Lord of the Forest and Game
Abkhaz · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Abkhaz ⟨Ажәеипшьаа⟩ Ažʷeipšʼaa. Closely parallel to Circassian Mezitha and Georgian Dali; the keep-the-bones-whole revival motif is pan-Caucasian.
Domains
- the hunt
- forests and wild herds
Powers
- milks his wild deer and grants their flesh to favored hunters
- owns and herds the wild beasts of the forest as master of the game
Relations
- equated with: Lord of the Forest and the HuntReciprocal of circassian_mezitha.equated-with — Forest-and-game lords cross-identified in Abkhaz-Adyghe ethnography (MNM; Chursin): both grant and ration hunters' quarry and take first-game offerings. Georgian Dali is also compared, but no Georgian roster exists here.Sh. Kh. Salakaya, 'Azhveipsh', in S. A. Tokarev (ed.), Mify narodov mira (1980-82) (secondary); G. F. Chursin, Materialy po etnografii Abkhazii (1957) (secondary)
Sources
- Azhwepshaa (Azhveipshaa) is the Abkhaz lord of the forest, wild animals and the hunt, head of a divine forest-family who grants game to hunters.: Abkhaz traditional religion / ethnographic sources on the hunting cult (Azhveipshaa). (secondary); Colarusso, John. Nart Sagas from the Caucasus, 2002 (Caucasian hunt-deity context). (secondary)