The legend of the White Horse

The legend of the White Horse

            The legend of the White Horse is one of the oldest and best-known Hungarian legends that originates from the times of the Conquest of the Carpathian Basin. The myth is about the guile and cunningness against the Moravians. The story lasted has mostly by oral tradition, but it is part of the Cronicon Pictum (a medieval illustrated chronicle about the history of Hungary originated from the 14th Century), as well.
            After the succesful exodus to the Carpatian Basin, the Hungarians settled at first in the Eastern region, in Transylvania. They heard many glorious and wondrous tales about the prosperity and wealth of Pannonia. Its crop and soil was considered to be the best in the region, the Danube was considered to be the sweetest river and lands were full of games. It was no wonder that our great leader, Árpád, decided to send a messenger (Kusid, the son of Kund) to Moravia to muster the land and approach those living on it. At the time of Hungarian land-taking not all lands were taken by force, which of course would have been  too heavy a burden to carry after the long trip from the Urals. However, when Kusid arrived and told Svatopluk (or Zutapolug), the leader of the Moravians, why he came, Svatopluk took delight in that. He thought they were simple peasants who would like to work on his fields, and therefore he let Kusid leave in peace and mercy with what he asked for: a jackful of water from the Danube, a bagful of grass and a little piece from the soil. Upon the massanger’s return, Árpád was also pleased that the tales about the land were true so he sent Kusid back, but this time with an estimable present. A beautiful white horse with Golden saddle and Golden bridle on it. Needless to say, Svatopluk was amazed and said to Kusid, take as much water and soil as you wish. Once again he returned to Árpád, who in the meanwhile came to Pannonia with the seven chieftains to claim what was now rightfully theirs, which they easily did with their dreadful warriors, who chased everyone away. According to the legend, even Svatopluk was forced to jump into the Danube, where he drowned. Svatopluk did not know about that custom of law that if you bring water, grass and soil out of your land to another, you basically sell your land. Árpád exploited this lack of awareness of the Moravian king and took his land by scheming.

First of all, trickiness and cunningness are still important values and features of Hungarians, which are of course considered as good and useful features. Another historical examplification could be Búvár Kund’s deeds of derring-do against the Holy Roman fleet. According to his legend, he swam under the ships of Henry III and torpedoed most of them, making the fleet sink in the Danube in 1051. However, let us see this case from another perspective. Árpád took advantage of Svatopluk for his own selfish interests. These are also important features of today’s society. Everybody wants their own good and the way they achieve it does not always seem to be relevant. Homo homini Lupus est. If you do not do it first, others might do so. There were other hordes keen on claiming Pannonia, as well. Anyhow, the legend itself is most likely just a legend, beacause the great Moravian king was already dead by the time the Huns arrived in the Carpatian Basin.

            To draw my conclusion, old fables sometimes show other values from what we would think of at first, but nevertheless, they still serve as good sources for finding national values.

Lehel's horn

Lehel was a Hungarian leader of a tribe, the descendant of Árpád, who has been pictured as a national hero and who was full of mettle even in captivity. His horn means so much for the Hungarian nation because as time passed by, it became associated with a special saga. As a result of this, it was elevated to a unique national relic.

According to the myth, in 955, during the reign of Otto I., the Hungarians went into battle with the Germans and when they neared the city of Augsburg, at the Lech-field, they were completely defeated by the German warriors. Many Hungarians were brutally killed and the rest of them were imprisoned, including Lehel and Bulcsú, the two chieftains. They were questioned by the emperor about the reason behind their cruelty against Christians and their reply was that: "We are the revenge of the highest God, sent to you as a scourge. You shall imprison us and kill us, when we cease to chase you." After that, the emperor commanded them to choose how they would like to die. 43 centimeters long. When he got his horn, he pretended to prepare for the blowing but instead of doing that he violently hit the emperor, who then immediately died. Interestingly, the myth suggests that during this process the horn was chipped where it grazed the emperor’s head and it can be seen in the horn’s rim. The myth stated that after killing the emperor, Lehel said that now it became clear that he will be his servant in the other world and this belief is rooted in Scythian myths. They say that the people they kill during their life will serve them after they die.Lehel said that his last wish is to let him blow his horn for the last time and after that, he will answer the emperor’s question. This horn was made of an elephant’s tusk and it was

