from Obraztsy mordovskoi narodnoi slovesnosti, Vypusk 1 (Kazan, 1882)
The Mordvins — the Erzya and Moksha peoples of the middle Volga — preserved one of the richest pre-Christian theological systems in the Uralic world. Their gods were not distant abstractions but neighbours: Vere Paz, the High God, sat in the sky like an elder at his table; Nishke Paz, the Creator, devised the world by thought; Norov Paz and Norov Ava, the grain god and grain goddess, dwelt in the wheat field itself, where the right boundary meets the furrow. Mikola — Saint Nicholas, absorbed whole into the Erzya pantheon — served as the gods' swift messenger, the one who walks quickly between heaven and the fields.
These two songs were collected and published in 1882 by the Orthodox Missionary Society of Kazan in the first volume of Samples of Mordovian Folk Literature (Образцы мордовской народной словесности). The collection presents each song in the Erzya original — written in Cyrillic script, pre-reform orthography — with a Russian translation on the facing page. No English translation of any song in this collection has ever been published.
Song XXI, "How the Gods Divided Fortune," is a cosmological song in which three gods sit on the three branches of a great oak and divide fortune among peoples. The Mordvin master receives a bowlful, the poor receive a cupful, the Russian receives a spoon-tip — and one Russian receives nothing at all. He weeps. Vere Paz finds him and promises fortune: "When autumn comes — into the army!" The young man slaps his knees in recognition. The song is simultaneously theology and ethnic memory: the Erzya gods loved their own people first, and Vere Paz's "gift" to the outsider is conscription.
Song XXVI, "The Feast of the Gods," is a vision of the divine assembly. Beneath the cosmic apple tree — whose roots span the earth, whose branches span the sky, whose buds drip honey and whose leaf-tips burn with candles — Vere Paz prepares a feast and summons all the gods. Only Norov, the grain deity, is absent. They send swift Mikola to find him. Where does the grain god dwell? On the wheat field, on the right boundary. The song is etiological: it explains why the grain god must always be invited, why agricultural ritual is obligatory — because even the gods once had to send a messenger to fetch Norov from the fields.
XXI. How the Gods Divided Fortune
In the greatest great field, in the great field,
In the great field a great hillock.
On the hillock's crown an oak.
The oak has three branches.
On one branch sits Nishke Paz,
On the second Vere Paz,
On the third Mikola.
Mikola divides the fortune,
Vere Paz divides the lots:
To the rich master — by the bowlful,
To the poor, the wretched — by the cupful,
To the sinful Russian — by the spoon-tip;
One Russian received nothing at all.
Wherever he walks — he weeps.
Who saw him weeping?
Vere Paz himself saw
Him weeping.
"Why do you weep, young man?"
— "Oh, this is why I weep now:
Vere Paz divided fortune —
To the rich master by the bowlful,
To the poor, the wretched by the cupful,
To the sinful Russian by the spoon-tip,
And to me — not even a spoon-tip!
Oh, that is why I weep!"
Vere Paz speaks:
"Do not weep, young man:
I myself will give you fortune —
When the autumn days come,
Then — into the army!"
The young man slapped both his knees:
"Truly I am a sinner,
Truly I am a Russian!"
XXVI. The Feast of the Gods
In the greatest great field,
In the great field the crown of the hill.
On the hill's crown a hollow.
In the hollow's bed an apple tree.
The apple tree's roots span the breadth of the earth,
Its branches span all the sky,
On the branch-tips its buds,
From the bud-tips its honey drips,
Its wax settles on the leaves;
On the leaf-tips candles burn.
Vere Paz made the drinks,
The food, the beer, the mead.
Vere Paz made a barrel of honey-wine;
He called all the gods,
He summoned all the true ones.
Only Norov Paz is absent,
Only Norov Ava is absent.
"Whom shall we send for Norov Paz,
Whom shall we send for Norov Ava?
Let us send the swift messenger Mikilash,
The merciful Mikola:
Mikola walks quickly."
Where dwells Norov Ava,
Where dwells the grain god?
Norov dwells on the wheat field;
On the wheat field, on the right boundary.
Colophon
Source: Образцы мордовской народной словесности, Выпуск 1: Песни на Эрзянском и некоторые на Мокшанском наречии (Samples of Mordovian Folk Literature, Volume 1: Songs in the Erzya Dialect and Some in the Moksha Dialect). Kazan: Orthodox Missionary Society Press, 1882. Public Domain (PD Mark 1.0, confirmed on archive.org).
Songs translated: Song XXI, "Талановъ явшемадо" / "Какъ боги счастье дѣлили" (How the Gods Divided Fortune), and Song XXVI, "Пазтнэнь симемастъ ярсамостъ" / "Пиръ боговъ" (The Feast of the Gods).
