Timeless Nation

Saint Stephen, in establishing western Christianism in Hungary, realized the dangers of the pagan poetic inheritance, the interpreter of the ancient religion. He countered it with western, Latin literacy and religious Latin-based education. His harsh action doubtless spared the nation the long, weakening agony of hesitation between the old and new cultures. A strong nation was needed to hold its own among the new nations of Europe, and it could not be fettered by lingering memories of eastern pagan traditions alien to the Hungarians new environment.

Stephen had succeeded in creating a strong and vigorous nation, but in the process he and his Christian successors were instrumental in destroying a valuable poetic treasure which was the heritage of 2000 years of migrations. Fortunately, the destruction was not complete: there still remained some indestructible elements of the creations of the rich soul of this ancient people. Fragments of ancient songs, legends, chants, fairy tales and ballads continued to live by word of mouth only, often still containing words and phrases which have remained unintelligible.

Many of these fragments are found among the so-called minstrelsongs. Minstrelsy ("regoles" in Hungarian) is an old heathen custom, known to many ancient cultures in Europe, but Hungarian minstrelsy contains practices unknown elsewhere. One interesting fact is that it is still being practiced in some villages (in Transdanubia and Transylvania).

Mysterious in itself is the Magyar word "regos", the name of the performer or singer. This obsolete word is a derivation of the verb "rejteni" (: to hide): thus: "regos" is the person who hides something, an interpreter of hidden things. He was once a singer endowed with talent akin to wizardry, who could fall into a trance and foretell the future; he could communicate with the spirits of the dead and interpret their wishes. (Ancestor-worship was part of the ancient Magyar religion).

A "regos" song as sung today in Transdanubia presents an interesting text, full of half-forgotten pagan allusions and mentioning a "miraculous stag". It ends with the "regos" identification: "I hide in songs…." The Transylvanian variation from the Szekely region mentions the winter snowfall as "regos" singing is usually connected with the Christmas—New Year period. This, too, is mainly a good-wish song and the mention of the "ancient ones" and the "old law" clearly refers to the "ancient religion." Christian elements are often mixed with allusions to pagan rituals. The Transdanubian song, for instance, refers to a "thousand mass- candles."

There are similarly mixed Christian and pagan elements in the Transdanubian "Whitsun-Queen" chant. At Whitsuntide (spring in Europe) the girls elect a little girl "Queen", crown her with a flower-patterned headdress and accompany her in a procession from house to house, chanting a well-wishing song similar to the "regos" song. Among references to the Christian significance of the day, they also sing about the Queen who "was not born of a mother . . . and grew up with the Whitsun dews of the rosetree…."

The "shaman" — the wizard priest-doctor of the ancient Magyar religion — used to heal with chant and music. This ritual is remembered in the common children’s ditty ‘‘Stork... known everywhere in Hungary. The Summer Solstice festival (June 22, St. Ivan’s Day) has preserved the mating song about the "rutafa", a plant credited with magic qualities. This plant (whose botanic name is "Artemisia") is of a sub-tropical nature and does not grow in Hungary. This indicates a southern source of inspiration for some Magyar traditions, possibly Mesopotamia.

The so-called "flower-songs" contain elements of more recent inspiration (XVIth century) but some of their allusions stem from a more ancient, pagan ideology. In one song, the flowers connected with Christian ceremonies are compared — unfavorably with the pansy, the pagan symbol of love.

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The above examples display some amazing qualities of the most ancient elements in Magyar folk poetry. These songs (fully quoted in the Appendix) were recorded in various regions of the country (often quite distant). They show a remarkable similarity of wording and content, conserved, apparently, for more than a thousand years. This durability of the text suggests a closer examination of the methods of the propagation and preservation of folk poetry.

The poet is anonymous. His environment is the real creator of the poem. Thus the poet does not reserve his rights, does not forbid the changing of the words (which is rarer) or the application of different melodies (which is more frequent). Many folksongs have "interchangeable" texts and melodies: as long as the rhythm is identical, the same texts may be carried by different melodies, and the same melody may carry different texts. The folk poem is preserved by verbal tradition only: it is either sung or recited, not written down The recurring rhythm and rhyme patterns aid memorization of the text, even when it is in prose, such as the folk tales or stories which still present recurring rhythm patterns as a solid frame carrying the content.

The propagation is the task of the self-appointed and anonymous bards story tellers, poetry tellers and singers, rustic Homers who, at village gatherings or festivals, in the spinneries and inns, would often recite or sing the folk songs and stories. The bard passes his art to someone else, usually a very young child who has the necessary talent and interest. So a young child often hears these stories and songs from his grandparents, conserves this treasure throughout his life and then passes it on to his grandchildren. A talented bard ("versmondo" or "enekes") may span five generations — 120 to 150 years — with his poetic heritage. Thus the poetic tradition of a thousand years may be preserved through the talents of only a few generations of story-tellers.

The regional propagation of folk poetry is facilitated by exchanges and meetings between isolated communities: market-days, pilgrimages, seasonal workers’ movements, military service, domestic employment, trade apprenticeships and other movements.

The live presentation (singing or reciting often accompanied by mime or dance) adds beauty to the content. Rhythm and rhyme fulfil their original Homeric role: they are the framework and the musical accompaniment of the poem.

Due to their tragic historic circumstances, the epic poetry of the Hungarian people could never be gathered into a continuous epic collection as happened with Finland’s Kalevala saga. The Mongol, Turkish and independence wars and the long Austrian-German oppression destroyed what might have been the Hungarian Kalevala, the epic legend with a history much more exciting than that of the Finns. Only broken fragments have remained, songs, legends, tales, chants and ditties, found in the remote areas of Transylvania and Transdanubia.

Timeless Nation