from Votják Népköltészeti Hagyományok, recorded by Munkácsi Bernát (1887)
The Udmurt people of the Kama River basin — also known in nineteenth-century sources as the Votyaks — preserved a rich tradition of household prayer addressed to Inmar, the sky god and supreme creator. Inmar is the sky itself (iná) and the water (vuá), the two fundamental presences that bound and sustained the world. Prayers were offered in the kvala, the sacred hearth-hut distinct from the dwelling house, using a small round wooden cup (kotir) filled with offerings of food and drink raised toward the divine eye before the words began.
These four prayers were recorded in the village of Vuzs-Dzsumja by the Hungarian ethnographer Munkácsi Bernát in July 1885, during his fieldwork among the Udmurt of the Kama basin. They come from four different speakers within a single month. They share structure and formulae — the invocation of Inmar, the list of boons requested, the formulaic enemy "one who says: I will eat you, I will drink you," the golden fence of protection — while revealing each speaker's own voice and circumstance: the woman raising the egg-pancake to the sky, the man who fears stumbling on the road, the man praying in circle with his community, the man who fears the Tsar's tax.
Munkácsi published the collection in Budapest in 1887 as Votják Népköltészeti Hagyományok (Udmurt Folk Poetry Traditions), with the Udmurt text in his own phonetic transcription system alongside Hungarian translation. These are the first English translations from the Udmurt. The closing words of Prayer 1a — "I am a child, a foolish person — I do not even know how to pray as I should. Take me yourself into your care" — stand as one of the most direct and human utterances in the Uralic sacred archive.
Prayer 1a
Vuzs-Dzsumja village. Recorded from Nikolaj Ivanov, 15 July 1885.
Lord Inmar —
Lord, beloved great Inmar who dwells on high —
bright white one above, my Kilan,
my sky, my water, my Vorsud!
As I pray to you now
with this brimming cup, full of food and drink —
keep me, preserve me!
Do not cast me to the hostile, the ruinous spirit!
Give me fortune to live
with good children, good livestock, good grain and bread!
My good children, my good livestock —
guard them, preserve them yourself!
All the grain I have sown, all my harvest —
grow it like a wall of reeds, Inmar!
From clinging sickness, from ravening beast —
keep me, preserve me, Inmar!
From the one who says, I will eat you, I will drink you —
encircle me with a fence of gold, a fence of silver!
Let me live, Inmar, in the company of good people,
eating and drinking among them!
Let my children come before the eyes of good people.
From the one who thinks evil of me — protect me yourself!
Help me, Inmar, to complete the work I have to complete!
As I travel the road —
protect me, keep watch over me from every kind of evil!
Let me find the means, Inmar,
to pay the great Tsar's taxes and tribute
together with the other people!
Lord Inmar, receive the prayer I have prayed.
I am a child, a foolish person —
I do not even know how to pray as I should.
Take me yourself into your care — into your hands, into your keeping!
Prayer 1b
Vuzs-Dzsumja village. Recorded from Maianya Grigorjevna, 15 July 1885.
Lord! My sky, my water!
As I raise to you now this yellow egg-pancake —
so raise up your grain, your harvest!
With good children, good livestock —
provide for me, sustain me well, yourself!
With a good harnessing-horse, a good milking-cow,
good shearing-sheep —
provide for me, sustain me well, yourself!
To my good children —
give your good fortune, your blessing, yourself!
Give your good health — yourself!
Do not give to the hostile, the ruinous spirit!
To whoever says I will eat you, I will drink you — do not give!
Whatever misfortune, whatever trouble,
whatever clinging sickness — do not give!
There is a secret prayer here: fulfil it, Inmar!
Let no worm, no caterpillar cut down
your good grain and harvest — do not give that!
In joy, in celebration —
provide for me, sustain me well, yourself!
With rich fields, with a wide yard —
provide for me, sustain me well, yourself!
With twelve-year-old ricks, with old stores,
with twelve-year-old grain and flour —
provide for me, sustain me, Lord, my sky, my water, my Vorsud!
Prayer 1c
Vuzs-Dzsumja village. Recorded from Trofim Grigorjev, 15 July 1885.
