Tyushtya
Tyushtya ['tʲuʃtʲɑ] (, ['tʲuʃtʲenʲ], ) is Moksha demigod, son of Atäm (Thunder God) and mortal girl. Tyushtya is able to turn into White horse. The good harvest depends on him. He was the first Moksha King chosen by clan elders. The first Moksha title for the king derives from his name [tʲuʃ'tʲɑn]. Epic. Epic based on three archaic runes first recorded by Heikki Paasonen in the beginning of 20th century and printed posthumously in 1938-1981. Archaic Runes. He is a young lad during new moon, mature in the full moon, and old man during waning moon. The Sun is on  his forehead and the Moon is on the back of his head, star is on the tip of each hair. He was born with an iron heel, back of the head of stone, wire wrapped knees. Iron-beaked Seer Raven is among his helpersas well as White Horse, White Swan, and Queen Bee. He likes musicians. When he is in a good mood everyone sings and dances. He holds a stick in one hand and torama (great horn) in another. According to Variant 1 mythical tradition Tyshtya grows old and ascends to heaven to meet their parents leaving his "torama  (His Great horn's name) that tells his will. Later Runes. He lives in his palace in the East. He is the reachest one in the whole world. He wears white shirt and golden clothes. In later runes' variants Queen Bee warns him he would be killed by a miraculously born child. His enemy is 70-years Erzya Widow's son born with an iron heel. He uses torama" to call everyone to join the battle with the enemies who want to take the homeland. His torama's voice is like thunder, like the voice of the ancestors. In Variant  B tradition he leads Mokshas to the East, away from Russian pressure. He parts the sea and let Mokshas to cross it. The Supreme God helps him. When he leads his people to the new lands the Supreme God feeds them, like it is said in the Bible. When Tyushtya grows old he asks his people where do they want them to die. They say they don't want to witness his death. He departs and leaves his "torama" they might use to call him with when the enemy comes. Then he returnes with his army and that will be  the ultimate battle before the doomsday. Tyushtya in Erzya Epic Tradition. The epic might be formed first among Mokshas and later borrowed by Erzyas. In Erzya mythology, Tyushtya is a Moon god, son of Nishke (Thunder god) and mortal girl Litova. His age changes every month, following the phases of the Moon. Tyshtya in Erzya Literature. Vasily Radayev compiled "Tyushtya" epic out of Moksha and Erzya epic songs in 1991. Aleksandr Sharonov compiled "Mastorava" () epic out of Moksha and Erzya epic songs in 1994. Indo-Iranian Influence Reflected in The Epic. Mokshas are know for wearing pendants with duck legs  in Early Middle Ages. It reflects the Proto-Uralic religion|Myth of the Great Bird. They wore as well animal style horse-shaped decorations and horse head-shaped ones with duck legs, like amulets and combs. Horse Cult and Horse Sacrifice. Mokshas had the Horse cult from the ancient times. The Horse cult among Mordvin Tatars was described in 1591 by Giles Fletcher: In Tsna (Moksha)|Tsna Moksha gravefields dated 13-14th c horse graves are often as well as amulets and combs with horse heads. Similar cults in Mokshas and Udmurts are idenfied as Indo-Iranian heritage Zoroastrian Customs. As per  Mary Boyce Indo-Iranians lived like nomads stretching from Volga region|Lower Volga to the North Kazakhstan yet around 1700 BC (time when Rigveda should be set)Traces of Indo-Iranians still can be found in Moksha language , for instance the word can be traced back to Iranian "ahur" in Ahura Mazda . The word and archaic are cognates with Linguistic history of India|Ancient Indian "bhagas" 'happiness' and Avestan "baγa" 'God'. Even is tied with Aryan "*агуа" 'Arya'. Elements of Zoroastrianism can be found as well in wedding or burial rites and archaic fire cult. External links. Category:Fertility gods Category:Sky and  weather gods Category:Ancient Iranian gods Category:Mythological horses Category:Characters in epic poems Category:Heroes in mythology and legend Category:Legendary rulers