Death Rides — The Parents Curse — Erzya Mordvin death song from the 1882 Orthodox Missionary Society collection — 'The Parent's Curse.' A young man who never called his father 'father' or his mother 'mother' is cursed to seven years of illness. Death comes riding a bay horse, carrying a copper jug and a sharp knife. The dying man asks Death to wait while he consults his parents. They tell him: die your own death, child. But a brother speaks: I will die for you. First English translation from the Erzya original.
Mother Volga — Erzya Sacrifice Song — Erzya Mordvin cosmological and sacrificial song from the 1882 Orthodox Missionary Society collection — 'Mother Volga' (Расъ ава). Opens with the three world-fish who hold the land, then unfolds a dialogue between a young man and the river-goddess: she rejects silver, gold, possessions, and demands kin. Father brings fire. Mother brings hunger. Wife brings nakedness. Only the youngest brother answers with strength and comfort. First English translation from the Erzya original.
Sacred Songs from the 1882 Collection — Two Erzya Mordvin sacred songs from the 1882 collection Obraztsy mordovskoi narodnoi slovesnosti — 'How the Gods Divided Fortune' and 'The Feast of the Gods.' The first presents the Erzya divine triad dividing fortune among peoples from a cosmic oak. The second envisions the gods' feast beneath a world-tree apple with candles on its leaf-tips. First English translations.
The Little Duck — Erzya Warning Song — First English translation of 'The Little Duck' — an Erzya Mordvin warning song from the 1882 Kazan collection Obraztsy mordovskoi narodnoi slovesnosti. A silver-winged, golden-beaked duck nests in a field-lake. A young man named Andyamo threatens to kill her. Three times the duck warns him — your mother will die, your wife will die, your children will die. Three times he refuses. He kills her, returns home, and finds every member of his family dead.
The Sacred Wax Fire of the Mordvins and Cheremis — First English translation of Albert Hämäläinen's 1937 monograph on the sacred wax fire cult among the Mordvins and Cheremis (Mari), covering ritual candle ceremonies, fire worship, brotherhood feasts, sun veneration, ancestor cults, and the Kugu Sorta reform movement, with comparative analysis spanning North/Central Asian, Russian-Slavic, Baltic Finnish, and Indo-European fire cult parallels.
The Slain Youth and the Soul-Birds — Erzya Mordvin soul-bird poem from the 1882 Orthodox Missionary Society collection — the slain young man lies in a far forest under a white birch, and five birds sit upon him: the cuckoo at his head is his mother, the dove at his feet his father, the swallows on his breast his children, the nightingale on his right hand his sister, and the magpie on his left hand is his dear wife — his villain wife. First English translation from the Erzya original.
The Three Fish that Hold the Land — Erzya Mordvin cosmological song from the 1882 Orthodox Missionary Society collection — 'The Three Fish that Hold the Land.' Three white fish in the deepest water uphold the world; when a fish wags its tail, the years and customs overturn. First English translation from the Erzya original.
The Two-Crowned Birch — Erzya Death Lament — First English translation of 'The Two-Crowned Birch' — an Erzya Mordvin death lament from the 1882 Kazan collection Obraztsy mordovskoi narodnoi slovesnosti. A cosmic birch with two crowns rises from a mound in a vast field, viburnum blooming on one crown and raspberries glowing on the other. Beneath the tree, a ritual table is laid with white felt, copper jug, silver ladle, and golden cup. At the root of the birch lies a slain man, his wife weeping at his feet and his mother wailing at his head.
The White Duck — Erzya Creation Song — Erzya Mordvin cosmogonic song from the 1882 Orthodox Missionary Society collection — 'The White Duck' (Ашо Утине). A cosmic mother-bird sits on her nest of eggs full of life; when hunters kill her, the earth shakes, blood fills the valleys, feathers cover the earth, and down fills the sky — a Mordvin version of the pan-Uralic cosmic bird creation myth. First English translation from the Erzya original.
Tsar Tyushtya — Erzya Mordvin heroic song from the 1882 Orthodox Missionary Society collection — 'Tsar Tyushtya.' The legendary Mordvian king gathers his people, parts the sea with his cloak, leads the faithful to safety, and curses those who stayed behind to eternal serfdom. The Mordvian Moses narrative. First English translation from the Erzya original.
Ulita — The Kolyada Song — First English translation of 'Ulita' — an Erzya Mordvin Kolyada (Yuletide) ritual song from the 1882 Kazan collection Obraztsy mordovskoi narodnoi slovesnosti. A young bride returns from washing on Kolyada day to find the gates locked; each family member demands she call them by in-law terms before they will open. Only her husband opens the door. She enters, sits on the oven, asks it to split open, and descends to the underworld to fetch a shirt sewn to her husband's face, gait, gaze, speech, and smile.
Wedding Ritual Songs from the 1882 Collection — Five wedding ritual songs (Songs XXXVI a–д) and the apple-tree lament (Song XXXVII) from the 1882 Erzya Mordvin collection published by the Orthodox Missionary Society in Kazan — first English translations from the Erzya original.