Georgian mythology () refers to the mythology of pre-Christian Georgians . Like many other rich and ancient bodies of myth,that of the Georgians has been coloured by the belief systems of the many cultures with which it has come into contact over the millennia. The bedrock upon which it is founded is, by definition, the indigenous ] mythology of the Kartvelian peoples themselves, whose first emergence from the darkness of prehistory is believed by many scholars to occur with the founding of the Kingdoms of Diauehi, Colchis and Iberia. This said, the consensus of scholarly opinion is that the proto-Kartvelians (possibly to be identified with the Mushki) originated in Ancient Anatolia, where their religious ideas would have come into contact with those of the Hattians, the Hittite empire, the Hurrians, Urartu, and the Armenians. Later influences include the mythologies of the Ancient Greeks,Tuite, Kevin, The Meaning of Dæl, Symbolic and Spatial Associations of the South Caucasian Goddess of Game Animals, Université de Montréal the Vainakh peoples and Iranians – the last-named comprising both the belief systems of the Northern Iranian nomad Scythians and Sarmatians (still preserved to some extent in the mythology of their descendants the Ossetians) and that of the Zoroastrian religion of the Ancient Persian empire, which has left such an enduring legacy among the nations of the Caucasus.Medes and Persians in Transcaucasia: Archaeological Horizons in Northwestern-Iran and Transcaucasia by Stephan Kroll in Continuity of Empire. Assyria, Media, Persia ed. G.B. Lanfranchi, M. Roaf, R. Rollinger (Padova 2003). (See also Iranian religions)Marshall Lang, David, The Georgians, pub. Thames and Hudson 1966 as vol. 51 in the series Ancient Peoples and Places Georgian myths and legends are preserved mainly as popular tales . Many of them have eventually fused with Christian legends after the Christianization of Georgia seventeen centuries ago. The evangelizing of Georgia was , however,  far from uniform : while the lowland populations embraced Christianity in the fifth century, the highlanders of the mountain valleys in the Greater Caucasus range were converted only ten centuries later – and in a superficial way at that. It follows from this that accounts of pagan practices in the lowland Christian kingdom are poorly preserved in fragmentary form through brief passages in national chronicles and literary classics. Survivals of pagan beliefs and practices in the Georgian plains are thus, understandably, heavily influenced by Christianity, lacking in mythological unity and essentially folkloric.Charachidzé, Georges, Le système religieux de la Géorgie païenne: analyse structurale d’une civilisation, pub. Paris: Maspero 1968.Charachidzé, Georges : essay : Religion and Myths of the Georgians of the Mountains in Bonnefoy, Yves Mythologies, translated from the original French edition of 1981 (and restructured in more encyclopedic form) by various translators under the direction of Prof.Wendy Doniger, pub. The University of Chicago Press 1991, vol. 1 pps. 308–316 ( in part 3 Celts, Norse, Slavs, Caucasians and their Neighbors ). By contrast:
Georgian mythology () refers to the mythology of pre-Christian Georgians ,also known as Kartvelians (/kʌrtˈvɛliənz/; Georgian: ქართველები, romanized: kartvelebi, pronounced kʰɑrtʰvɛlɛbi]), an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus.The mythology of the Kartvelian peoples is believed by many scholars to occur with the founding of the Kingdoms of Diauehi, Colchis and Iberia. The proto-Kartvelians (possibly to be identified with the Mushki) originated in Ancient Anatolia, where their religious ideas would have come into contact with those of the Hattians, the Hittite empire, the Hurrians, Urartu, and the Armenians. Later influences include the mythologies of the Ancient Greeks,Tuite, Kevin, The Meaning of Dæl, Symbolic and Spatial Associations of the South Caucasian Goddess of Game Animals, Université de Montréal the Vainakh peoples and Iranians – the last-named comprising both the belief systems of the Northern Iranian nomad Scythians and Sarmatians (still preserved to some extent in the mythology of their descendants the Ossetians) and that of the Zoroastrian religion of the Ancient Persian empire, which has left an enduring legacy among the nations of the Caucasus.Medes and Persians in Transcaucasia: Archaeological Horizons in Northwestern-Iran and Transcaucasia by Stephan Kroll in Continuity of Empire. Assyria, Media, Persia ed. G.B. Lanfranchi, M. Roaf, R. Rollinger (Padova 2003). (See also Iranian religions)Marshall Lang, David, The Georgians, pub. Thames and Hudson 1966 as vol. 51 in the series Ancient Peoples and Places Georgian myths and legends are preserved mainly as popular tales , many of them eventually fusing with Christian legends after the Christianization of Georgia seventeen centuries ago. The evangelizing of Georgia , however, was far from uniform . While the lowland populations embraced Christianity in the fifth century, the highlanders of the mountain valleys in the Greater Caucasus range were converted some ten centuries later – and only superficially. Survivals of pagan beliefs and practices in the Georgian plains are thus, understandably, heavily influenced by Christianity, lacking in mythological unity and essentially folkloric.Charachidzé, Georges, Le système religieux de la Géorgie païenne: analyse structurale d’une civilisation, pub. Paris: Maspero 1968.Charachidzé, Georges : essay : Religion and Myths of the Georgians of the Mountains in Bonnefoy, Yves Mythologies, translated from the original French edition of 1981 (and restructured in more encyclopedic form) by various translators under the direction of Prof.Wendy Doniger, pub. The University of Chicago Press 1991, vol. 1 pps. 308–316 ( in part 3 Celts, Norse, Slavs, Caucasians and their Neighbors ). 
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Like many other rich and ancient bodies of myth,that of the Georgians has been coloured by the belief systems of the many cultures with which it has come into contact over the millennia. The bedrock upon which it is founded is, by definition, the indigenous
,also known as Kartvelians (/kʌrtˈvɛliənz/; Georgian: ქართველები, romanized: kartvelebi, pronounced
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kʰɑrtʰvɛlɛbi
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), an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus.The
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themselves, whose first emergence from the darkness of prehistory
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This said, the consensus of scholarly opinion is that the
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. Many of them have eventually fused
, many of them eventually fusing
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only
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in a superficial way at that. It follows from this that accounts of pagan practices in the lowland Christian kingdom are poorly preserved in fragmentary form through brief passages in national chronicles and literary classics.
only superficially.
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By contrast: