Armenian Traditional Black Youths: the Earliest Sources

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The Journal of Indo-European Studies
Armenian Traditional Black Youths: the
Earliest Sources1
Armen Petrosyan
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Yerevan, Armenia
alpehist@gmail.com
In this article it is argued that the traditional figure of the
Armenian folklore “black youth” is derived from the
members of the war-band of the thunder god, mythological
counterparts of the archaic war-bands of youths. The blackness
of the youths is associated with igneous initiatory rituals. The
best parallels o f the Armenian heroes are found in Greece,
India, and especia lly in Ossetia and other Caucasian traditions,
where the Indo-European (particularly Alanian-Ossetian)
influence is significant.
In several medieval Armenian songs young heroes are
referred to as t‘ux manuks ‘black youths,’ t‘ux ktriçs ‘black
braves,’ or simply t‘uxs ‘blacks’ (see Mnatsakanyan 1976,
which remains the best and comprehensive work on these
figures, and Harutyunyan and Kalantaryan 2001, where
several articles pertaining to this theme are published).
Also, T‘ux manuk is the appellation of numerous ruined
pilgrimage sanctuaries. A. Mnatsakanyan, the first
investigator of these traditional figures, considered them
in connection with the fratries of youths, whose remnants
survived until medieval times (Mnatsakanyan 1976: 193
ff.).2
The study of the t‘ux manuks should be based on
revelation of their specific characteristics and comparison
with similar figures of other traditions. In this respect, the
study of the T‘ux manuk sanctuaries and their legends
1This article represents an abridged and updated version of Petrosyan
2001.
2In Armenian folklore the figures of similar names – t‘uxs (‘blacks’) and
alek manuks (‘good youths’) – figure as evil spirits (Alishan 1895: 205,
217). This demonization shows that the t‘ux manuks orig inated in pagan
times.

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(carried out by A. Mnatsakanyan and others) will not help
us very much, as th ey are similar to the other sanctuaries
and the legends of other Christian confessors.
Furthermore, there are very many black and dark heroes in
the traditions of many peoples, and the extreme extension
of the boundaries of the black youth figure threatens us
with loss of his specificity.3 Thus, I will confine myself here
to pointing out the earliest prototypes of the “black
youths” and their relationship to heroes of the closely
allied Indo-European – Indian, Greek, Northern Iranian
(Ossetian) – and neighboring Caucasian traditions.
In Armenian, t‘ux means ‘black, dark’ and manuk
means ‘child, youth, young warrior.’ Thus t‘ux manuk would
mean ‘black/dark youth/young warrior.’ In Armenian
traditional history the first manuks ‘young warriors’ are
mentioned in the myth of the eponymous forefather Hayk
who kills the Babylonian tyrant Bel and founds Armenia
(Khorenats‘i 1.10-15; Sebeos 1).4 The young warriors
figure also in the myth of Hayk’s descendant Aram, second
eponym of Armenia. He, heading an army of 50,000 norati
‘youthful’ warriors (Khorenats‘i I.13; Thomson 1976: 93)
extends the borders of Armenia on every side and creates a
new, superior Armenia.
In the variant of Anonym (Sebeos I), before the
battle Bel suggests that Hayk become the head of his
“young hunters” (mankunk‘ orsakank‘). In return, Hayk
calls him “dog, from a pack of dogs” and kills him with a
“three-winged” arrow (Khorenats‘i 1.11). The comparison
of enemies with dogs in Indo-European traditions is related
to the mythologem of the Indo-European wolfish warrior
deity, the “dog slayer,” to whom sacrifices of dogs were
made. The best counterpart of Hayk in Indo-European
traditions is th e Indian god Rudra (they are both associated
with the constellation of Orion; they have homonymic
descendants/followers: Hays and Rudras, respectively; they
are archers who kill their adversary with a tripartite arrow,
etc) (For the myth and image of Hayk in comparative
3For numerous Indo-European and non-Indo-European “black heroes,”
see Petrosyan 1997; 2002.
4For the English translation of these sources, see Thomson 1976: 82 ff.,
357 ff.

344 Armen Petrosyan
The Journal of Indo-European Studies
context, see Petrosyan 2002: 53 ff.; 2009).
Aram’s most significant battle occurred in Cappadocia,
at a place where the city of Mazaka/Caesarea was later
founded, i.e., near Mt. Argaios in central Anatolia (Turk.
Erciyes). The early name of this mountain, Hitt. Harga, is
etymologized from Indo-European *Harg’- ‘bright, white’
(Laroche 1985: 88 f.), while the name of Aram is compared
with the Indo-European *rémo- ‘dark, black’ (Petrosyan
2002: 43 ff.).5 The best parallel of Aram, in this context, is
the Indian epic hero Paraßuráma (‘Ráma-with-the-axe’),
who defeats Arjuna Kártavírya. The names of Ráma and
Arjuna are derived, respectively, from IE *rémo- ‘dark,
black’ and *Harg’- ‘white’ (Petrosyan 2002: 44 ff.; see also
Puhvel 1987: 90). The young warriors of the ‘black’ Aram
are, obviously, comparable with the t‘ux manuks ‘black
youths/warriors.’
The figures of Hayk and Aram, in some aspects, are
almost identical. According to the classical work of M.
Abeghian, Aram is the second incarnation of Hayk
(“second image of Hayk,” see Abeghian 1966: 55).
Moreover, they are both considered to be the epicized
versions of the archaic thunder god (Harutyunyan 2000:
230 ff.; Petrosyan 2002: 43 ff.). On the other hand, there
are differences between the figures of Hayk and Aram and
between their followers. In an Indo-European context,
Hayk represents the first function (sovereignty), while
Aram, the only warlike figure of the ethnogonic myth, is
an obvious warrior (second function) (Ahyan 1982: 263 ff.;
Dumézil 1994: 133 f.); Hayk is described as an old
patriarch, the leader of adult warriors, his sons and sons’
sons, “martial men about three hundred in number”
(Khorenats‘i I.10), and he finds it humiliating to be th e
head of young hunters/warriors of Bel, while Aram is the
leader of the young warriors; Hayk has a troop of 300 men,
while Aram leads an army of 50,000 youths;6 Hayk fights
5IE *(H)rémo-/*(H)rómo would yield Arm. *arim-/*arum-, and arm- in
derivatives and compounds. This eponym of Arm enia could have been
conflated with the name of the first king of Urartu, Aramu, and the
ethnonym of the Aramaeans, cf. Markwart 1928: 215, 224 f.
6Note that the 300 men represent the whole tribe, while 50 is the
characteristic number for the warrior groups on borders (Petrosyan
2002: 160; Kershaw 2001: 116, 126 ff.).

Armenian Traditional Black Youths 345
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only one battle, while Aram is the winner over many
adversaries in many battles; Hayk fights with his adversary
within the territory of Armenia, while Aram militates
against the enemies in the borderlands and beyond the
borders of Armenia.
In the Indo-European past, the boys first moved into
the category of the “(armed) youths” and then, as
members of the war-band of unmarried and landless young
men, engaged in predatory wolf-like behavior on the edges
of ordinary society, living off hunting and raiding with
their older trainers/models. Then at about the age of
twenty they entered into the tribe proper as adults
(*wiHro- or *Hner- ‘man,’ see Mallory and Adams 1997: 6 f.;
531, 632 f.).7 The young warriors of Aram and the martial
men of Hayk may be identified with those two groups,
respectively: the followers of Hayk, in contrast to Aram’s
norati youths, are mentioned as martial/mighty ark‘ pl.
‘men’ < *Hner-.
The mythic reflections of such bands are the Maruts
and Rudras of Indian mythology (both are the sons of
Rudra), Fiana in Irish, and Einherjar in Norse traditions.
The mythic Männerbünde and their leader are frequently
associated with black: e.g., Indra and his followers as well as
Rudra and his followers wear black clothes (for the Indo-
European – Indian, German, Celtic, etc – dark warriors, see
Kershaw 2001: 26, 30, 42, 89, 127, 185, 202, 203, 211).8
Hayk and Aram could be regarded as counterparts of the
Indian Rudra and Indra, respectively. However, the
members of the bands of Rudra and Indra – Rudras and
Maruts (thunder and storm deities) – are hardly
distinguishable, and moreover, Rudra, by some
characteristics (father and leader of the Rudras and Maruts,
associatied with lightning, etc) duplicates the thunder god
Indra. In Armenia, also, the difference between Hayk and
Aram, as we have seen, to a certain degree, was eroded:
7For the Indo-European men’s societies and their mythic r ef l e ctions, see
the well known wor ks by O. Höfl er, L. Weiser, S. Wikander, G.
Widengren, H. Jeanmaire, G. Dumézil, R. Jakobson, K. McCone, K.
Kershaw et al.
8Note that in ancient Europe, the warriors of some tribes used to fight
naked, dyeing their bodies black/dark (Caesar, De Bello Gallico 5.14;
Tacitus, Germania 43.6).

346 Armen Petrosyan
The Journal of Indo-European Studies
they both, as the eponyms and creators of Armenia and
leaders of Armenian warriors, come close to being
identical.
P. Vidal-Naquet has shown that in Greek tradition, in
the figures of young heroes, there is preserved the trace of
an initiatory ritual in which the young males, as guileful
“black hunters,” were sent out to the frontier area until
they should perform the “exploits” symbolically imposed
upon the young men in archaic societies. They are strongly
associated with black: e.g., the name of a paradigmatic
Athenian hero (Melanthos), the location of his story (in
Melania), and the epithet of his protector deity (Dionysos
Melanaigis) are derived from Gk. melas ‘black;’ th e
Athenian ephebes (youths) wore a black chlamys (а short
cloak), and moreover, the young men not yet adult are
sometimes called skotioi ‘of the dark.’ Furthermore, the
alternation of light and dark heroes involves the struggle
between age-classes and the initiation of the youths into
the rank of adult warriors (Vidal-Naquet 1986: 106 ff.).
The tricky “black hunter” represents the dark aspect
of the Indo-European second function, and hunting and
fighting at night were their distinguishing characteristics.
Those Greek heroes are comparable with the young
warriors of the ‘black’ Aram, who fight enemies in the
borderlands of Armenia. Characteristically, Aram and his
army suddenly came upon their first adversary “before dawn
and slaughtered his whole host.” (Khorenats‘i I.13).9
In Armenian mythology, the thunder god is associated
with the color black. The ‘Black’ Aram, as has been said, is
regarded as the epic heir of the ancient thunder god.
Sanasar, the first hero of the epic “Dardevils of Sasun,”
another epicized version of the thunder god who obtains
the “lightning sword,” the characteristic weapon of his
successors, is identified with the black raincloud (Orbeli
1939: 83; Abeghian 1966: 417); the black bull (symbol of
the thunder god) seems to have been the most sacred
totemic animal of the Armenians of the region where the
epic was centered (Samuelyan 1931: 182). Thus, Sanasar
9Orion was regarded as the inventor of hunting by night (V idal-Naquet
1986: 119). The association of Hayk with Orion make it possible to
consider his “hunting youths,” too, in this context.

Armenian Traditional Black Youths 347
Volume 39, Number 3 & 4, Fall/Winter 2011
corresponds with the Indian thunder and rain god Parjanya
“raincloud,” often identified with Indra and compared with
the bull (see, e.g., MNM II: 286). The thunder gods are
associated with black in many traditions, e.g., in th e
Caucasus, as in Armenia, the thunder god figures as a black
hero (Dalgat 1969: 111 f.); Indra, as has been mentioned,
wears black clothes (Mahabharata I.152); during the rituals
of the Hittite thunder god black vessels were used and
sacrifices of black bread and animals (sheep, bulls) were
made (Ardzinba 1982: 213 f.); the Lithuanian thunder god
Perkunas is pictured in white and black clothes and black
animals were offered to him (MNM II: 304).
The expression t‘ux amb/p ‘dark cloud’ is known in
the ritual songs sung during droughts. Characteristic is the
refrain mandr anjrev, t‘ux-t‘ux amber,/ harav k‘amin mer
samber “small rain, dark, dark clouds, the southerly wind in
our reeds” (dialect) (Khachatryan 2000: 126). Mandr (dial.
version of manr, manu) ‘small, sparse,’ like manuk, is
derived from IE *men-u- ‘small, sparse,’ thus the first line
seems to allude to the t‘ux manuks, which would personify
the dark rainclouds.
Arm. t‘ux ‘black’ is to be associated with t‘ux ‘baking
(bread),’ t‘xem (< t‘uxem) ‘to bake, hatch (eggs), to produce
by means of warmth, to hatch, to heat, maturate (like the
sitting hen eggs)’ (Aydinyan 2001: 49 f.; see also Petrosyan
2007: 6 f.; cf. Acharyan 1973: 203 f.). Hence, t‘ux may be
interpreted as ‘burnt, black,’ ‘matured as a result of thermal
treatment.’ That is, in this case, the opposition of the
youths and adults was juxtaposed with the opposition
between the raw and the cooked. Accordingly, the
blackness of the t‘ux manuks can be considered in
connection with the igneous and thermic initiatory rituals
(widespread ordeals of transformation from infancy to
manhood, see Aydinyan 2001: 45 f.; Petrosyan 2001: 25
ff.).10
The folktale manifestation of the young initiand is
the “younger brother” who visits the otherworld and comes
back endowed with new, higher characteristics. The well
10 For the “roasted,” “bak ed” and “burnt” initiates, see Eliade 1958: 7,
138, n. 13; Propp 1986: 98 ff.; for their relation with the thunder god, see
Toporov 1986: 81 f.

348 Armen Petrosyan
The Journal of Indo-European Studies
known ash-covered, sooty, mudded (black, dirty) folktale
hero has been considered in the context of initiatory rites
(Propp 1986: 133 ff.). From this point of view, the
Armenian folktales have specific data. The brothers have
to descend into a hole/well, the way to the netherworld
(Gullakyan 1983: 165, 400). The elder brothers cannot
endure the heat of the hole, while the youngest emerges
from the ordeal triumphantly. He kills the dragon and
devils of the netherworld, returns to “our world,” punishes
his brothers and becomes king. The motif of the hot
hole/well may be explaned by the structure of the special
stove t‘onir (= tandoor, earthen stove, a sort of furnace pit
used for baking bread).11 Notably, in a new Assyrian parallel
folktale the brother who could not stand the heat of the
well is compared with lavas, a special pita baked in t’onir
(Matveev 1974: 112).
Thus, the blackness/darkness of some traditional
young heroes may be interpreted as ‘burnt, sooty’ and
associated with igneous initiatory rituals or be a result of
discoloring their bodies with soot. The above-mentioned
names of Ráma and Aram are derived from IE *ré-mo-/* ró-
mo- ‘dirt, soot,’ (cf. Old English rómig ‘sooty’) and may be
interpreted as ‘burnt, sooty;’ the Greek
Meleagros/Melanion (cf. melas ‘black’), one of the models
of the “black hunter” (Vidal-Naquet 1986: 119 f.), will live
until the brand which lay in the fire at the time of his
birth should burn to ashes (Ovid. Met. 8.9), i.e., the brand
figures as a double of the hero. However, the best parallels
to the Armenian black youths are found in the Caucasus.
The young Ossetian braves are called sau læppu ‘black
youths,’ which has a positive sense (comparable to th e
appellation of the Russian folk heroes: dobryj molodec ‘kind
youth’, see Abaev 1979: 42 f., 96 f.; Abaev 1986: 21).
Ossetian culture, like the cultures of the other Caucasian
peoples, is strongly associated with their Nart epic. The
body of the newborn Nart Soslan, one of two protagonists
of the younger generation of the heroes, was heated up
11 This motif occurs in the folktales of the neighbors of Armenia who used
t‘onirs: (New) Assyr ians, Georgians, Persians, Turks, se e, respectively,
Matveev 1974: 111 f.; Kurdovanidze 1988: 91; Osmanov 1987: 58;
Stebleva 1986: 60.

Armenian Traditional Black Youths 349
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on the hot coals and then quenched like steel in wolf’s
milk (see, e.g., MNM II: 464; Abaev 1981: 85 ff.; cf. the
association of the members of the warrior bands with th e
wolf; note also that according to V. Abaev 1965: 86 ff., the
name of Warxag, the founder of Soslan’s clan, is derived
from the word for ‘wolf’). Soslan’s cousin Batraz, the other
protagonist of the younger generation, Ossetian
counterpart of the Indian thunder god Indra (Dumézil
1990: 14 ff.), is born with a white-hot steel body and
quenched in the sea. Before becoming the great hero he
figures as a grimy boy who lives in the ashes (Dumézil
1990: 17, 23 ff.).
The great hero of the Circassian Nart epic Sosruqo
(corresponding to Ossetic Soslan) is consistently called
“black man” (see, e.g., Broido 1936: 15, 23, 24, 29; Alieva
1974: 199, 200, 215; Ardzinba 1985: 158 ff.; Ardzinba
1988: 271; Colarusso 2002: 112).12 The stone with his
embryo is put in the stove or a hot place and the white-hot
steel body of th e newborn baby was quenched in water. His
figure is characterized as the “heroization, pathetic
idealization of guile and fierce” (Broido 1936: 8.) and thus
correponds with the Indo-European guileful black heroes.
In Circassian tradition, the young braves are called
sao/sawa (Broido 1936: 641; Colarusso 2002: 45). This word
corresponds to the Ossetic sau læppu and could have been
borrowed from the Ossetic sau ‘black’ (Osset. s sounds like
s in the majority of dialects and elsewhere in the Caucasus
appears as s, cf., e.g., Georg. savi ‘black,’ see Abaev 1979:
43). The name of one of the young Nart heroes may
correspond with this term: Circ. Saoy, Osset. Sauay/Sauay,
Balkar. Karasauay; Chechen-Ingush. Soa (this hero being
borrowed from the Circassian tradition). Notably, the
mother of this hero dropped her newborn son into the fire
12 “Ar m i, dark Sawseruquo,/Armi, a black man with iron eyes…” The
otherwise senseless Armi in this refrain may be regarded as the older
name for the hero and compared with the Indo-European *Hré-mo- and
Arm. Aram/Arm-. Note that the name Aram occurs in the Caucasian epic
traditions also as Aram-xutu, see Petrosyan 2002: 170 f. For the Arm enian
influence on the Caucasian epics, see Petrosyan 2002: 168 ff.; 2011;
Dalalyan 2006; Russell 2006 (according to K. Tuite, Armi may be
compared with the name of the Geo rgian epic hero Amirani, see
Colarusso 2002: 122).

350 Armen Petrosyan
The Journal of Indo-European Studies
of the hearth; he, by the way, was fed on wolf’s milk (for
this hero, see Broido 1936: 62 f.; Abaev 1945: 79 f.; Lipkin
and Obradovich 1951: 435 f;. Alieva 1974: 310, 393;
Colarusso 2002: 45, 289).
In Georgia, the great epic hero Amirani is regarded as
the son of a hunter who is frequently called savi ‘black’
(Virsaladze 1976: 53 ff.). He kills his fairy dog for some
obscure reason, and thus may be juxtaposed with both
Indo-European “black hunter” and “dog slayer” (Petrosyan
2002: 170).
Thus, the Armenian “black youth” would represent an
echo of archaic war-bands of youths. The mythological
counterparts of this hero are the members of the war-band
of the thunder god. The blackness of this hero is
associated with igneous initiatory rituals (“burnt” initiates).
The best parallels of the Armenian “black youth” are found
in Ossetia and other Caucasian traditions, where the Indo-
European (especially Alanian-Ossetian) influence is
significant.
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