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Rovásírás - Hungarian Runes

When many people think of runes, they think of the Elder Futhark runes of Scandinavian origin, but there were many other runic alphabets in circulation in ancient times.  Hungarian runes are one of the nation's forgotten cultural treasures.  The honfoglaló (settler) ancestors were already using them, so their use preceded even Hungary's foundations. 

The alphabet got is name from the runes being carved into wood or sticks; the word for carving was "rovás".  They were angular so were easier to carve into sticks than curved symbols.  To make the time-consuming job of carving easier, people developed symbols for letter groupings and took various shortcuts with the rules of the language.  The reason the runes are read right to left is because most people found it easier to hold the stick with the left hand and carve from right to left with the right hand.

With the arrival of Christianity, Pagan rituals and traditions were outlawed, and runes were lumped into the Pagan category.  Many writings from earlier days were destroyed.  At the same time, the newly Christian government peititioned the Pope to aid the Hungarian people in creating a Latin-based alphabet for the Magyar language.  This process took decades, however, and even then it took another two centuries until the new alphabet was widespread.  During this time, the royal courts used Latin for their writings.  The commoners, skirting the official mandates, continued to use runes for their written records.

There were two major forms of runes - "székely-magyar" and "pálos".  The pálos form developed into more curved forms, where the Szekler remained very angular.  Other scholars claim that the pálos runes were a development from the very different Turkic alphabet instead.  Regardless of its origins, the pálos designation comes from the fact that the pálos monks used it the longest.  (These monks, incidentally, were the sole Christian order founded in Hungary.) 

In an odd twist of history, the pálos runes remained prominent the longest in South America.  Both the Spanish and Portugal monarchies had good relationship with the Pálos monks and sent them as missionaries to South America to explore the inner regions and convert the natives.  The monks often lived in caves there, similar to the cave-dwelling monks in the Pilis mountains in Hungary.  On the walls of the caves, explorers often found traces of their ancient Hungarian runes.  Later, Jesuits replaced the Pálos monks on their South American missions, but the Jesuit priests from Hungary still understood the runes for several generations onwards.  At some point, the runes switched the direction to read as Latin alphabets do, from left to right, and this continues to today.  The newly re-created pálos monk's order is researching the runes of its earlier traditions.

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The other type of Hungarian runic alphabet was the székely-magyar, or Szekler, rune.  The Szeklers were a Hungarian population who live in what is now eastern Transylvania.  They made many important cultural contributions to the national heritage, the runes being one of them.  Their alphabet was much more wide-spread in ancient times than the Pálos runes.  A number of them were borrowed from or were lent to runic systems of other neighboring cultures of the times.  During its heyday, it was called the szittya-szkíta writing. It is only in modern times that we call it the Szekler alphabet.
 

In the 13th century, the laws prohibiting runic expression were apparently relaxed somewhat, because various runic systems - including the Szekler - became popular once again.  Unfortunately, by this time few people remembered the proper rules of writing and grammar, and the runic revival didn't succeed in completely replacing the by then more-common Latin alphabet.  However, it did gain enough popularity that from the sixteenth century it was taught in schools in certain regions (like Transylvania) all the way up until the beginning of the 18th century. 

The Hapsburg dynasty gave the final blow to runic alphabets.  During this time, German was the other official language of Hungary, and a third alphabet was too much for the common man to handle learning.  Furthermore, runes were outlawed in all official publications.  Almost overnight, any popularity the runes might have enjoyed disappeared, and the runes were banished to the realm of the academics.  However, in recent years, runes have become increasinly popular once again, especially the Szekler variety.  It is used mostly as a secret language, especially among college students or in circles for whom runes represent a lost national cultural heritage.  However, the government doesn't want to promote runic studies officially because it doesn't want to promote any sort of nationalistic movement that it might represent. 

Source

Lenten Games

In the season of fasting before Easter, children and young people used to play different games, the rules of which often differed from village to village and region to region.  Although the genders sometimes played some games together, they generally had different interests.  Boys typically played sport-like games that were quite competitive in nature, but girls had games of their own - mostly circle games.  One of these games was played mostly by girls in the "Dunántúl" region of western Hungary.  It was called variously csutizás or csöntörözés. 

