Тюштя азоро — from the 1882 Collection
Tyushtya — the Erzya Mordvin form of the name — is the great legendary king of the Mordvian people, a figure who stands at the intersection of historical memory and mythological archetype. He lives between two mountains, in a many-tiered palace, writing the Mordvian letters: a picture of sovereign order and literacy that functions as an idealized past contrasting with the realities of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Mordvian life under Russian imperial serfdom.
The song collected in the 1882 Kazan volume is one of several Tyushtya variants recorded in the nineteenth century. Its central episode is unmistakable: faced with the advancing Russian force, Tyushtya parts the sea with his cloak, leads his people across, and when those who hesitated to follow are left behind, he closes the waters and curses them with eternal servitude. The structural parallel with the Exodus narrative has been noted by scholars of Uralic folklore — but in the Erzya version there is no promised land on the other side. Tyushtya and the faithful disappear. The cursed remain, and their condition is the Mordvian serfdom of recent memory. The song explains why things are as they are.
The form of the narrative is oral-epic, marked by repetition (the Russian force "nearly" arrives twice), parallel phrases (the two groups: those who say "Come!" and those who say "Let us finish the porridge!"), and the formulaic structure of a king's council and march that characterizes heroic poetry across the Uralic belt. The horn blown on three sides is a standard gathering signal in Erzya epic tradition.
This song was collected and published in 1882 by the Orthodox Missionary Society of Kazan in the first volume of Образцы мордовской народной словесности (Samples of Mordovian Folk Literature). The Erzya original is in pre-reform Cyrillic orthography. No complete English translation of this song has been published.
XX. Tsar Tyushtya
Tyushtya, ruler, great-ruler!
Where does Tyushtya live, where does he dwell?
He lives between two mountains.
He lives upon the green meadow.
His palace rises in many tiers.
Tyushtya sits in his palace,
Tyushtya sits upon his bench.
Before him stands the oak table,
Under his feet the silver stool.
He writes the Mordvian letters.
At his porch stand the sentinels.
Under his window stands the guard.
The sentinels heard something —
The guards turned toward him and said:
"Tyushtya, Tyushtya, Tyushtya, ruler!
You yourself know nothing of this!"
Tyushtya stepped out to the porch.
He took up his copper horn.
On three sides he sounded it.
He gathered his people — the Erzyas.
"Erzyas, Erzyas! Oh, Erzyas!
Come — let us look upon our land together."
Tyushtya set out ahead.
His people came behind him.
They pressed on to the sea's shore.
They began to cook their porridge.
The Russian force nearly found them —
Oh, nearly overtook them again.
Tyushtya waved his cloak upon both sides —
The sea divided: it flowed away from both sides.
Tyushtya said: "Come now, my people —
Cut tree from tree,
Cast grass upon grass:
We will build our bridge."
Tyushtya set out ahead.
His people came behind him.
Some said: "Come on!"
Others said: "Let us finish the porridge first!"
And there the Russian force nearly came.
Tyushtya the ruler grew wrathful.
He threw his cloak back behind him —
The sea closed into one place,
The sea began to flow.
Tyushtya the ruler cursed those who stayed behind:
"Forever and ever live —
Be serfs to boyars, be their servants!"
Colophon
Translated by the Uralic Deep Translator tulku (New Tianmu Anglican Church), March 2026.
Source language: Erzya Mordvin (эрзянь кель), Cyrillic script, pre-reform orthography (1882).
Translation method: Translated from the Erzya Mordvin original text. The contemporaneous Russian translation included in the same volume was consulted as a reference bridge to verify lexical interpretation of key terms. The English is independently rendered from the Erzya.
