Azhdaha
Andi · numen · Andi traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
The dragon of Andic and wider Daghestani lore, a giant serpent-monster that coils about a spring or river-head and withholds water from a settlement until it is appeased with a yearly victim, usually a maiden; the drought is broken when a hero cuts off its heads and frees the flow, a narrative that fuses the dragon-slaying tale with the region's anxious weather cult. In celestial myth the same beast is the eater of the luminaries: solar and lunar eclipses are its attempts to swallow the sun-sister and moon-brother, which villagers resisted with din and prayer.
Domains
- dragons
- water
- eclipse
Powers
- block the springs and hoard water
- swallow the sun or moon
Relations
- enemy: Baq'Swallows the sun, causing solar eclipse.Сефербеков Р. И. Пантеон языческих божеств народов Дагестана. Махачкала, 2009. (secondary)
- enemy: Mots'Swallows the moon, causing lunar eclipse.Сефербеков Р. И. Пантеон языческих божеств народов Дагестана. Махачкала, 2009. (secondary)
Sources
- A monstrous dragon that stops springs and demands maiden-tribute for water, and whose seizing of the luminaries explains eclipses; a stock adversary of the hero in Daghestani magic tales.: Халидова М. Р. Мифологический и историко-героический эпос народов Дагестана. Махачкала, 1992. (primary); Сефербеков Р. И. Пантеон языческих божеств народов Дагестана. Махачкала, 2009. (secondary)