The children stood in a circle, with one child, designated the king, standing in the center.  The "king" held a pitcher with small pebbles rattling in it.  The children started singing a rhyme, which is sung to this day in many kindergartens:

Itt a köcsög, mi van benne,
Aranyalma, aranykörte.
Add tovább, add tovább,
Te meg fizesd az árát!

This can be translated as:

Here's the pitcher, what's inside?
Golden apple, golden pear
Pass it onwards, pass it onwards
And you must pay the price!

As the song started, the "king" threw the pitcher to someone in the circle, who passed it on to their neighbor, who then passed it on to the next person, all to the beat of the song.  If someone dropped it, they had to sit down to show they were out.  Whoever was left holding the pitcher when the rhyme ended also had to sit down.  At the end of the round, the child in the center got the pitcher again and started a new round of passing the pitcher around.  It lasted until there was only one person left standing.  This person would then become the king, and the game would start anew.


Mancsozás

One game that both genders could play together was called mancsozás.  It was played on a field that measured about 30 X 45 yards, and was divided into two sections, one for each of the two teams. 

Before the game started, boys would carve and decorate sticks that would be used like bats. These would be about two feet in length and were slightly curved at the end. Finally, the players needed a "mancs" - a wooden ball - which was commonly carved from acacia, hornbeam, or another hard wood. Young men would carve sticks for the girls they were interested in - with obvious symbolic intentions. Even though it was the season of fasting, young people still took the opportunity to court one another.

Two captains, usually the best players of the village, were chosen by consensus.  They would be the ones to pick the players on each team.  Although the size of the teams could vary, it was common to have eight players per team.  To decide who got to go first, the captains would square off and one would grab hold of a long stick. The other would grab the stick above the other's fist, and they would alternate grabbing the stick until there was no more left to grab hold of. Whoever's hand was on top would win the chance to go first. This method was called "mérés" - measuring.

Someone would toss a ball high into the air, and the children would smack them with their bats.  (If they couldn't hit the ball and it dropped on the ground, the hitter was out.)  Then, their sticks were thrown into the opposite team's playing field.  They had to run and retrieve the stick and return to their own side before the other team could find the ball and throw it back.  Whoever couldn't retrieve their stick was declared out.

Eurovision 2012: Compact Disco

So Eurovision... it's kind of a big deal.  It's been happening since 1956, and the premise is pretty simple.  Each participating European country holds national contests for a musical act to represent them with an original act in front of the world.  Then all these groups/singers/musicians/whatever get together and decide which country wins.  Basic formula, right?

Well, it's proven to be pretty popular.  Per the all-knowing Wiki, it's one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world, with hundreds of millions watching it internationally every year.  It's broadcast (broadcasted?) all over the world, including over the Internet. 

After a grueling process including two semifinals, a final, etc. that were all televised on a show called A Dal ("The Song"), they finally decided that this year, Hungary's representatives will be Compact Disco. with the following song, "Sound of Our Hearts".  (Which, in my humble opinion, is pretty awesome!)





Incidentally, C.D. also have a few other decent songs to their credit, including Feel the Rain, Beautiful Day... and, well, whatever else you feel like browsing around for.  Still, I think the song they're entering with is the best by a long shot.  Now, we just have to wait until the end of May to see where it places in the rankings.  If you're curious ahead of time, you can check out Youtube and do a search for "Eurovision 2012" - it'll bring up all the different countries' entries, as well as video compilations by various people who rank the songs according to how they think the songs will do.  Or, you can check out the official site.  Either way, it's a fun way to waste some time. :)

For a very different sort of an entry, one of the runner-ups was the Kiraly brother and sister act performing their song "Untried":

The act makes sense; since Kiraly means King (or queen/prince/princess/whatever royal person depending on the suffix you add to it), the lady's all dressed up royally, including the crazy hair. (Besides actually being a tolerably common last name, kiraly is also a slang term for something that's really cool... so they'd be the royal and/or cool siblings.) 

