Anahit
Udi · mortal · Udi traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Anahit is the heroine of the folk romance that grew around Vachagan the Pious of Albania. In the tale, best known from Ghazaros Aghayan's 1881 retelling of a story set in Artsakh and Utik, she is the clever daughter of a shepherd who refuses the prince's hand until he masters a trade, insisting that a husband possess a craft rather than mere rank; won over, Vachagan learns weaving, and the skill later delivers him when, travelling in disguise, he is seized and imprisoned. Sources differ on how far the named heroine belongs to the medieval Tale of Vačʿagan and how far to its modern literary shaping, but she is firmly attached to the Albanian king's legendary cycle as an emblem of wisdom and the dignity of labour.
Domains
- wisdom
- craft
Powers
- tests the king by wit and demand of craft
- rescues her husband by cunning
Relations
- spouse: Vachagan the PiousMarries King Vachagan of Albania.Ghazaros Aghayan, 'Anahit' (1881) (secondary)
Sources
- In the folk-romance cycle attached to King Vachagan of Albania, Anahit is a wise shepherd's daughter who marries the king only after he learns a craft, and later saves him through that skill.: Ghazaros Aghayan, 'Anahit' (1881), based on the folk tale set in Artsakh and Utik (secondary); A. Hakobyan, study of the Tale of Vačʿagan and its folk elaborations (secondary)