Earth-Mother of the Mordvins
Mordvin · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Erzya/Moksha ⟨Мастор ава⟩ Mastor ava (mastor 'earth' + ava 'mother'). The title-figure of A. M. Sharonov's 1994 Erzya literary epic Mastorava. Distinct from the male earth-keeper Mastoron-kirdi and the underworld-god Mastorpaz (son of Chipaz and the grain-mother Norov-ava), which are noted in the corpus under Norov-ava. Counterpart of Mari Mlande-ava and Slavic Mat' Syra Zemlya.
Domains
- earth and soil
- harvest and health
Powers
- gives good harvest and good health to those who till her
Sources
- Mastor-ava (Mastoron azor-ava) is the Mordvin earth-mother ('earth-woman'), the goddess of the soil who grants good harvests and good health to the tillers; distinct from the male earth/underworld figures Mastoron-kirdi and Mastorpaz.: Harva, Uno. Die religiösen Vorstellungen der mordwinischen Völker. FF Communications 142. Helsinki, 1952. (secondary); Sarv, Mari. 'Some Aspects of Mordvin Mythology.' Folklore (Tartu) 17, 2001. (secondary)