Incidentally, I also need to start going around with jewels on my eyes and my hair done up like that at all times.  Going to the grocery store would be so much more eventful if I looked like that.  Doing the dishes would be more fun.  Life would just be that much brighter.  Anyway.  =P

(I still think the right act won, though.  Just saying.)

The Hen-Eyed Maiden

Once upon a time, far from here and far from there, there was a tiny little village. In the prettiest house lived a widow and her comely daughter. This maiden was so lovely that she was as slender as a reed, her face as delicate as a blooming rose, her hair was like sun-ripened hay, and her eyes were as blue as the summer sky. So great was her beauty that even the Sun was surprised by it, so much that he would stand still in the sky as He took His daily walk across His courtyard, admiring her.

The girl had one flaw, and one flaw only: she was extremely short-sighted, so much that she was practically blind. In that region, this was known as being hen-eyed, and so she became known in the village as the hen-eyed maiden. This was very unfortunate. Although all the village lads admired her beauty and sighed after her, none of them wanted to consider asking for her hand in marriage. In those parts, a young man wouldn't be able to survive with a blind wife who couldn't hold a shovel in the garden, who couldn't see what she was cooking for dinner. In short, no one wanted to start life's journey out with such a disadvantage, so despite her beauty, she was left waiting. The maiden was despondent over this, as was her mother, but there was nothing to be done.

It so happened that the town held a social which included a dance, and of course the widow and her daughter were in attendance. A young man from a neighboring village had been invited, and as he laid eyes on the beautiful girl, his heart skipped a beat, then leapt around in his chest. He had never seen a girl so lovely, and when he found that she wasn't spoken for, he resolved to visit her house the next evening. But when the locals heard about his plan, they just shook their heads sadly and warned him: "You're wasting your time, young one. She can't see; she's hen-eyed!" But he was so besotten that he replied that he would go see for himself whether she was blind or not.

The next night he did indeed show up at the widow's house. The girl was overjoyed, as was her mother; they gave him food, gave him drink, entertained him, and in short made such a fuss over him that the lad was quite flattered, and didn't even notice that the girl couldn't see much. He thought to himself that the villagers might simply be spreading mean rumors about her by calling her hen-eyed. He left that night with a promise to come back the next evening.

The next day, the mother decided that the young man was a good enough prospect that she would do all she could to help her daughter land him as a husband. "My darling daughter," she began. "I'm going to thread a needle, and tie the thread to your finger. When the young man comes to call, and you two are talking amongst yourselves, jump up suddenly as if you had just seen something on the ground, pull the needle up by the string, and call out loudly to me, 'Look here, Mother, I found a needle on the ground!' Does that sound like a decent plan, daughter?"

"Mother, that would be perfect!" the daughter replied. And so it went, exactly according to the plan. The girl hid the thread in her hand and when the young man came to call, the two stepped outside to take a little moonlit stroll in the front yard so they could get a little privacy. Just as the young man began to think about taking his chances caressing her, she suddenly bent down and exclaimed, "Mother dearest! I've found that needle you were looking for! It was out here on the ground!" Well, the youth was overjoyed. If a girl could see a needle on the ground lit only by moonlight, her eyes must be very good indeed! He left that night in a good mood, resolving to himself that if the next evening's visit was as pleasant as the last two, he would ask her hand in marriage indeed and bring her home to his village.

The next evening came, and everything was going as planned, and after some initial chatter, they sat the youth down at the kitchen table to serve him dinner. The mother had baked a wonderful bread and sent her daughter to the kitchen to fetch it; in the meantime, she set a huge bowl of home-made cottage cheese on the table. The daughter came back with the bread and set it down, but she suddenly saw the bowl of white cottage cheese. The first thought that sprang to her head was that it must be her snow-white cat who often liked to sit on the table. The girl was almost giddy with high spirits, and as she set the bread down on the table, she cried, "Get down from there, you silly old thing!" And with that, she gave the white bowl a strong swat - sending cottage cheese flying all around the room, even into her prospective groom's hair!

The young man jumped out of his chair as if he had been burned. "You two are veritable tricksters, you are! This girl cannot tell cottage cheese from a cat, much less find a needle by moonlight! And I won't take a liar for a wife!" he shouted as he stormed out of the house, never to be seen again, not only in the widow's house but in the whole village.