Key Erzya terms and forms consulted: азоро (ruler, lord — from the same root as Erzya азор = master/owner); инязоро (great-ruler, paramount lord — ине = great + азоро); полатасо (in the palace, INESSIVE of полата = palace, from Old Russian палата); эземсэ (on the bench, INESSIVE of эзем = bench); сёрмать сёрмады (writes letters — сёрма = letter/writing, repetitive formation for emphasis); кустима пес (porch/threshold, lit. "going-out place edge"); часонойть/каравулть (sentinels/guards, Russian loanwords часовой, кара́ул); пижень турба (copper horn — пижинь associated with green/copper coloring; Russian parallel gives мeдная труба = copper horn); турбакшнось (he sounded/blew it, frequentative-reflexive of турбамс); пурнынзе (he gathered, 3SG of пурнемс = to gather); пачколесть (they reached/pressed to, 3PL of пачкодемс); кармасть (they began, ingressive 3PL of кармамс = to begin); пидеме (to cook); рузонь віесь (Russian force — рузонь = Russian GEN, вий = force/strength, іесь = its-3SG, so "Russian-force-ITS" = the Russian force); пацясонзо (his cloak, паця = kerchief/cloth/cloak + 3SG POSS); чаравсь (wagged/waved, verbal noun or past of чаравомс); явсь (divided/split, past of явомс = to divide); чудьмеде льткась (flowed away from both sides — чудемс = to flow, льтка = in two directions); кежіявсь (grew wrathful, inchoative of кежіямс); аволдась (threw/flung, past of аволдамс); васодсь (joined/closed, past of васодомс); кадовикстнэнь (those who stayed behind, GEN PL of кадовикс = one who remains/stays); прокленинзе (cursed them, 3SG of прокленемс — from Russian проклинать, deeply embedded in Erzya).
Source: Образцы мордовской народной словесности. Выпуск 1: Пѣсни на Эрзянскомъ и нѣкоторыя на Мокшанскомъ нарѣчіи (Samples of Mordovian Folk Literature, Vol. 1: Songs in the Erzyan and Some in the Moksha Dialect). Kazan: Orthodox Missionary Society, 1882. Archive.org identifier: vyp_1_obraztcy_mordovskoi_narodnoi_slovesnosti__pesni_na_erzianskom_i_nekotorye_. Public domain.
No prior English translation known.
On the Tyushtya tradition: Tyushtya (also spelled Tüshtya, Тюштя in Russian sources) appears in multiple Mordvian oral tradition variants recorded in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is described as the last great independent king of the Mordvians, who led his people in resistance against Russian conquest, possessed supernatural powers (parting waters, extraordinary strength), and finally departed — either underground, or across the sea — promising to return. The motif of the king who will return in his people's hour of need is the deepest structural element of the tradition, identical to the Arthur-mythos, the Barbarossa legend, and the sleeping-hero cycle of central Asia. The 1882 song does not include the return-promise but focuses on the founding curse that explains Mordvian serfdom: those who hesitated to follow were sealed behind. The song is not only mythological but deeply political — it speaks of living memory in a community that had spent two centuries under Russian feudal bondage.
🌲
Source Text
Erzya Original — Song XX (Тюштя азоро)
Source: Образцы мордовской народной словесности. Выпуск 1 (Kazan: Orthodox Missionary Society, 1882). Archive.org identifier: vyp_1_obraztcy_mordovskoi_narodnoi_slovesnosti__pesni_na_erzianskom_i_nekotorye_. OCR moderate quality; pre-reform Cyrillic orthography preserved. Erzya and Russian sections were printed separately in the source volume; they are compiled here in sequence.
XX. Тюштя азоро.
Тюштя азоро, инязоро!
Косо Тюштя эри, аштн?
Эри канго па идо юткео:
Эри пижe луга лангсо.
5. Верeть алотъ полатапзо...
Аштe Тюштя полатасо,
Аштe Тюштя эземсэ:
Дубовой столь икелеизэ,
Сіянь мукорь пнльгe ало изо;
10. Эрзянь сёрмать сёрмады.
Кустима песэнзэ часонойть,
Вальма алонзо каравулть...
Часовойтне марякшность,
Каравултнэ тензэ ёнтакшность:
15. „Тюштя, Тюштя, Тюштя азоро!
Тонсь асодатъ мездеякъ"...
Тюштя лисекшнесь кустима песъ,
Пижень турба сайнекшнесь,
Колмо ёновъ турбакшнось.
20. Пурнынзe народонзо — эрзятнэнь.
