particular Western European mythological archetype of a mistress of hunting or beasts, which has become altered or corrupted in other places.


Caucasian equivalents

Dali was important to the Svan, to the point of being their most widely-known mythological figure. Other Caucasian peoples had myths that described significantly similar deities who may be considered roughly equivalent with Dali, with regional variations. The Mingrelian people of the historical
Samegrelo Mingrelia or Samegrelo ( ka, სამეგრელო, tr ; ) is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly known as Odishi. It is primarily inhabited by the Mingrelians, a subgroup of Georgians. Geography and climate Mingre ...
region, to the south of Svaneti, revered a golden-haired goddess of the hunt called Tkashi-Mapa, who scholars view as an equivalent of Dali due to the overlap in their mythological roles and associations. Both lived in the wilderness, shape-shifted into animals, took mortal lovers, and were dangerously jealous. Tuite, drawing on Chikovani's work in 1972, has proposed that the golden-haired goddess Samdzimari ("necklace-wearer") from northeastern Georgia served a similar, even equivalent role to Dali, though she was not explicitly a hunting deity. Samdzimari and Dali were both seductive figures associated with domestic functions who moved in inaccessible or non-civilized spaces. Each serves as the female counterpart of their respective regional version of Saint George. Caucasian cultures who worshipped a male hunting deity often had stories about a figure who served Dali's function as the "mistress of the beasts", but was not considered a deity. In many places this figure is known only as the "forest woman" or a similar descriptive title. Virsaladze regarded this figure as essentially the same as Dali. The Khevsurians, who worshipped the male Ochopintre, retained the concept of a tiny protectress of the cliffs. The Ossetians, whose primary hunting deity was Æfsati, had a forest woman. The northern Caucasian
Kumyks Kumyks (, ) are a Turkic ethnic group living in Dagestan, Chechnya and North Ossetia. They are the largest Turkic people in the North Caucasus. They traditionally populate the Kumyk Plateau (northern Dagestan and northeastern Chechnya), la ...
and the inhabitants of the Lechkhumi and Guria regions each had a forest woman rather than a strong tradition of a hunting goddess. The
Avar people Avar(s) or AVAR may refer to: Peoples and states * Avars (Caucasus), a modern Northeast Caucasian-speaking people in the North Caucasus, Dagestan, Russia **Avar language, the modern Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Avars of the North ...
of the
northern Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...
have stories about a "Forest Beauty" with golden hair like Dali. The recurring concept of a "forest woman" (or less frequently a "forest man") has been proposed as possible evidence of a common pan-Caucasian mythology that might have existed before Christianity and
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
came to the Caucasus. The "forest woman" is a recurring motif in the
Nart saga The Nart sagas (; ; ) are a series of tales originating from the North Caucasus. They form much of the basic mythology of the ethnic groups in the area, including Abazin, Abkhaz, Circassian, Ossetian, Karachay- Balkar, and to some extent C ...
, a loose collection of stories from the northern Caucasus which underpins much of the mythology of the area. The Digor, an Ossetian subgroup, have a story from about a deer-herding witch who bears some similarities to Dali. Like Dali, she favors a white doe and uses her hair to bind hunters who offend her, although unlike most Dali stories, the hunters overcome the witch in the end. Other Nart saga stories involve goddesses or magical women who, like Dali, transform into deer, have glowing skin, and take hunters as lovers. Tuite has also noted that
Dzerassae Dzerassæ () is a figure in Ossetian mythology best known as the daughter of the List of water deities, water deity Donbettyr and the mother of several Nart saga heroes. She was the wife of Akhshar and Akhsartag, Akhsartag. With him, she was the mo ...
, a water spirit of the Nart saga, had similarities to Dali: she had golden hair and could change her shape into a fish or a deer. He cited linguist
John Colarusso John Colarusso is a linguist specializing in Caucasian languages. Since 1976, he has taught at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Colarusso has published more than sixty-five articles on linguistics, myths, politics, and the Caucasus; he ...
, who suggested there might be a link between their names based on the initial syllable, with the shift in
phoneme A phoneme () is any set of similar Phone (phonetics), speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible Phonetics, phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word fr ...
caused by translation into Circassian.