Lord! My sky, my water, my Vorsud —
with a brimming cup, with your full food and drink —
we honour you!
With abundant food and drink, with a full cup —
provide for us, sustain us!
With a wide yard, thick and fertile fields, wide farmland,
good livestock, good children —
provide for us, sustain us!
When I go to the market in the town —
fill my empty pocket, fill my empty purse!
Do not give us to the hostile, the ruinous spirit, Inmar!
With a fence of gold, a fence of silver —
guard us, keep us from the hostile spirit, Inmar!
From stumbling of foot, from transgression of tongue —
guard us, keep us, Inmar!
From the great Tsar's iron chain and leather whip —
guard us, keep us, my sky, my water, Lord Inmar!
What I have asked — give it to me, Inmar!
Receive my prayer, Lord Inmar!
Prayer 1d
Vuzs-Dzsumja village. Recorded from Lyogor Vasziljev, 21 June 1885.
Lord Inmar, great Inmar, Kilcin-Inmar —
let us live well with our children!
Sustain us as the full sheaf sustains,
warm and soft as clarified butter, Inmar!
Give your happiness, your blessing, Inmar!
With livestock, with a harnessing-horse, with a milking-cow —
give me food and drink in plenty at my dwelling, Inmar!
Give your rain — warm and soft as gold, as silver, Inmar!
Make my sown grain grow like a wall, Inmar!
Let me place sheaf beside sheaf, rick beside rick, Inmar!
Give me enough to pay the great Tsar's tax, Inmar!
My sky, my water, whom we ask here, standing in a circle —
do not cast us to the hostile, the ruinous spirit!
From the one who eats, the one who drinks —
deliver us, keep watch over us!
Prayer 2a
Sakta-pi village. Recorded from Szavva Vaszilyics, 22 July 1885.
Lord Inmar, Vorsud-om, great Midor, Kilcin-Inmar —
with your fresh food, your fresh drink, I praise you!
Your best and finest — let it be yours;
your chaff and offal — let that remain for me
to pay the great Emperor his tax!
May the Emperor be good;
may he return soon what I paid from my trading.
My sown grain, my food — ripen it, seed it, bring it to grain!
Make it thirty-rooted, twelve-jointed, a thousand-seeded;
make it silver-eared, make it golden-grained!
Give your warm rain yourself,
give your warm wind yourself,
give your good year yourself.
From the night-storm — guard me yourself;
from the wind-storm — guard me yourself;
from the dark black cloud — guard me yourself!
At the threshing-floor time —
make my sheaves fill twelve racks;
let the bottom spread wide, the top overflow!
At the threshing — fill it with grain, not chaff!
Taking the sulis-vessel from the granary's corner:
let it brim full;
taking the sieve:
let it brim full!
When I go hunting and drive my dog —
bring the quarry to be caught by the foot,
to be shaken by the snout!
When I go into the forest, into the thick brushy thicket —
bring my trap to a bushy-tailed game animal!
In your pointed boat as it glides on the water —
grant me a catch, Inmar!
Give your gift!
From sunrise to sunset —
make me praised and honored;
make me audible to those who hear,
visible to those who see!
From what is above, the disease that flies down —
guard me yourself;
from what is below, the disease that creeps in through the ground —
guard me yourself;
from the chimney's evil spirit — guard me;
from the stumbling tongue, from the stumbling foot,
from the itching itch, from the wagon-shaft collision —
guard me yourself, Inmar!
Make me able to enclose a thirty-measure wide yard;
make me able to live with sieve-high manure-wealth!
Give fortune and blessing to the children you have placed in my courtyard —
let them live and be, chattering like swallows!
Make me one who has sent seven daughters to the other bank;
make me one who has taken nine daughters-in-law on this side!
From the first wife and husband I have known — protect me yourself;
from the firstborn children — protect me yourself!
Lord Inmar — give your horse with the foal beside it;
bring its leg to trotting quality, bring its nose to grey-white quality!
Bring your cow to calf-giving quality;
when milked — make it butter-rich!
Bring your sheep to lamb quality;
when sheared — make it ringing-wooled!
Give my yard with chicks and hens!
Give my waterside with ducks and geese!
I do not know more of this great thing to say —
carry me yourself, accompany me yourself, Inmar!