However, this myth has nothing to do with reality. For instance, according to history, Lehel cold not have killed Conrad, who was the son-in-law of Otto I., King of the Germans, as Duke Conrad was killed during the battle of Augsburg by an arrow. The only factual happening was the battle which gave colour to this myth. The point where history ends and the legend takes over is where Lehel was brought before Duke Conrad and asked for his last wish. Few people know, but the connection between the horn and Lehel was first made in 1788 and until then, it was not really well-known. People simply called it ”jászkürt” or ”Jazygian horn”.
What makes this saga so peculiar is that it interweaves history and legend, fact and fiction. Lehel and Bulcsú were real persons, famous leaders in the 10th century and it is also a historical fact that they were taken as prisoners after the Augsburg battle. According to many historians, this horn seems to be of a Byzantine origin, estimated approximately from the 10th or 11th century, which could be a possible explanation regarding its origin as Hungarians had made many expeditions to that area. This tale also serves to highlight the braveness of the ancient Hungarian nation even in the hardest times and to draw attention to their willingnes to fight and win. Now, it illustrates the typical Hungarian weakness of looking backwards and constantly wishing that things could have been better. 
Personally, I grew up listening to the myth regarding Lehel’s name. Now, there is a horn proclaimed to be ”Lehel’s horn” kept in my hometown, in the Jász Museum of Jászberény. However, there are 40 more similar horns all along the museums of Europe so we cannot be sure that the one in Jászberény is the original treasure.

The Turul bird

Turul statue in the Buda Castle

The Hungarian “phoenix” – The Turul bird

A Hungarian myth

In many nations’ mythologies animals, especially birds are very frequent representations of mythological creatures. Birds are often related to the supernatural realm to which they can connect humans. For instance, the phoenix is an essential mythical bird of several ancient mythologies, such as the Greek, Egyptian, and Indian. The phoenix symbolizes life and immortality itself since it is associated with the rising sun. Hungarian mythology is also one that possesses its own mythical bird, the Turul. The Turul bird is often depicted as a giant eagle or a falcon, and clothed with many symbols. Two main legends are also in association with the most important bird of the Hungarian people.

In both legends the bird is thought to have shaped the fate of the Hungarians. According to the first legend, Princess Emese, descendant of Attila the Hun, once had dream in which a Turul appeared and impregnated her. In her dream a flood of crystal-clear water started to flow from her womb and ran westward until it grew into a river. The symbolic meaning of the river is that she will give birth to a great leader of the Hungarian people who will find home in a foreign land. The dream actually came true: she gave birth to Álmos, the grand leader of the “Magyars” and the founder of Hungary. The name “Álmos” comes from the Hungarian word álom, meaning dream, since his derivation is from a dream. However, the legend has controversial parts that are not clarified. Firstly, the question of whether Emese was impregnated by the Turul or had already been pregnant when she was dreaming is not certain. The reality of the turul is also questionable since it is not sure whether the bird appeared to her literally, or while she was sleeping in the form of a dream.

The second legend is in connection with the Hungarian tribes who also had a dream in which eagles came and attacked their horses, but a turul saved them. This dream also has a symbolic meaning since it served as an indication for the Hungarian tribes that they had to move on, and the Turul showed the appropriate way and led them to their new home that later became Hungary. It is visible that the bird had a significant role in Hungarians’ life in this legend too. As a consequence, the Turul bird has an immensely strong connection with Hungarian mythology.

As a result of these two legends, it is tangible that the Turul carries several symbols in itself. The Turul embodies God’s lordship and will since through the bird Emese became pregnant. Therefore, the Turul became the most important symbol of Hungarian identity. Furthermore, it also symbolizes nobility and power. Hungarians represent its figure even today throughout Hungary. A turul statue can be found in the Royal Castle, Budapest, on the peak of the Freedom Bridge, and also outside the newly built FTC Stadium. There are other places in Hungary where turul statues are constructed; for instance, on a mountain near to Tatabánya, Hungary.

In conclusion, the myths connected to the Turul bird represent Hungarian history as well as the Hungarian nation nowadays. Since it carries various symbols, its importance is conspicuous even today. While for the Greeks there is the Phoenix, for the “Magyars” the Turul will always be the most significant mythical bird. 

Pfeifenrót Fanni

A National Justification for 'Hungarianness'

A National Justification for 'Hungarianness'

By Svitlana Serogina

If there is a monument in Budapest that defines "Hungarianness" it is the Millennium Monument (Millenáriumi Emlékmű). Built to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the founding of the Hungarian state, it is an imposing structure that forges both history and myth into one symbolic monument to mark this major milestone for Hungarians.

This grand monument is focused on the major column, on top of which stands a statue of the Archangel Gabriel holding the symbols of the Kingdom of Hungary -- the Crown of St Stephen and the Hungarian Double Cross. Below the column are statues of the 7 tribal leaders that led the conquest, fronted by Árpád -- the "father" of the Hungarian state. The grand monument features colonnades on both sides, each with statues of key individuals of history in the same motif of sevens.

Construction for the Millennium Monument began in 1896, traditionally seen as the 1000th anniversary of the conquest of the Carpathian Basin by invading Hungarian tribes. The seven statues of tribal leaders, including Árpád, marks that conquest and founding of the Hungarian state a thousand years earlier. Although much is known about Árpád and the conquest, there is far less known about the other six figures; some argue there was too much mythical license being taken. However, this is not uncommon, as many nations' national myths blend known history and folkloric tales.