Greek mythology

Tuite compared Dali in her role as the mother of Amirani to the Greek
Nereid In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; ; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the ' Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris, sisters to their brother Nerites. They ofte ...
Thetis Thetis ( , or ; ) is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, and one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as a Nereid in Cl ...
, mother of
Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...
. Each goddess took a mortal for a lover and bore a demi-god son. Their sons were destined to be warriors of enormous power, possibly enough to challenge the
creator deity A creator deity or creator god is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatristic traditions separate a ...
of their respective mythologies. Although extremely formidable, neither attains his full potential, and both are eventually defeated. Tuite posits that the similarity between the two myths is indicative of prehistoric contact between the ancient Greek and Caucasian peoples. Classical scholar Egbert Bakker discussed Dali as a parallel to the Greek witch-goddess
Circe In Greek mythology, Circe (; ) is an enchantress, sometimes considered a goddess or a nymph. In most accounts, Circe is described as the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perse (mythology), Perse. Circe was renowned for her vast kn ...
of
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
's ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'', highlighting their shared aspects: "protection of animals, sexual predation, dawn and New Year associations", and a "male divine counterpart and adversary". He went on to suggest that their similarities indicated a cultural exchange between the Georgians and the Greeks, noting that the Svan homeland is close to the ancient Georgian kingdom of
Colchis In classical antiquity and Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the ...
, a region with close trading connections to Greece. Some sources have noted a similarity to the Greek goddess
Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...
, who was also a patron of wild animals and hunting, although unlike Dali she was known for prudishness rather than promiscuity. Both were associated with transitions and boundaries, especially between civilization and the wilderness.


Near Eastern goddesses

Writing in the 1940s, the Georgian author Demna Shengelaya examined Dali as an equivalent of the Babylonian goddess
Ishtar Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...
, identifying themes of matriarchy struggling against patriarchal values reflected in the stories of each. Virsaladze found similarities between Dali and several related Near Eastern deities including Ishtar, the
Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...
n goddess
Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya, Kubeleya'' "Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian: ''Kuvava''; ''Kybélē'', ''Kybēbē'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forerunner in the earliest ...
,
Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
n
Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Greek language, Hellenized form of the Religions of the ancient Near East, Ancient Near Eastern goddess ʿAṯtart. ʿAṯtart was the Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic equivalent of the East Semitic language ...
, and Carthaginian
Tanit Tanit or Tinnit (Punic language, Punic: 𐤕𐤍𐤕 ''Tīnnīt'' (JStor)) was a chief deity of Ancient Carthage; she derives from a local Berber deity and the consort of Baal Hammon. As Ammon is a local Libyan deity, so is Tannit, who represents ...
, noting that all these goddesses were associated with a mortal lover in a story cycle representing the transition to spring and the cyclical rebirth of nature. She particularly stressed the similarities between Dali and Ishtar: sovereignty over animals, an association with dawn, and a sexual aggressiveness that was feared by men. She suggested the possibility that the mythology surrounding Dali represented a preserved form of "a very ancient cycle of traditions and songs about the interrelations of the mistress, patroness, or sovereign, of the beasts, forest, crags and waters, with a mortal young man". According to Virsaladze, this mythological motif is a fragment of a matriarchal belief system which venerated nature and life-giving mother deities, later supplanted by patriarchal ideology. Drawing on the work of earlier writers such as
Walter Burkert Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of student ...
and Paul Friedrich, Tuite described mythological similarities between Dali and several other similar goddesses who have parallel motifs possibly indicating mutual influence. Foremost among these similarities are an association with gold (both as a
color Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...
and as a
precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...
), fertility and patronage of animals, seductive behavior combined with destructive jealousy, and a connection to dawn or the morning star. He refers to these similarities as the "
dawn goddess A dawn god or goddess is a deity in a polytheistic religious tradition who is in some sense associated with the dawn. These deities show some relation with the morning, the beginning of the day, and, in some cases, become syncretized with similar ...
complex". Goddesses with some or all of these features include the
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
dawn goddess Hausōs, and two Greek deities likely descended from her, the dawn goddess
Eos In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Eos (; Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic Greek, Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic Greek, Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric Greek, Doric ''Āṓs'') is the go ...
and the
love goddess Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good hab ...
Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...
. He also highlights the Sumerian goddess
Inanna Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...
, and her Babylonian counterpart Ishtar as sharing these parallel motifs, despite not being derived from Hausōs. Tuite identifies the overarching themes of the dawn goddess complex as ambiguity and transition. He notes that the mythological associations of these goddesses serve as symbols for larger concepts such as transitions between night to day, old to new, and birth to death. In Dali's case, her identification with both the morning star and New Year's Eve directly reinforce her status as a patron of transitions. Archaeologist Elena Rova, drawing on Tuite's work, wrote that there appears to be evidence of the transmission of symbols and beliefs between the Mesopotamian and Georgian peoples during the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
. She described the 2014 discovery of a fragment of a decorated
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
plaque in the Aradetis Orgora mounds on the Dedoplis Mindori archaeological site in Georgia as the basis for this speculation. The plaque, attributed to the 14th–13th centuries BCE, features a nine-pointed star similar to the eight-pointed
star of Ishtar The Star of Ishtar or Star of Inanna is a Mesopotamian symbol of the ancient Sumerian goddess Inanna and her East Semitic counterpart Ishtar. The owl was also one of Ishtar's primary symbols. Ishtar is mostly associated with the planet Venus, whi ...
. Rova believed the star design may have been passed from Mesopotamia to Georgia through long-distance trade of the item itself or indirect
meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
tic transmission of the design. It may then have been appropriated for use as a symbol of a local solar goddess such as Dali, possibly because some of Ishtar's features were similar enough to Dali "for the symbol of the latter to have been consciously chosen by the local population in order to symbolise a local goddess".


