Divine Smith of the Narts

Adyghe/Kabardian ⟨Лъэпщ⟩ Łəpš. Counterpart of the Ossetian smith Kurdalægon and comparable to Hephaestus/Vulcan/Wayland. Distinct from the Ossetian tradition.

Domains

• smithcraft
• iron and metallurgy

Powers

• hammers out the first tongs and sickle for humankind
• quenches the newborn hero in his trough to make him invulnerable
• forges a sword that hunts and slays of its own accord

Epithets

• the smith of the Narts latin · Tlepsh · nartThe divine blacksmith who forges the weapons of the Narts and tempers their heroesThe Adyghe (Circassian) Nart sagas; J. Colarusso, Nart Sagas (secondary)
• Лъэпщ Adyghe · Łəpš · cultthe Smith (lit. 'iron', cf. Greek khálups)Wikipedia, 'Tlepsh' (secondary)

Relations

• ally: Mother of the NartsReciprocal of circassian_setenaya.ally — The Nart matriarch is the smith's counsellor, setting him on his quest for knowledge in the saga of Tlepsh and Lady Tree.John Colarusso, Nart Sagas from the Caucasus (Princeton 2002) (secondary)
• mentor: Fire-Bringer Born of StoneThe smith splits the birth-stone and tempers the glowing child in his forge; only the thighs gripped by his tongs stay vulnerable.John Colarusso, Nart Sagas from the Caucasus (Princeton 2002) (secondary)
• equated with: Smith-God of the AbkhazSmith-god counterparts in the Abkhaz-Adyghe koine (MNM; Inal-ipa): Nart forge-patron Tlepsh ~ Abkhaz smithy-and-oath deity Shashwy. Identification functional; Tlepsh lives in epic, Shashwy chiefly in forge-shrine cult.M. I. Mizhaev, 'Tlepsh', in S. A. Tokarev (ed.), Mify narodov mira (1980-82) (secondary); Sh. D. Inal-ipa, Abkhazy (1965) (secondary)

Sources

• Tlepsh (Łəpš) is the divine blacksmith of the Circassian Nart sagas; inventor of tongs and sickle, tempersr of Sosruquo, maker of the self-moving sword, and close to Lady Setenaya.: Colarusso, John. Nart Sagas from the Caucasus. Princeton UP, 2002, Tlepsh tales and notes. (secondary); Jaimoukha, Amjad. The Circassians: A Handbook. Curzon, 2001 (Lhepsh as smith deity). (secondary)
• The name Tlepsh derives from an Indo-European word for iron/steel cognate with Greek χάλυψ (khályps) / Latin chalybs, embodying the metal of his craft.: Colarusso, John. Nart Sagas from the Caucasus, 2002, etymological notes on Tlepsh. (secondary)