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Kurdalægon (Ossetian: Куырдалӕгон), also spelled and known as Kuịrdalägon, Kurd-Alägon, Aläugon, Kurd-Alä-Uärgon, is the heavenly deity of blacksmiths in Ossetian mythology. His epithet is "the heavenly one"; he shoes the dead man's horse, thus helping him on his journey to the other side. He is a close friend of the Narts.
Despite being associated with other blacksmith deities in different Indo-European mythologies (like Vulcan) he does not have the status of a god. Ossetian mythology is considered to be monotheistic, with only Xwytsau being considered God, and all the others (called zædtæ and dæwdžytæ) being considered deities of a lower class.
Etymology
Ossetian Kwyrdalægon is a contraction of Kurd Alæ Wærgon, where Kurd and Alæ are epithets, meaning "blacksmith" and "Alan/Aryan", respectively, and Wærgon is the original name of Kurdalægon. The whole phrase means "Alan/Aryan Blacksmith Wærgon". Kurd originates from *kur-ta- or *kur-tar-, which is agent noun of *kur- "to heat", "to incandesce". Ossetian alæ originates from arya-, and originally meant "Aryan", and later "Alan".
The original name Wærgon is derived from Old Ossetic *wærg "wolf" (see Warg). The linguist Vasily Abaev compares it to the name of the Roman god Vulcan.
See also
References
- Digor Ossetian: Курдалæгон
- Digor Ossetian: Курд-Алӕ-Уӕргон
- Salbiev, Tamerlan (2021). "KUỊRDALÄGON". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.
Sources
- Abaev, V.I. Historical-Etymological Dictionary of Ossetian language
- Talley, Jeannine Elizabeth (1978). The blacksmith: a study in technology, myth and folklore. University of California. p. 758. Retrieved 8 August 2012.