Nölten (the sun-god)
Even · deity · Even traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Nölten (Even Нэлтэн; also Nelten) is the sun-god of the Even, the solar luminary personified — nölten is the ordinary Even word for the sun. He dwells on the seventh heaven together with the moon-god Byag and the thunder-and-lightning god Agdy, the trio of celestial powers below the hunting-god Hinken and the creator Hövki. The sun heads the list of luminous powers addressed in the Even blessing-incantations recorded by Lebedev and Tsintsius, where the sun, moon and earth are invoked for prosperity, and appeals to the Sun, Moon and Earth open the hunting and herding rites of Even ritual poetry.
Domains
- the sun
- celestial bodies of the seventh heaven
Powers
- to govern the sun and the daylight
- to receive the ritual invocations of the people alongside the moon and the earth
Epithets
- Нэлтэн — бог солнца'Dukhovnyi mir evenskogo naroda', Polyarnaya zvezda, 2015 (the 'god of the sun') (secondary)
Relations
- sibling: Byag (the moon-god)The sun-god Nölten and the moon-god Byag are paired as the two great luminaries of the seventh heaven, invoked side by side in Even ritual.'Dukhovnyi mir evenskogo naroda', Polyarnaya zvezda, 2015 — the sun Nölten and the moon Byag among the gods of the seventh heaven (secondary)
Sources
- Nölten (Nelten) is the Even sun-god, dwelling on the seventh heaven with the moon and the thunder-god and invoked in Even blessing-incantations.: 'Dukhovnyi mir evenskogo naroda', Polyarnaya zvezda, 2015 (secondary); V. D. Lebedev & V. I. Tsintsius, 'K voprosu ob evenskikh zaklinaniyakh-blagopozhelaniyakh' (secondary)