Prayer 2b
Sakta-pi village. Second variant. Recorded from Kirillo Jerofiev, 22 July 1885.
Lord Inmar, good Vorsud-om, good great Midor-om, good Kilcin-Inmar —
on this your good holy day, I praise you!
Good — protect and sustain my children,
first seen, born around me, Inmar!
Let my living yard be such
that no frost can settle, no grass can grow —
so many children race and trample it!
Let the smallest run like ants from their anthill;
let the older ones chatter and babble
like bank-swallows at the bank-side, Inmar!
Lord Inmar, good Kurbon-Inmar, good Kilcin-Inmar,
good seven-livestock-creating, seven-livestock-sustaining Inmar —
give your good fortune!
Make the stable full and packed!
Give your horse with the foal beside it yourself;
give your cow with the calf beside it yourself;
give your sheep with the lamb beside it yourself!
When harnessed — bring its nose to dappled, its foot to swift!
When milked — make it butter-rich;
when sheared — make it ringing-wooled!
Give your waterside with ducks and geese, Inmar!
Lord Inmar, good seven-grain-creating, seven-grain-sustaining Inmar!
Make me able to enclose thirty-measure wide land to live on;
make me able to live with sieve-high manure-wealth!
Make it three-rooted, twelve-jointed, a thousand-stalked;
make it silver-eared, make it golden-seeded!
Give twelve racks for sheaves, Inmar!
Give that the bottom spread wide, the top overflow, Inmar!
When bringing and driving into the threshing-floor —
make it come with trotting horse, with creaking-cracking noise, Inmar!
Your best and finest is yours — I give it in your name, Inmar;
let the remainder serve to pay the good Emperor's tax,
to buy trade-goods, Inmar!
Let the remainder serve as good eating-and-drinking money, Inmar!
Give me to live acquainted with good kin and people,
eating and drinking with them, Inmar;
give me to eat and drink with good relatives, Inmar!
From sunrise to sunset —
make me well-praised and honored, Inmar!
For your good long year —
give abundant fortune, blessing, happiness, Inmar!
From the disease that enters the field — guard me yourself;
from the disease that enters the yard — guard me yourself, Inmar!
I cannot say more of this full thing —
perhaps I speak the later-to-be-said before the earlier;
good Inmar, carry me yourself!
Prayer 3a
Multán village. Recorded from Fedor Mitritev, 19 July 1885.
Lord, good Inmar!
Give your good, easy future,
that we may live and be in good health and well-being;
give good fortune that we may live and be
with good children, with a kvala-full good family,
with a stable-full good livestock!
Give us power to pay the great Emperor his tax!
From the evil enemy-spirit — protect us yourself;
from the evil watchful eye and ear — protect us yourself;
from the witch, from the sorcerer — protect us yourself!
Let the harness-horse be fine-gaited;
let the milking-cow be butter-rich;
let the shearing-sheep be ringing-wooled!
When I run out, when I go into the forest —
may foxes, hares, martens be there!
The grain and food cast on the field and hill —
let it grow like a wall of reeds;
let its ear be like silver;
let its grain be like the ripened noon-berry!
Your best and richest I give to you, Inmar —
may we be drunk and full, eating and drinking its chaff and offal!
Prayer 3b — At the Ancestors' Feast
Multán village. A prayer addressed to the ancestors at the vil'-karon festival of the dead. Recorded from Fedor Vasziljev, 19 July 1885.
Oh our ancestors —
sustain us with good children,
keep us with good livestock, in good health!
Make our good grain and food grow well!
When we go to the field and hill to work —
do not break our scythe, do not break our sickle;
do not cut our hands, do not cut our feet!
Do not let us come before the face of an evil enemy-spirit!
Prayer 4
Aktámír village. Recorded from Nikolaj Sztepanov, 30 August 1885.
This prayer uses a distinctive conditional form — each petition is framed as "if only you would" (Udmurt: -salid-ká), a grammar of longing and hope rather than command.
Lord Inmar, Kozma-Inmar, great Inmar —
if only you would make my sown grain-food germinate well,
if only you would make well germinate what I scattered by the handful;
if only you would raise it like a linden, like a willow;
if only you would ripen it like a field-strawberry,
if only you would bring it out like a brier-berry!
