This year my A to Z theme is Small Town Legends. I am exploring folklore from villages and small towns around Hungary, bringing you the most entertaining bits. You can plan your next visit around them!
 |
| Image from here |
This legend tells of the time of the Tatar invasions - which is the term we use for the Mongolian invasion of 1241, and other attacks during the times of the Ottoman Empire later on. The town the events took place is Fényeslitke, a small municiplaity of about 2,200 inhabitants in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, northeastern Hungary.
Legend says that at the time when the Tatars were invading, there were no men present in the village to defend it. A brave woman named Máté Klára, who was heavily pregnant, took it upon herself to organize the defense of the town. She gathered the women, and together they lined up all the beehives at the edge of town in a field. In additionl, all of them hid pots of red paprika under their aprons, and picked up the heaviest mangles and rolling pins they had. Thus armed, they went to fight the incoming army.
Seeing all the women, the Tatars got off their horses and approached them, hoping for an easy win (and, according to the text, they were seduced by the women's, especially Klára's, good looks). When they got close, the women threw red paprika in their eyes (a very Hungarian move). Blinded, the soldiers ran around in the field, overturning the beehives and getting stung. The women used the mangles and rolling pins to beat down any survivors.
The village was saved, and Máté Klára gave birth to twin boys the next day.
(Legend collected in Ajak, from Votyku Imre in 1954. Found in this book.)
Posts
That’s awesome!
ReplyDelete