''Mastorava'' () is an
Erzya epic poem
An epic poem, or simply 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.
...
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, Samar ...
, with a
Moksha language
Moksha ( mdf, мокшень кяль, translit=mokšeň käľ, label=none, ) is a Mordvinic language of the Uralic family, with around 130,000 native speakers in 2010.
Moksha is the majority language in the western part of Mordovia.
Its closes ...
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 in Mordvin mythology. The name ''mastor-ava'' literally means "earth woman", ''mastor'' being the Mordvin for "earth, land".
In the Mastorava epic,
Tyushtya is a peasant elected by people to be the king and leader of
Mokshan
Mokshan (russian: Мокша́н) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Mokshansky District of Penza Oblast, Russia. Population: 10,710 (1900).
History
It was established in 1566 as a fort to protect the c ...
and
Erzyan clans alliance and the warlord of allied army. During his rule,
Mordvinia stretched from
Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...
to
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or 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. It is the longest river of Ukraine ...
and from the
Oka to the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean 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 bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...
.
In Erzya mythology, Tyushtya is a
moon god, son of the
thunder god
Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source 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-European c ...
and the mortal girl Litova. He changes his age every month, following the
phases of the Moon
Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the t ...
.
See also
*
Erzya native religion
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
etext
Epic poems
1994 poetry books
Mordovian culture
Mordvin mythology
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