If only you would give your warm nights,
if only your warm rains,
if only your good weather!
At the threshing-floor time —
if only you would give twelve racks of sheaves,
if only you would make me fortunate and wealthy,
able to set threshing-floor beside threshing-floor!
At the stable-entry time —
if only you would make the stable full;
if only you would give a good milking cow,
if only you would give a good shearing sheep!
At market-going time —
if only you would give good harnessing horses;
at field-going time —
if only you would fill the field-corners with livestock!
If only through the needle-firs and the leaf-trees
you would fly the bees about;
if only over the hive-opening
you would make them run in floods!
If only you would turn back and bring the fleeing game and quarry!
If only you would make me wealthy and fortunate,
able to fill my pocket to pay the Emperor's tax;
when I fill the Emperor's tax —
great Inmar! —
if only you would not put me in want!
Through the needles of the needle-tree,
through the leaves of the leaf-tree —
if only you would bring your blessings and goodness!
If only you would give me children who cling to my coat-hem;
give them freedom to live lightly,
laughing and chattering around your fire-circle!
The illness and sickness coming into the village —
if only you would sweep it away into forest and brushwood
like dust, like dew;
if only you would raise my livestock well;
from the swamp, from the pit —
guard me yourself, great Inmar!
Whatever small sin I have — forgive it, Inmar!
I am one who errs, Inmar —
perhaps I spoke the later-say before the earlier;
I do not know how to pray, Inmar — set me right yourself!
Prayer 5
Vandámo village. Recorded from Trofim Jekimov, 1 September 1885.
Lord Inmar, Kozma-Inmar, great Inmar —
I bow to you for good grain, for good life!
If only in good fortune you would make my sown grain germinate well;
if only in good fortune you would give your warm rain!
If only you would give it with a strong root, a full head;
silver-eared and golden-seeded!
If only you would give fortune and blessing
that I may set sheaf beside sheaf, rick beside rick!
If only you would make it come out unbroken!
If only you would make me blessed
with children to embrace, with livestock to tend;
with bees and water, with wealth and property!
Give your fortune and blessing!
Give your good health, your good wealth;
give me easy means for the great Emperor, Inmar!
Maybe we prayed knowingly,
maybe we prayed unknowingly —
Inmar, even it out yourself; we do not know!
Prayer 6a — After the Plowing
Uszja village. The gar-ber feast, held after the spring plowing. Communal prayer.
Lord Inmar, Kildisin-em!
Give grain-luck, give family-luck, give livestock-luck!
Guard from sickness, from disease!
On this day with one heart and soul
we stand, we sit here with bull-sacrifice —
for Inmar-Kildisin,
for the treasury of the great Emperor.
With one heart and soul we give a bull-calf today:
may Inmar-Kildisin be pleased!
Prayer 6b — After the Plowing (Variant)
Uszja village.
Lord Inmar, Kildisin-em, Vordsud-om!
Guard from the evil wind;
guard my livestock in the three pastures from wild animals!
Give fortune for the great Emperor's treasury!
Guard our fire!
With one heart and soul we give a bull-calf.
May the grain I have sown be enough for me to eat,
and also to fill the treasury!
May the three pastures be blessed
with grass and hay for the livestock!
Prayer 6c — After the Harvest
Uszja village. The autumn feast, held after the grain is brought in.
Lord Inmar, Kildisin-em, Vordsud-om!
Guard from illness, from any disease!
When I drive livestock into the seven stables,
when I throw their food with the pitchfork —
give your blessing!
Let there be beautiful colts;
let there be beautiful bull-calves, beautiful lambs!
Inmar, Kildisin-em, Vordsud-om — guard me yourself!
Help me fill the treasury of the great Emperor
with grain, with livestock, with honey!
Prayer 6d — At the Bedside of the Sick
Uszja village.
Lord Inmar, Vordsud-om!
Whatever sin was his — forgive his sin;
keep him — if it is your will to keep him!
Prayer 7
Mozsga village. Recorded from the father of Apsivir, 4 August 1885.
Lord Inmar, great Inmar!
