Batraz
Batraz was the leader and greatest
warrior of the
mythical super-human race, the
Narts. The Narts were the central figures of
Sarmatian folklore. The character of Batraz may be connected to King Arthur.
The mother of the Narts was Satana who was renowned for her wisdom. The principal enemies of the Narts were the Terks or Turks but they also fought the vaigs, man eating
ogres, and would ultimatley do battle with heaven itself. Nart heroes include Soslan, Atsamaz, Hamytz and Uryzmag. The Narts had a great hall called Nykhas where they would feast and drink.
The Sarmatians shared an almost
spiritual connection with their weapons, and so the life of Batraz revolves around his magic
sword. While a young man, Batraz pulls his sword from the roots of a tree. This could be connected to the fact that sarmatians were buried with their swords embedded in the earth or stone at the heads of their graves. Also the sword of Batraz plays an important part of his death, when he is fatally wounded by Sainag-Alder his archenemy. Legend has it that Batraz tells his friend to throw his sword into the
ocean. The warrior is reluctant at first, not only because of the quality of the sword but because of the spiritual connection it had with Batraz. But in the end the warrior did throw the sword and it was caught by a water goddess.
It was recently noticed that Batraz and the legendary
King Arthur share many similarities. Batraz has a magical sword that is cast into the ocean (probably the
Black Sea) as he dies; in Arthurian myth, as Arthur is dying from the wounds his archenemy
Mordred has inflicted on him, he calls his knight
Bedivere to throw his sword
Excalibur into a lake, where it was caught by the Lady of the Lake.
It has been suggested that Arthur was based on
Lucius Artorius Castus, a Roman general who led an elite cavalry in
Britain. The cavalry was made up of Heavy Sarmatian horsemen.Artorius (a possible
Latin origin of the name Arthur) may have contributed to the character. Although Artorius left Britain his retired Asian knights stayed and possibly spread the stories of Batraz to the Celto-Roman population.
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