Western European figures

David Hunt compared the hunting mythology surrounding Dali to the
western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
an concept of the
unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...
and the lady who tames it. He noted that stories of the unicorn typically focus on hunting, often in high mountains. Traditional descriptions of the unicorn include features which are characteristic of goats and deer, such as cloven hooves. In turn, hoofed animals are important prey for the hunters of the Caucasian mountains and feature heavily in their mythology. Dali's favored animals were marked in ways that make them similar to the unicorn; in particular, they were often pure white or single-horned. Finally, he found a parallel between the motif of a lady taming the unicorn and the recurring idea of a goddess or supernatural mistress who protects wild game animals. Although he admitted the evidence was "circumstantial and sparse", he suggested that the unicorn story originated from ancient European hunting mythology, which he believes was preserved in the mythology of the Caucasus after fading elsewhere.
Hilda Ellis Davidson Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson (born Hilda Roderick Ellis; 1 October 1914 – 12 January 2006) was an English folklorist. She was a scholar at the University of Cambridge and The Folklore Society, and specialized in the study of Celtic and G ...
and Anna Chaudhri found similarities between stories of Dali and the ''
glaistig The glaistig is a ghost from Scottish mythology, a type of fuath. It is also known as ''maighdean uaine'' — the Green Maiden — and may appear as a human guise, woman of beauty or hag, monstrous Wiktionary:mien#English, mien, as a half-woman a ...
'' of the
Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...
. The ''glaistig'' was commonly described as a hag who lived high in the mountains and protected hoofed game animals. Like Dali, the ''glaistig'' could be both helpful and malicious, depending on the story in question. Although protective of her animals, in some stories the ''glaistig'' would allow them to be hunted, as long as the hunters were respectful and left appropriate offerings to her. In other stories, the ''glaistig'' would pose as an old woman and prey on hunters staying in mountain huts called bothies. Both Dali and the ''glaistig'' use their supernaturally-strong hair as bindings; Dali binds hunters directly, while the ''glaistig'' binds hunting dogs so she can safely attack their masters. Davidson and Chaudhri concluded that Dali and the ''glaistig'' each represent a local version of an archetypal figure of a female guardian of the wilderness, which they suggested is a widespread mythological theme. Dali represents a preserved form of the myth, where the goddess retains her power and her beauty. In contrast, the ''glaistig'' represents an altered form, where the goddess has been reduced to an ugly hag and is accorded significantly less respect. They argue that similar figures who ranging from seductive to disturbing were once widespread across various European places and cultures, referencing the forest women of
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
, Greek Artemis, and the Irish ''
Cailleach In Gaelic ( Irish, Scottish and Manx) myth, the Cailleach (, ) is a divine hag, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the weather, especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is found with t ...
''. The later forms where the guardian figure is ugly or wicked represent a version that became prominent after respect for the earlier goddess figures had withered.


