Читать книгу Abkhazia in legends - Lina Belyarova - Страница 4

The legends of the Atsans, a race of dwarfs, and of the Narts, mighty heroes, are the best known in Abkhazia. The Narts replaced the Atsans. These two human races are thought to have been the most ancient to have inhabited Abkhazia.

There is also a legend about the wood-dwelling folk (abna-waa). They are portrayed as extremely savage human beings who dwelt in Abkhazia’s thick virgin forests. The Abava Gorge is said to have been such a dwelling place for those wild people, who lived by hunting. According to legend, those wicked and frightful human beings used to wear animal skins, and an axe, always hanging from a chain around their neck, served them as a weapon in their fight against their enemies.

According to another legend, a tribe of mighty giant-ogres dwelt in the Bzyb Gorge in early times. Each of those giants had as many as seven heads over his shoulders and only one eye on his forehead. For a long period they thieved on the land, striking fear into the villagers. Fortunately, the Narts, mighty heroes, came along and succeeded in conquering them.

One of the Nart epic tales describes the campaign of the Narts to the land of the Blackamoors. Later, the Narts returned to their ancestral land together with them. A smaller number of those Blackamoors have remained in Abkhazia.

Abkhazians have preserved to the present day legends dealing also with their origins in Asia Minor or Egypt.