Atsamaz
Ossetian · mortal · classical nart · mortal
THE ONE NART WHOSE STORY IS A LOVE-QUARREL. He is typed mortal because nothing divine is recorded of his parentage in the sources consulted, and no parentage is asserted here.
Domains
- pipe playing
- shepherding
- courtship by music
Relations
Sources
- Reference treatment of Atsamaz and Agunda: the ancient Nart Saynag-Aldar lives in a castle on a hill and decides to find a husband for his daughter Agunda; Atsamaz is a shepherd who is a travelling companion of the famous bogatyr Soslan, and he secretly loves Agunda; in the Nartiada Atsamaz plays a pipe in order to win the heart of the unapproachable Agunda; before Soslan and Atsamaz leave on their journey Agunda hears the music of Atsamaz's pipe and follows its sound, and when they meet he tells her the music is for her, but when she asks him to give her the pipe as a symbol of his love he refuses, explaining that it is a present from the gods, and when she tells him this means he does not love her, Atsamaz breaks the pipe in anger and storms away.