The statue of Gabriel, delivering the symbols of the Kingdom of Hungary, plays heavily into the myth of the divine nature of the Hungarian state. The symbols of Christianity, adopted by St Stephen in 1000 (again, the double play on the word "millennium"), is key to linking the two different uses of the term "millennium" -- the base with the seven statues represents the millennium since the conquest and founding of the state, the column's top represents the millennium since the divine-bequested kingdom was made official by the crown from the Pope.

The colonnades also contribute to this pantheon of heroes idea. The first section comprises of statues of seven of the most significant kings of the Kingdom of Hungary, such as St Stephen and Béla IV. These seven kings are seen as the most significant in the country's pre-Habsburg history, making it very clear that the country has a history as strong as its Habsburg link at the time of its construction.

The second set of colonnade statues are far more interesting. At its founding, the seven statues represented Habsburg rulers of the Dual Kingdom of Astro-Hungary. However, when the monument was restored following major damage during World War II, the Habsburg statues were replaced with Hungarian heroes such as Lajos Kossuth. This replacement completed the cycle, removing the Habsburg aspect when Hungarians were diminished in the large empire, and replacing it with symbols of Hungarian strength and freedom.

In essence, the Millennium Monument in Budapest is the epitome of the myth of the Hungarian state, almost like a justification of its existence. From its conquest and founding, to its divine grant, to its royalty to its heroes, this monument has it all. Its play on the dual meaning of "millennium" adds to its strength, showing how venerable and strong the Hungarian nation has been over a thousand years. There are few symbols around the world that consolidates history and myth so well as this monument, and it really defines "Hungarianness" to the world -- and to Hungarians themselves.

DRUMS AGAINST GUNS

Nothing better to depict some good values of a society, than a young boy who saved a village from the attack of the enemy in one of the worst periods of a culture. That was in the beginning of 19th century in Catalonia, where the conditions started to be quite difficult to the people from there. As a border territory between Spain and France, this part of territory has a history with a lot of battles and conquests. During the expansion of the Napoleón Bonaparte's Empire, in the war called "The war of the French", his army entered Spain by the Catalan border, arriving in few days in Barcelona.

They had the new values of reason since the French Revolution, against monarchy and religion, and they destroyed the traditions of the place with violence, burning churches and killing monks; so the modernity was imposed there in a unnatural way, and people, especially in the countryside, did not agree with them. Catalonia was suddenly a new part of the French Republic, with their administration and laws, and was organized in “departments”, the French system that centralize Paris. This changes did not bring only new ideas, but also poorness with a hard economic crisis. So people was angry, and in two small towns they burned papers and banknotes with any French symbol as a protest. Around eight thousand French soldiers went to conquer the rest of Spain leaving from Barcelona, and passing by this towns to punish their rebellion during the way. Both parts of the conflict met in Montserrat, a very singular mountain range with a special geological conditions, concretely in a place called Bruc. But people from towns did not have much guns, and they were only one thousand men, approximately, so for them it was quite hard to fight. However, they won this battle against their enemy, becoming one of the only successful examples of resistance to Napoleon's soldiers.

Those are the historical facts, but the legend starts when the peasants explained how they managed to defeat one of the most strong armies. There was a boy, about sixteen years old, who did not have a gun but had a drum during the battle. He was hidden in the stones of the mountain, and when the attack started he played his instrument very toudly. The sound boomed in the rocky place, and French soldiers thought that a Spanish reinforcements had arrived, so the general of the French battalion ordered the retreat.

This youngster became a hero for people in Catalonia, called the Drummer of Bruc. He was young, and poor, and he had only a drum but, most of all, he was astute. And he demonstrated that this can defeat a powerful army. His figure bring the idea of humility as a feature of Catalan people and culture, as one of the most important values of society. Not only this, it brings also the idea that it worth resisting even if all seems lost, and that bravery is necessary to defend a culture.

As with all legends, part of it is true and there is a part that people imagine and like to add to. This battle happened for real in 1808, and it is true that people from these towns won, and it can be proved that there was a young boy, called Isidre Lluçà i Casanoves, who carried a drum. However, probably he was not the only one who had an instrument like this: it is possible that people who lived in the convents in these mountains also played a lot of kinds of drums, and the same for people in the battalion, because it was a common and important instrument in battles of this period.

Anyway, people from Catalonia can be very humble and brave and resist a lot of hard situations, but they can also be smug and cowardly. Like everybody, everywhere. But in any case, the Drummer of Bruc became a legend which depicts good values, that people like to remember.

