*H₂n̥gʷʰis Explained

Type:	Indo European
God Of:	mythological serpent
Equivalent1:	Illuyanka
Equivalent1 Type:	Hittite
Hinduism Equivalent:	Vritra
Equivalent2 Type:	Zoroastrian
Equivalent2:	Zahhak
Norse Equivalent:	Jörmungandr
Slavic Equivalent:	Zmei
Equivalent3:	Vishap
Equivalent3 Type:	Armenian
Greek Equivalent:	Lernaean Hydra

• H₂n̥gʷʰis is a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European term meaning 'serpent', as well as a possible name for a mythological entity, polycephalous sea serpent or dragon which was slain by a hero named Trito with the help of the god Perkʷunos.

Evidence

A unifying characteristic of most Indo-European descendant mythologies is a story about a battle between a god of thunder, the great hero and a huge serpentine creature. Indo-Iranian and probably also Hittite traditions use the same Proto-Indo-European root *h₂engʷʰ-, whence *h₂n̥gʷʰis, to denote the serpent.

Possible Hittite cognate is Illuyanka, a dragon from a myth known from tablets found at Çorum-Boğazköy, the former Hittite capital Hattusa, and is also found in Catalogue des Textes Hittites. According to the narrative, a thunder god Tarḫunna slays Illuyanka. The contest is a ritual of the Hattian spring festival of Puruli.According to Katz (1998), Illuyanka's name is probably a compound, consisting of two words for "snake", Proto-Indo-European *h₁illu- and *h₂engʷʰ-. The same compound members, inverted, appear in Latin anguilla "eel". The *h₁illu- word is cognate to English eel, and *h₂engʷʰ- is related to Sanskrit ahi and Avestan aži.^[1]

In Indo-Iranian traditions name of a snake stems from the same root, which is reconstructible in Proto-Indo-Iranian as *Háǰʰiš, and is a cognate to Old High German unc, Old East Slavic ǫžь and probably, as previously mentioned, Hittite Illuy-anka. In Zoroastrianism and Persian mythology, Pishdadian shah Fereydun (Avestan: |Θraētaona), slays shah Zahhak, who is also known as Zahhak the Snake Shoulder, and is related to aži dahāka, creatures that frequently appear in texts such as Shahnameh or Garshaspnameh. In those texts, they are slain by various heroes such as Garshasp, Rostam or Esfandiyar^[2]

In Hindu mythology, the Vedic god Indra slays the multi-headed serpent Vṛtrá, which has been causing a drought by trapping the waters in his mountain lair.In the Vedas, Vṛtrá is frequently called Ahi (Vedic Sanskrit: Sanskrit: अहि ), a Sanskrit descendant of Proto-Indo-Iranian *Háǰʰiš, and in turn, of Proto-Indo-European *h₂n̥gʷʰis.

Descendant tree

• PIE: *h₂engʷʰ- → *h₂n̥gʷʰis, “snake”
  • Proto-Indo-Iranian: *Háǰʰiš, “id.”
    • Sanskrit: अहि|ahi, epithet of Vṛtrá
    • Avestan: |aži → Avestan: ⸱|[[Azhdaha|aži.dahāka]]
      • |ažδahāg (borrowing)
        • Persian: اژدها|[[Azhdaha|aždahā]]
  • (probably) Hittite: Illuyanka

As for other related Indo-European myths, slayed serpents usually bear names etymologically unrelated to *h₂n̥gʷʰis, but they frequently have a same meaning "snake, serpent": In most Slavic tales, the word that descends from Proto-Slavic

• zmьjь

("snake, dragon") is frequently used, with examples being Russian and Ukrainian Zmey Gorynych (;), many-headed dragon who was killed by Dobrynya Nikitich, zmȁj in Serbian and zmej in Macedonian fairytales.In Irish mythology, Oilliphéist (Irish: ollphéist,)^[3] are the sea monsters of similar type, the most prominent of which was Caoránach, who was expelled by Saint Patrick to Lough Dearg in Donegal, Ulster.^{[4] [5]} The name of similar Albanian mythical creatures Kulshedra (Albanian: kulshedër; def. Albanian: kulshedra), who were slain by heroes drangue, derives from Latin , which roughly translates to an " snake".^[6] Armenian dragon Vishap (վիշապ), who was slain by Vahagn, derives its name from an Iranian language,^[7] and can also mean "leviathan", "whale", or "Draco".

See also

• Trito
• Manu and Yemo
• Hercules
• Vahagn
• Yamata no Orochi a similar myth in Shinto

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Notes and References

1. Book: Katz, J. . How to be a Dragon in Indo-European: Hittite illuyankas and its Linguistic and Cultural Congeners in Latin, Greek, and Germanic . Mír Curad. Studies in Honor of Calvert Watkins . Jasanoff . Melchert . Oliver . Innsbruck . Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck . 1998 . 317–334 . 3-85124-667-5 .
2. Web site: Kajani Hesari. Hojjat. Mythical creatures in Shahnameh. July 10, 2016.
3. Book: Mahon, Michael Patrick. Ireland's Fairy Lore. Boston, Mass., T.J. Flynn & company. 1919. 187.
4. Book: O'Connor, Daniel. Lough Derg and Its Pilgrimages: With Map and Illustrations. 1879. 131. J. Dollard .
5. Book: Monaghan, Patricia. Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines. 2014. 978-1-60868-217-1. 184. New World Library .
6. , "Kulshedra", A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture, pp. 153–156.
7. Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1979), “վիշապ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), volume IV, 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press, pages 341ab