''Mastorava'' () is an Erzya

epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...

compiled based on Erzya mythology and folklore by Aleksandr Sharonov, published in 1994 in the

Erzya language The Erzya language (, , ), also Erzian or historically Arisa, is spoken by approximately 300,000 people in the northern, eastern and north-western parts of the Republic of Mordovia and adjacent regions of Nizhny Novgorod, Chuvashia, Penza, Sama ...

, with a

Moksha language Moksha (, ) is a Mordvinic languages, Mordvinic language of the Uralic languages, Uralic family, spoken by Mokshas, with around 130,000 native speakers in 2010. Moksha is the majority language in the western part of Mordovia. Its closest relativ ...

version announced. The poem consists of five parts entitled "The Universe", "Antiquity", "King Tyushtya's Age", "The Heroic Age" and "The New Age". Mastorava is an

Earth goddess Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

in Mordvin mythology. The name ''mastor-ava'' literally means "earth woman", ''mastor'' being the Mordvin for "earth, land". In the Mastorava epic,

Tyushtya Tyushtya IPA tʲuʃtʲɑ(, IPA tʲuʃtʲenʲ ) is a demigod in Moksha mythology, son of Atäm (Thunder God) and a mortal girl. According to tradition, Tyushtya is able to turn into a white horse. Amid other beliefs, it is said that Tysushta ...

is a peasant elected by people to be the king and leader of

Mokshan Mokshan () is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Mokshansky District of Penza Oblast, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of co ...

and Erzyan clans alliance and the warlord of allied army. During his rule,

Mordvinia Mordovia ( ),; Moksha language, Moksha and officially the Republic of Mordovia,; ; is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, situated in Eastern Europe. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of S ...

stretched from

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

and from the Oka to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

. In Erzya mythology, Tyushtya is a

moon god A lunar deity or moon deity is a deity who represents the Moon, or an aspect of it. These deities can have a variety of functions and traditions depending upon the culture, but they are often related. Lunar deities and Moon worship can be foun ...

, son of the

thunder god Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder deity, the creator or personification of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-Europea ...

and the mortal girl Litova. He changes his age every month, following the

phases of the Moon A lunar phase or Moon phase is the apparent shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion as viewed from the Earth. Because the Moon is Tidal locking, tidally locked with the Earth, the same Hemisphere (geometry), hemisphere is always facing the ...

References

*А.М. Шаронов, ''Масторава'' (1994). *Tatiana Deviatkina, ''Some Aspects of Mordvin Mythology'', Folklore 17 (2001

External links

*http://www.suri.ee/inf/litmoen.html
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Epic poems 1994 poetry books Mordovian culture Mordvin mythology {{Poem-stub

See also

References

External links