Modern legacy

Dali has retained cultural significance among Georgians into the modern day, particularly in more rural areas where hunting is still practiced as a profession. A survey conducted in 2013 found that, while most people who were either younger or more educated considered Dali to be mythological, many elderly hunters still thought of Dali as a real figure, although not one that any of them had personally encountered. They recounted stories to the researchers of hunters they knew who had encountered Dali and been injured or driven mad as a result. In the modern era,
eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
s and literary allusions to Dali indicate the persistence of her narrative in the cultural memory. The Dali Chasma and the
Tkashi-mapa Chasma Dali (also Daal or Dæl; ) is a goddess from the Georgian mythology, mythology of the Georgian people of the Caucasus region. She is a List of hunting deities, hunting goddess who serves as the patron of hoofed wild mountain animals such as Capra ...
on Venus are named for Dali and her Mingrelian equivalent Tkashi-Mapa. '' Capra dalii'', a fossil species of goat discovered in Georgia, is named for Dali. Fragments of ''Capra dalii'' fossils were first located at the
Dmanisi Dmanisi ( ka, დმანისი, tr, , ) is a town and archaeological site in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia (country), Georgia approximately 93 km southwest of the nation’s capital Tbilisi in the river valley of Mashavera. Abandoned i ...
archaeological site in 2006, and are believed to be related to the
west Caucasian tur The West Caucasian tur (''Capra caucasica'') is a mountain-dwelling goat-antelope native to the western half of the Caucasus Mountains range, in Georgia and European Russia. Names and taxonomy It is also known by the names "zebuder," "zac" and ...
, ''Capra caucasica''. Celebrated Georgian novelist
Konstantine Gamsakhurdia Konstantine Gamsakhurdia ( ka, კონსტანტინე გამსახურდია, tr) (May 3, 1893 – July 17, 1975) was a Georgians, Georgian writer and public figure. Educated and first published in Germany, he married West ...
wove numerous figures from Georgian folklore, including Dali, into his 1936 novel '' Stealing the Moon''. Georgian author
Grigol Robakidze Grigol Robakidze () (October 28, 1880, Sviri, Kutaisi Governorate – November 19, 1962, Geneva) was a Georgian writer, publicist, and public figure primarily known for his prose and anti-Soviet émigré activities. Biography He was born on Oc ...
integrated Dali into his German-language works, particularly the novels ''MegiEin georgisches Mädchen'' (''Megi – A Georgian Girl'', 1932), where Dali forms the basis of the character Ivlite, and ''Der Ruf der Göttin'' (''The Call of the Goddess'', 1934), based on the stories of hunters falling from cliffs because of Dali. Two poems composed after the accidental death of the famed Svan mountain climber Mikhail Khergiani in 1969 refer to Dali mourning his loss. In 2019, the town of
Lentekhi Lentekhi ( ka, ლენტეხი, ) is a small town and Lentekhi District's ( Raion) capital in Georgia's western region of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, 323 km northwest to the nation's capital Tbilisi. Situated on the southern s ...
removed a figure of Dali from the design of a large
fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...
planned for the city's main square. The original proposal featured a statue of Dali, nude, standing atop a large rock, with three ibexes standing on the rock beneath her.
Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...
Stephan of the Georgian Orthodox eparchy of Tsageri and Lentekhi strongly criticized the inclusion of the goddess as
idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...
, although mayor Badri Liparteliani stated the change was intended to increase the fountain's efficiency and visual appeal. The final version was built without the statue of Dali, and simply features three ibexes sitting atop a rock. The top prize of the Svaneti International Film Festival, founded in 2021, is the "Goddess Dali Prize".


See also

*
Britomartis Britomartis (;) was a Greek goddess of mountains, nets, and hunting who was primarily worshipped on the island of Crete. She was sometimes described as a nymph, but she was more commonly conflated or syncretized with the goddesses Artemis, Athena ...
– Greek goddess of mountains and hunting * Bugady Musun – Siberian animal guardian who took the form of a reindeer * Deer Woman – seductive forest spirit whose form was partially a deer * Devana – Slavic goddess of forests and the hunt * Mielikki – Finnish hunting goddess who herded cows and could determine the success of a hunt *
Potnia Theron The ''Potnia Theron'' (, ) or Mistress of Animals is a widespread motif in ancient art from the Mediterranean world and the ancient Near East, showing a central human, or human-like, female figure who grasps two animals, one to each side. Alth ...
– widespread motif found in ancient art depicting a female holding two animals *
Skaði In Norse mythology, Skaði (; Old Norse: ; sometimes anglicized as Skadi, Skade, or Skathi) is a jötunn and Æsir, goddess associated with bowhunting, skiing, winter, and mountains. Skaði is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 1 ...
– Norse mountain goddess associated with hunting, skiing, and winter


Notes


Citations


References

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