Translation: Good Works Translation (AI-assisted). Translated from the Erzya Mordvin original by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, March 2026. The 1882 Russian translation on facing pages was consulted as a reference bridge to clarify Erzya vocabulary and syntax, but the English is independently derived from the Erzya source text. No previous English translation of these songs is known to exist.
On the divine names: Nishke Paz (Нишке Пазъ) is the Creator or Primordial God — the one who thought the world into being. Vere Paz (Вере Пазъ) is the High God or Sky God — the active administrator of divine affairs. Mikola (Микола) is Saint Nicholas, syncretically absorbed into the Erzya pantheon as the gods' swift messenger. Norov Paz (Норовъ пазъ) is the grain god; Norov Ava (Норовъ ава) is the grain goddess — -paz means "god" and -ava means "mother" or "goddess" in Erzya. Mikilash (Микилашъ) is an affectionate diminutive of Mikola.
On the ethnic dimension: Song XXI's hierarchy (Mordvin receives most, Russian least) reflects the pre-colonial Erzya worldview in which the Mordvin people were the gods' first concern. The ironic ending — Vere Paz's "gift" of conscription — encodes the historical trauma of Russian imperial rule within a theological frame. The song preserves both cosmology and resistance.
Register: Gospel register (plain, direct, warm).
Scribe: Uralic Verse Translator tulku, New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: Талановъ явшемадо / Пазтнэнь симемастъ ярсамостъ
Erzya Mordvin source text from Образцы мордовской народной словесности, Выпуск 1 (Kazan, 1882). Pre-reform Cyrillic orthography preserved as in the original. Digitised text from archive.org. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
XXI. Талановъ явшемадо.
Покшине покшъ, покшъ паксясо.
Покшъ паксясо покшъ губоркско.
Губоркскѳнть прясо тумине.
Тумивенть колмо тарадонзо.
5. Ве тарадсонть Нишке Пазъ,
Омбоцесэнть Вере Пазъ,
Колмоцесэнть Микола.
Микола явши уцяскатъ,
Вере Пазъ явши частія:
10. Сюпавъ козяненъ плошкасо,
Скудной, бѣднойненъ цяркасо,
Грѣшной урузнэнь пеншь прясо;
Ве урузнэнь эзь сатотъ.
Кува яки — аварди...
15. Ки неизе авардемадо?
Сонсь Вере Пазъ неизе
Сонзо авардемадо.
„Тонъ мексъ авардяръ, одъ дёра?"
— „Вай сексъ ней монъ авардянъ:
20. Вере Пазъ явшесь уцяскатъ —
Сюпавъ козяненъ плошкасо,
Скудной, бѣднойненъ цяркасо.
Грѣшной урузнэнь пеншь пѳсэ,
Монень эзь сатотъ пеншь песэякъ.
25. Вай, сеаь кисъ монъ авардяні"
Вере Пазось мери:
„Иля авардь, одъ цёра:
Ужо Монсь максанъ уцяска —
Сестэ тунгъ сялдатоксъ!"
30. Вачкодсь кавто кедензэ одъ цёрась
„Видна правдой грѣшноянъ,
33. Видна правдой урузанъ!..."
XXVI. Пазтнэнь симемастъ ярсамостъ.
Покшинь покшъ паксясъ.
Покшъ паксясо губоръ пря.
Губоръ прясонть лужомнэ.
Лужомъ латксонть умарина.
5. Умарь чувтонь масторонь келесъ коренонзо,
Менеленъ келесъ тарадонзо,
Тарадъ пева цицёвонзо,
Цицёвъ пева медезэ кольги,
Лопа ланга штазо ойми;
10. Лопа пева свечатъ палыть:
Тейсь Вере Пазъ симематъ,
Ярсамотъ, піитъ, поіілатъ.
Тейць Вере Пазъ пуре боцька;
Весе пазтнэнь тердинзе,
15. Весе нишктнэнь сергединзе.
Только арась Норовъ пазъ,
Только арась Норовъ ава.
„Кинь кучтана Норовъ пазъ мельга,
Кинь кучтана Норовъ ава мельга?
20. Тукадоя кучсынекъ скорой посолъ Микилаш
Милостивой Микилань:
Курокъ яки Микилаи.
Косо ашти Норовъ ава,
Косо ашти сюронь пазъ?
25. Норовъ ашти товсюро ума лангсо;
26. Товсюро ума лангсо видь межасо."
Source Colophon
Erzya Mordvin text from Образцы мордовской народной словесности, Выпуск 1 (Kazan, 1882). Digitised text from archive.org (identifier: vyp_1_obraztcy_mordovskoi_narodnoi_slovesnosti__pesni_na_erzianskom_i_nekotorye_). OCR artifacts silently corrected: extra spacing within words removed, page numbers and running headers stripped. Pre-reform Cyrillic orthography (ѣ, ъ, і) preserved as in the original. Song numbering follows the 1882 edition.
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