Whether the beautiful girl found a husband or remained an old maid, I don't know, but if you wish to find out, you can always try visiting her to ask!

The Cart and the Carriage - A King Matthias Story

King Matthias may have been the grandest king of all, but he still enjoyed disguising himself as a commoner and wandering from town to town, village to village, hamlet to hamlet, so that he could see with his own eyes and hear with his own ears the condition his country was in, and how people treated one another when they thought the royals were afar. 

Once, during one of his rambles about the countryside, he grew tired of walking.  He was near a main road, so he walked to it and stopped the first cart that was headed his way.  Its horse was straining against his heavy load, but the poor peasant driving it cheerfully invited the tired traveler to hop on; his weight wouldn't make much difference to the horse.  So the king accepted and sat on the cart next to the peasant and chatted with him to pass the time, but he did not reveal to the man that he was indeed the king.

The cart went on quietly for a while, but soon they saw dust up ahead; another vehicle was approaching quickly in the opposite direction.  Since the road was only one lane wide, one of them would have to give way to let the other pass.  They saw that the other carriage must have belonged to a rich man, for it was an ornate carriage pulled by six beautiful horses.  Indeed, it belonged to a proud baron, and as a matter of courtesy the peasant started to give way and move his horse and cart.

As he was already starting to make way, the carriage's driver couldn't resist shouting down haughtily at the peasant.  The cart's driver yelled haughtily down at the peasant. "Get out of our way, you mangy thing!  The baron is an important man and has no time for your kind to keep him waiting!"  And he let loose a string of profanities directed at the peasant.  King Matthias grew angry and quietly instructed the peasant to keep on the road instread of making way. When the poor man protested, he himself took the reins from him and stopped the cart so that he would have no chance of moving off the road. 

Seeing this, the carriage's driver grew furious and started screaming more at them.  Even the baron stood in his seat and ordered his driver to lash the insolent man who would not turn out of the way.  He ordered the man to approach the carriage to get his lashes.  So the king jumped down from the cart, stood in front of the carriage driver.  "Shall I remove my coat so the lash can reach my back better?"  he asked, and without waiting for an answer, he started to unbutton his ragged coat.  Underneath the tattered, dirty cloth was a royal outfit of velvet, with necklaces of gold.  The baron recognized King Matthias immediately. He grew terrified and started shaking like a leaf.

The king remained calm.  "I command you to take two of your horses and give them to the peasant there; four horses are enough to pull your carriage, even if it is a shiny one." The driver quickly did as he was told, but King Matthias instructed the baron to get down from his seat and assist him. When they were finished, he continued.  "Now you can get up, back on your carriage. Hurry, hurry, giddy-up. But I command you to make way for this peasant's cart, because empty carriages need make way to fully loaded ones." And from that day forward, it was the law that carts with heavier burdens were given the right of way, no matter how humble they might be.

Proverbs & Sayings

To accept a gift is to give away indepenence. 

(Ajándék elfogadás, szabadság eladás.)

Stretch only as far as your blanket reaches. 

(Addig nyujtózkodják, meddig a takaród ér.)

Your word is your servant only until it leaves your mouth.

(Addig szolgád a szó, mig ki nem mondottad.)

The moon shines only until the sun arrives.

(Addig tündöklik a hold, mig a nap helyre ér.)

An old bachelor will never make a young groom.

(Agglegényből sohasem lesz fiatal vőlegény.)

The gallows don't invite anyone but will accept everyone. 

(Akasztófa senkit se hí, mindenkit magához fogad.)

Where a bone appears, so will a dog.

(Akad csontra kutya.)

It's the same crime whether you're the one looting or the one holding the loot bag. 

(Akár lopjon, akár a zsákot tartsa: egy tolvajság.)

Whether you fall on the rock or are hit by the falling rock, it hurts the same. 

(Akár a kőhez, akár a kővel: egyformán fáj.)

Bend the tree while it's still a sapling. 

(Addig hajlitsd a fát, mig vessző.)