What I have sown and scattered —
make it grow abundantly;
silver the ear, make it grow like a reed-wall!
Give fortune and blessing that I may set sheaf beside sheaf;
give fortune and blessing
that I may set sheaves on twelve racks!
Keep the livestock healthy;
when I drive them into the stable — let me fill it;
when the sheep is shorn — make it ringing-wooled;
make the cow butter-rich!
Give me easy means to pay the great Emperor's tax!
Colophon
Source: Munkácsi Bernát, Votják Népköltészeti Hagyományok [Udmurt (Votyak) Folk Poetry Traditions] (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Budapest, 1887), Section IX: Imádságok (Prayers), pp. 147–168.
Translation: Good Works Translation, New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
Translation path: Translated from Udmurt source text (in Munkácsi's phonetic transcription system, recording the dialects of the Kama and Malmis basin Udmurt communities). Munkácsi's 1887 Hungarian translations served as a reference bridge to confirm the sense of Udmurt passages where the OCR transcription was degraded. No English translation of this collection exists; these are first English translations.
Scope: Seven villages in sequence — Vuzs-Dzsumja (village 1, Prayers 1a–1d, run 105); Sakta-pi (village 2, Prayers 2a–2b); Multán (village 3, Prayers 3a–3b); Aktámír (village 4, Prayer 4); Vandámo (village 5, Prayer 5); Uszja (village 6, Prayers 6a–6d); Mozsga (village 7, Prayer 7). This completes the full run of household prayers in Section IX.
Udmurt deity notes: Inmar — the supreme sky god and creator; the name is ancient, possibly related to Proto-Uralic *ilma (sky, weather). Kilan-Inmar / Kilcin-Inmar — an epithet of Inmar, possibly "shining Inmar" or "white Inmar." Vorsud / Vordsud — the household protective spirit, keeper of the hearth lineage; each family's Vorsud was distinct. Midor — a further epithet, meaning uncertain; possibly "great" or "honored." Kildis-vordis — compound epithet: "creator-sustainer." Kozma-Inmar — an epithet of obscure origin; Munkácsi's informants could not translate it; may derive from a prayer formula or loan-word meaning "be gracious." Kurbon-Inmar — "Sacrifice-Inmar," an epithet of the sacrificial aspect. Kildisin — local form of Kildis, particularly found in the Uszja village prayers. Sajtan — the adversary figure (from Russian шайтан, ultimately Arabic). The prayer formula "one who says: I will eat you, I will drink you" — the canonical phrase for a malevolent spirit threatening the household, answered always by the golden and silver fence of Inmar's protection.
The kvala — the sacred hearth-hut where prayers were offered — was distinct from the dwelling house. The small round wooden cup (kotir) filled with offerings (porridge, egg-pancake, fermented drink) was raised toward the deity before the words began, a gesture Munkácsi describes as "offering up the gifts visually to the divine eye before the mouth speaks." The -salid-ká prayer form found in the Aktámír and Vandámo prayers — "if only you would" — is a distinctive grammatical register of longing and hope, setting these prayers apart from the more direct imperatives of the other villages.
The Multán village carries particular historical weight: in 1892–95, Multán Udmurt villagers were wrongfully accused of ritual murder in a tsarist show trial, later exposed as fabricated by Maksim Gorky and Vladimir Korolenko. These 1885 prayers — recorded seven years before the trial — document the actual religious life of the Multán community: prayers for rain, good harvests, protection from witchcraft, and the Emperor's tax.
🌲
Source Text
Udmurt text in Munkácsi's phonetic transcription. Pre-standard orthography; special characters partially degraded in OCR.
Ima 1a (Vuzs-Dzsumja. Forrás: Nikolaj Ivanov, 1885.VII.15.)
Óstá, Inmará; ásta, vilié muso badjin Inmará; vilié jugit todlja, Kilciná, iná-vuá, Voriuda! kiji-ká ta tir pal'kkaékié kotirásín, tir Idan-nanán mon tonid veéaéko: oji-ik ut'-vordi! tusmonli-amanli án kusti!
gec nilin-piján, $ec pudoan-zivotán, gec juannanan ülni sud éot monim! jec nilma-pim'i, gec pudo-Zivotmd acid-ik ut'-vordi!
