Manuk Abeghyan

Armenian Folk Beliefs

Translated from Armenian by Robert Bedrosian, 2012

This material is in the public domain. It may be copied and distributed freely.

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This is a translation of Hay zhoghovrdakan havadk'e" (pages 11-102 of Manuk Abeghyan's Erker [Works], vol. 7, Erevan, 1975). Originally published in German (Der armenische Volksglaube, Leipzig, 1899), it is Abeghyan's doctoral dissertation. The translation from German into Armenian was made by the renowned linguist, philologist, and folklorist, Dora Sakayan. Dr. Sakayan also verified the notes and expanded some references which Abeghyan had provided in abbreviated form. The pagination of the German original has been maintained in the present English edition.

1. The Sources and a General Characterization of Armenian Folk Beliefs

2. Belief in Spirits and Worship of the Dead

Spirit as Breath
Vision and Dream
Forms of the Soul when It Leaves the Body
Ghosts and Their Evil Influences
Spirits
Souls as Light, Spirits as Fire
The Moral Moment and the Two Guardian Angels
Death
The Soul's Journey to the Next World
Judgement of the Soul
Cult of the Individual Dead
Hogehats'
Worship of the Dead
The Relationship between Ancestor Worship and the Stars
Heaven or Paradise, and Hell

3. Light and Darkness

Night Mothers
Evils of the Night
Prayer as a Means of Protection or Healing
Evening Prayers and Defenders of the Home
Prayers for Sleep; the Succubi/incubi (tarp'oginer); the Flame of Truth
The Flower of Sleep and the Spirits of Sleep
The Morning Star and the House Rooster
Dawn
The Sun
Moon and Sun
The Moon
The Milky Way
4. Belief in Fate
The Stars
The Wheel of Heaven
Time
Destiny
Fate (Baxt)

5. Worship of Water and Plants

Worship of Springs
Worship of Trees
Festival of Trees and Flowers, a Folk Romance
6. Worship of Fire
Ordinary Fire
Fire and Water as Sister and Brother
Hearth Fire and Worship of the Hearth
Contamination of Fire; Bonfires
7. Worship of Snakes

8. Stories about Thunderstorms

The Storm Dragon
The Storm Battle
Tsovinar
The Lightning Hero Sanasar
Lightning and Its Symbols
Drought and Customs Associated with It

9. Spirit of the Wind

10. Water, Forest, and Mountain Spirits

Fiery Horses
Hnark's
P'eris [fairies] and Haverzhaharses [nymphs]
K'ajk' (K'ajs)
Devs

11. Spells and Evil Spirits

The Wolf and Wolf-binding Spells
The Werewolf
Als and Maidens Giving Birth
Spirits of Disease and the "Evil Eye"

The transliteration used here is a modification of the new Library of Congress system for Armenian, substituting x for the LOC's kh, for the thirteenth character of the Armenian alphabet (խ). Otherwise we follow the LOC transliteration, which eliminates diacritical marks above or below a character, and substitutes single or double quotation marks to the character's right. In the LOC romanization, the seventh character of the alphabet (է) appears as e', the eighth (ը) as e", the twenty-eighth (ռ) as r', and the thirty-eighth (o), as o'.


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