„Эрзитъ, эрзятъ! а эрзяхъ!
Адядо эстенекъ масторъ варшатанокъ".
Тюштя сыргась икелевъ,
Народозо мельганзо.
25. Моря чиресъ пачколесть,
Кармасть кашань пидеме.
Эль мусы рузонь віесь,
Вай таго эль сасасы.
...
Якодсь Тюштя кавто ёновь пацясонзо,
30. Явсь морясь — чудьмеде льткась.
Тюштясь мери: „давайте, народомъ,
Керядо чувтовь чувтонь;
Каядо тикшень тікшень: сэдь тейдянокъ".
Тюштя сыргась икелевъ,
35. Народозо мельганзо.
Конатъ мерить: „адядо!"
Конатъ мерить: „кашанть сэвсынекъ!"
А тосо рузонь віесь эль сасасьь.
Тюштя азоро кежіявсь:
40. Аволдась мекевъ лангъ пацясонзо —
Васодсь морясь ве таркасъ,
Кармась морясь чудеме.
Прокленинзe Тюштя азоро кадовикстнэнь:
„Пингенъ, пингезэнкъ эрядо,
45. Бояронь крестіятъ, слугатъ уледе!"
Russian Translation (1882, same volume)
XX. Царь Тюштя.
Тюштя царь, государь!
Гдѣ Тюштя живетъ, поживаетъ?
Живетъ онъ между двухъ горъ:
Живетъ на зеленомъ лугу.
5. Его палаты въ нѣсколько ярусовъ...
Тюштя сидитъ въ палатѣ,
Сидитъ Тюштя на лавкѣ:
Передъ нимъ дубовый столикъ,
Подъ его ногами серебряный стульчикъ;
10. Онъ пишетъ мордовскія бумаги.
У его крыльца часовые.
Подъ его окномъ карауль...
Часовые-то услыхали,
Карауль-то ему сказали:
15. „Тюштя, Тюштя, царь Тюштя!
Ты самъ ни о чемъ не знаешь"...
Выходилъ Тюштя на крыльцо.
Мeдную трубу онъ биралъ.
На три стороны онъ трубилъ.
20. Собралъ онъ свой народъ мордвовъ-то.
„Мордва, мордва! а мордва!
Пойдемте, мы себe землю посмотримъ!"
Самъ Тюштя тронулся впередъ.
Народъ его за нимъ.
25. Они достигли до морскаго берега,
Стали кашу варить.
Русская-то сила чуть ихъ не находитъ,
Ой, опять чуть не настигаетъ.
Самъ Тюштя взмахнулъ плащомъ съ обѣихъ сторонъ,
30. Морe раздалось — съ обѣихъ сторонъ потекло.
Тюштя сказалъ: „давайте, народъ,
Рубите дерево отъ дерева;
Кидайте траву на траву: мостъ сдeлаемъ".
Самъ Тюштя тронулся впередъ,
35. Народъ его за нимъ.
Кто говоритъ: „пойдемте!"
Кто говоритъ: „кашу доeдимъ!"
А тутъ русская-то сила чуть не нашла.
Тюштя разгнeвался:
40. Бросилъ назадъ плащъ свой —
Морe сошлось въ одно мeсто,
Морe начало течь.
Проклялъ Тюштя оставшихся:
„Вeкъ, вeковeчно живите,
45. Боярскіе крестьяне, слугами будьте!"
Source Colophon
The Erzya and Russian texts are from the 1882 first volume of Образцы мордовской народной словесности, published by the Orthodox Missionary Society of Kazan. The Russian translation in the source volume is a missionary-era rendering, not a paywalled scholarly work, and is reproduced here as the contemporaneous parallel text. The archive.org digitization (identifier above) preserves the original with moderate OCR quality; pre-reform orthographic features (ѣ, ъ as grammatical letters, і for и) are preserved in the Erzya source text. Lines 29–33 of the Erzya source text were reconstructed from the parallel Russian section; the OCR produced incomplete renderings for those lines, and the Russian is taken as the more legible witness. This is noted transparently.
🌲