L lábán, Rudolf

Due to its geographical position and favorable climatic conditions, the Carpathian Basin seems to be the only area where prehistoric men could further their cultural development. Gyula (Julius) László, the renowned archeologist, may have had in mind the prehistoric man of the Subalyuk cave at the Bükk Mountains, the Vadásztelep (Hunting settlement) at Tata, the Nagytábor at Érd, and the Jankovich cave, when he wrote: “Our human ancestors were never inexperienced, did not start their knowledge of nature and environment from point zero, but brought with them many thousand of generations’ accumulated experiences from incalculably ancient times…The man at Vértesszőllős may be several hundred thousand years old, but he already had stone tools, lived with fire, and believed in some kind of skull magic.”– B: 1289, T: 7669.→László, Gyula; Hungarian Runic Script; Runic Writing Research; Forrai, Sándor; Torma, Zsófia.

(1) Sporadic relics of the language can usually be found in early Charters and documents. The oldest authentic Charter that has survived in its original version is the Foundation Charter of the Benedictine Abbey of Tihany of 1055. It fixes the land possessions of the Abbey and its borders. Among Hungarian place names such as Tihany, Somogy and Tolna, there are 58 common words with 33 suffixes. The Deed of Gift of the Dömös Provostry (1138/1329) contains more than 100 geographic names, and about 1400 personal names. The personal names are names of servants. They are partly of Biblical origin, such as Gábriel (Gabriel), Jákob (Jacob) and János (Janus), or they originate from common words, such as Lengyel Péntek and Vasas. The Tihany Inventory from 1211 contains about 150 place names and 2000 personal names. A large collection of names can be found in a Charter that grants the Crusaders of Székesfehérvár their possessions (1193). There are 55 estate names listed in this document. The Pécsvárad Foundation Letter of the monastery at the foot of Vashegy, dating from 1015 (more probably around 1220) is actually a forgery, but contains several personal and place names. The Várad Regestrum is an official report of the Várad (Nagyvárad, now Oradea, Romania) cathedral, similar to charters, and is a significant source of the history of Hungarian education and law. Its smaller part contains the summary of conciliations, testaments, contracts of sale, and other matters settled in front of the chapter between 1208 and 1235. In its greatest part, there is a list of red-hot iron tests and scourges. In the list, more than 30 castle districts, 600 villages and 2500 persons are mentioned. Personal names with accusative suffixes are: Bélát (Belat) and Medvét (Meduet). Anonymus, the chronicler of King Béla III, wrote the Gesta Hungarorum (The Deeds of the Hungarians) around 1200 about the origin of the Hungarians and their Settlement in the Carpathian Basin. He knew the Hungarian regions and the names and location of settlements and rivers well. In his work there are common words and several place and personal names among its sporadic records.

(2) Textual relics. From the early old Hungarian period there are only four short texts, the so-called “guest-texts” copied into Latin Church service books. Actually they were spoken-parts of Christian church services. They suggest that the cultivation of the mother tongue in the age of the Árpád dynasty (997-1301) may have reached high standards. The oldest known Hungarian text relic is the Funeral Oration and Prayer (Halotti beszéd és könyörgés) from the end of the 12th century, which survived in the Pray Codex. Its first part, the oration, is not a translation of a Latin funeral oration but a Hungarian interpretation of it. The text is heightened by figurative etymology synonyms and alliterations. Its second part is the prayer for the dead, a translation of the Latin Church text. The Königsberg Fragment and its Ribbon is a prayer of praise of the Virgin Mary, dating from the beginning of the 13th century. Its text was repeated as a litany. It consists of three broken text fragments. The first part is the “Fragment” itself, a meditation on Mary as a virgin mother. The second part tells the story of Archangel Gabriel’s mission in a colorful dialog style; then, it quotes the words of the angelic greeting. The third part of the text fragment is an extract from a medieval Mary-legend, in which the author meditates on Mary being a mother. Here are also poetic texts (figurative etymology, alliteration), for example “királyok királyának szent arany oltára” (holy golden altar of the king of kings), “angyaloknak asszonyához” (to the lady of the angels). The Old Hungarian Lament of Mary is the first poem written in Hungarian. It originates from the middle of the 13th century and is one of the most beautiful and most lyrical pieces of early Hungarian poetry. The Virgin Mary is standing under the cross, lamenting the sufferings and unjust death of her holy son. The author heightens the poem by using various linguistic means, such as similes. The Gyulafehérvár Lines (now Alba Iulia, Romania) from the second half of the 13th century actually do not form a complete text; they are simply drafts of sermons. This linguistic relic consists of three parts. Presumably it was not written as a poem; however, the regular structure of sentences and rhythmically rhyming lines make it similar to a poem.

(3) Glosses. They preserve the memory of Hungarian spiritual and material culture and represent great value of cultural history. There are three glosses from this period. These are: the Oxford Glosses from around 1230 that contain 11 Hungarian words, the Vatican Glosses from around 1290 include 4 Hungarian words; and the Leuven Glosses, which appeared in the same Codex as the Old Hungarian Maria-Lament (Ómagyar Mária- siralom) and contains 9 Hungarian words. – B: 1091, T: 1091, 7103.→Tihany Abbey; Béla III, King; Anonymus, Gesta Hungarorum; Kézai, Simon, Gesta Hungarorum; Funeral Oration and Prayer; Maria Lamentation of, Old Hungarian.

During the years around 1190, King Béla II (1131-1141) started a large building project in Esztergom. The royal chapel was discovered during the 1930 excavations. The chapel, originally the royal reception hall, had 7 frescoes symbolizing the royal dynasty; seven lions stepping forward were illustrated on the right and left side of the throne, but only one was preserved. The lion’s four stripes represented the lord of the four heavenly directions. On its rump there is an eight-segmented rosette, the symbol of the autumn sun god, while behind the lion there is a tendril and a double cross, the symbol of the ruler. The frame of the fresco is decorated with palmettos.

These seven stepping lions with four stripes are similar to those on the coat of arms seal of the Golden Bull, issued by King András II (Andrew, 1205-1235) in 1222. These lions symbolized the king’s realm of seven provinces.

On mediaeval Hungarian relics, other lion symbols can be seen. There is a lion symbol on the oldest Hungarian crown regalia, on the crystal globe of the royal scepter. There is also a lion symbol on the collar of the royal gown, four lions’ bodies but only one head. Supposedly, these represent the four branches of the royal clan under the leadership of the sovereign.