Van kijthn jumá-úanmá kamic-kurojo bod-dor-kad' udaltili Inmará!
Cerleé-pidleé, éoéleé-kableé ut'-vordi Inmará! «sio, juo!» — suiéleé zarni-kenerán, azveé-kenerdn mond kotirti!
jer ad'amiján vajkisa, éisa-jusa, ulono kar Inmará! ntli-piá $ec ad'amilán sin-soraz med' jetoz; urod malpaéleé acid ut'!
U$ano ugmá ugani jurtti Inmará! surás-vilin vetlikim siéá-taéá urodleé ut'alti, oskalti!
Budjin áksejli vitmá-kerémá ad'amiján éoé tirni med setto Inmará!
Óstá, Inmará, voéam veéma kabil baéti; mon pinal viétám murt, veéaikini-no kulaez-seán ug valaéki, acid-il, kijad-pidad kut!
Ima 1b (Vuzs-Dzsumja. Forrás: Maianya Grigorjevna, 1885.VII.15.)
Óétü, ina-vad! kurag-puz híz tabanád-kad juda-nanda $utMti! $ec nilin-piján, gec pudoanéivotán acid $ec ut-vordi! $ec kitkon-valan, $ec kiskon-iskalan, $ec siokon-zivin acid, $ec, ut-vordi!
$ec mlli-pili $ec éudda-burda acid t'ot; gec zdorovjadii acid sot!
Tuémonli-amanli an tot! olo-kin «sio, juo!» suoz, soli an sot! olo-koéa suked-saked van, olo-koéa kal'emed van: tin sot! mutreno molitva van ispolúaj Inmara! $ec judii-úanda olo-kin umur-kibil vandoz: an sot!
Ik-potsa, sum-potsa acid jec ut-vordi! zok kijiidan, paskit azbardn acid gec ut'-vordi! das-kik arás vuz kabanan, das-kik avas tiéán-piéán acid ósta, ina-vua, Vorsuda ut, vordi!
Ima 1c (Vuzs-Dzsumja. Forrás: Trofim Grigorjev, 1885.VII.15.)
Ostü, ina-vuá, Vorsuda, tir kotirásanid, tir éidánid-nanánid ósto kariskom! tir siddn-nanan, tir kotirdsdn ut-vordi!
Paékit azbaran, zek kijedün, paúkit muéeman, gec pudoan-zivotan, jec nilin-pijiim ut-vordi! kar-bazard minikim bus kisd-pujinui tiro puéko kar!
Tuimonli-amanli an iot Inmará! zarni-keúeran, azves-kenerán tuimonled-amanleé ut-vordi Inmará! pid-cumtamles, kil-viéámleé ut-vordi Inmará! Budáin áksejles Zilijo, sumiso urisezles ut'-vordi ina-rua, óstá Inmará!
Majá-ká kűri: sojá iot Inmará! veéaékámmá kabil basti ósta, Inmará!
Ima 1d (Vuzs-Dzsumja. Forrás: Lyogor Vasziljev, 1885.VI.21.)
Ósta Inmará, badgin Inmará, Kilcin-Inmará, nilin-piján jej med idom! tir naná-kad' vog, sántám voj-kad' sünit, nebit voz Inmará!
Dálláttá, bárákáttá dot Inmará! pudoán-zivotán, kitkon valán, kiskon-iskalan sion-juon intijam tiros sot Inmará! zarni-kad', azves-kad' sünit, nebit zorjostá sot Inmará!
Kijám jumá-úanmá bord-kad pottiti Inmará! cumol'o-vozi cumol'o puktini, kaban-vozi kában puktini sot menim Inmará! budjin áksejli vitsá tirmon sot uksodá Inmará!
Kotir kurtákon ina-vua tusmonli-amanli an kusti, siisles-juisles eskiiri, oskalti!
Source Colophon
Munkácsi Bernát, Votják Népköltészeti Hagyományok [Udmurt Folk Poetry Traditions]. Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Budapest, 1887. Section IX: Imádságok, pp. 147–152. Source identifier: archive.org/details/votjknpklt00munk. Text in public domain (publication 1887; author died 1937). No known copyright restrictions.
🌲