 Núria Curcoll

Shoes on the Danube Bank

Today, Budapest is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe (Schwarzbaum). The city has the second largest synagogue in the world (Schwarzbaum), and District 7 is known not only for its great ruin pubs and bubbly night life, but also for its Jewish culture. However, Jews have not always lived happily in the area. On March 19, 1944, the Nazis occupied Hungary and during their stay (until April 4, 1945), together with their supporters in the Arrow Cross Party led by Ferenc Szálasi, they issued a number of anti-Semitic measures and killed thousands of innocent people.

To honor the memory of the Jewish people killed by the Arrow Cross party during World War II, 60 pairs of iron shoes lay on the Pest side of the river. They symbolize the people who had to take off their shoes before they were shot dead and fell into the Danube. The monument was created by film director Can Togay and sculptor Gyula Pauer. It was erected on April 16, 2005, and it can be found near Kossuth square. Togay says that the aim of their project was to commemorate those people and to make sure that Budapest never forgets (Cipők a Dunaparton). According to Pauer Gyula’s website, the memorial is the “result of civil initiatives.” The Prime Minister’s Office, the Council of District 5, and many others donated to make it possible to create the monument.

Pauer Gyula experienced the horrors of the war as a little child. He says that he understood very little as a four-year-old, and only comprehended gradually what had happened. Later he became interested in the topic of the holocaust as a sculptor, and one night he and Togay came up with the idea of commemorating the victims this way.

If one walks by, the memorial cannot be missed. Someone is always standing right beside it, staring into the river or comparing their foot to the one that once was in the iron shoe. Each year on April 16 (which is the Hungarian Holocaust Memorial Day) hundreds of people come to the shoes to honor the memory of the victims. 

This year, however, the commemoration was overshadowed by anti-Semitic actions: some of the Hungarian Holocaust deniers spat into the iron shoes on the Danube bank. The event was followed by speeches by Tamás Horovitz (head of the Central and Eastern European Jewish Communities and Unions) and Holocaust survivor Gusztáv Zoltai, who asked to raise awareness of the growing number anti-Semitic people in the country (ma.hu).

Works cited

“Az áldozatokra emlékeztek a Cipők a Duna-parton emlékműnél.” ma.hu. ma.hu, April 16, 2015. Web. May 9, 2015.

 “Cipők a Duna-parton.” Pauer Gyula website. pauergyula.hu.

Schwarzbaum, Lisa. “Tracing Jewish Heritage Along the Danube.” New York Times. New York Times, March 13, 2015. Web. April 20, 2015.

Legend vs. Truth

Matthias: Legends of a Righteous Tyrant

            Despite being depicted as Hungary’s most honourable ruler, Matthias was deemed the biggest tyrant of our country by the 15^th century’s Hungarian population. Although the tales about the king are educational and moral, the legends surrounding Matthias are constructions of later centuries and therefore as unreliable as the chronicles from Anonymous, who wrote about an era of Hungarian history he did not live in.

           As the son of the equally famous Hunyadi János, Matthias was considered to be a ruthless and egoistic king in his own time. The main reason why the country, including barons and peasants as well, hated him as their king was because of his taxes that he raised to sustain his power. The collected money was used to sustain his favourite hobby of fighting wars. Nonetheless, the king was successful, but he also angered the taxpayers with his demands to collect more money, because his army, the so called “Black Army”, consisting of mercenaries, was extremely expensive to maintain. It is true that he was able to conquer the glorious city of Vienna, which was something no other ruler was capable of achieving in his time, but the costs of the war were tremendous and he could not keep the city for long.

The taxes he enforced on the common people also prevented the barons from increasing their own incomes and after the amount of taxes reached a level that was unbearable, the nobles tried to overthrow Matthias. His closest allies, including the poet Janus Pannonius, became his worst enemies. Without any friends he could trust, the king was not able to solidify the throne for his son, who was a bastard, and his legacy died with him leaving Hungary in the hands of a ruler who was not able to defend the country from the Turkish invaders.

The legends of Matthias present a totally different version of the king than what we know from history. The king appears as the Hungarian equivalent of Robin Hood. He is depicted as a hero, the protector of the poor and helpless. In most of his legendary tales he visits the common people of the country in disguise to witness the cruelty of the “real oppressors”, the barons and the noblemen, first hand. After he has gathered enough evidence to prove the misuse of power, he teaches the tyrants a lesson while also aiding the ones who are in need of his help.

In these tales the real, historical version of the ruler is nowhere to be seen, there is only the righteous and wise King Matthias who resembles King Solomon from the Bible. The legends do not mention taxes, wars, bastards, conspiracies or the king’s misuse of power. Luckily this false characterization of Matthias only exists in children’s books and cartoons. The only truth that still applies today is a famous line quoted by Hungarians; “Matthias is dead and so is justice”.

             In conclusion, although the legends of the righteous Matthias are beautiful moral lessons they are still lies that were constructed in later centuries to help process the end of a glorious era of Hungarian history.

                                                                                                                        Kling Ádám