Ügyek Explained

Ügyek
Spouse:	Emese (since 819)
Issue:	Álmos
House:	House of Árpád
Death Date:	after 818

Ügyek (second half of the 8th century – first half of the 9th century), also known as Ugek or Ugec^[1] (also styled Vgec), was – according to the chronicler Anonymus (or "Master P.") – the father of Álmos, the first Grand Prince of the Hungarians. However, according to a conflicting source, Simon of Kéza (writing about five to eight decades later), Előd was the father of Álmos, while the chronicler referred to Ügyek as Álmos's grandfather. He is the earliest known ancestor of the Árpád dynasty. He was said to be a Scythian, i.e. to be from Dentumoger, the homeland of the Magyars, which the chroniclers identify with Scythia, and use to refer both to the land and its inhabitants.^[2]

Life

Ügyek was born in the last third of the 8th century.^[3] Anonymus writes that Ügyek married Emese, a daughter of "Prince Eunedubelianus" in 819. She had seen a divine dream of a Turul bird before Álmos's birth in c. 820, according to the chronicles. The Turul's role is interpreted as guardian spirit, who protects the baby from harm until he grows up. It is supported by the chronicles, according to whom the Turul appears to the already pregnant woman.

Historian Gyula Kristó said Ügyek's name may have been the chronicler' invention, since it derives from the ancient Hungarian ügy ("saint, holy") word.

Meaning of the name

Anonymus gives the name as Ugec; this caused much speculation later, as to the meaning of it. The latest research^[4] on the subject gives the following explanations regarding the origin and meaning of the name:

• Ügyek - Dezső Pais, in his book of 1926,^[5] put forward the idea that the name is to be derived from the Hungarian word igy/egy (‛holy’). Gyula Kristó also shared this view.
• Öge/Üge - Dignitary name, according to historian György Györffy. The meaning of it is "wise" and "sage", also "councillor". The word, as 10% words in modern Hungarian, is of Turkic origin. Many Hungarian personal names, and also animal and plant names,^[6] are of Turkic origin. Further, the majority of Hungarian tribal names were of Turkic origin,^[7] who overall made a significant contribution to Hungarians during their century-long cohabitation.
• Üge - The last ruler of the Uyghur Empire, also a contemporary to Ügyek. He was murdered in 846 in the Altai Mountains.^[8] It is speculated, that when the Empire fell apart, some Uyghur fragments could have escaped westward.

Significance

There are three types of great ancestry in the traditional steppe culture.^[9]

1. The distant, 'spiritual' ancestor, who took an important step, but the real power of his dynasty came many generations later;
2. The founder of an empire, that is inherited by the descendants;
3. Someone important in the family tree, related to whom the descendants must define themselves.

Ügyek clearly belongs to the first group.^[4] Other examples belonging to this category are Ertogrul, (father of Osman), Sheikh Safi (founder of the Safavids), Saman Khuda (founder of the Samanids), among many others.^[4] The Turul narrative is strongly reminiscent of an episode narrated in The Secret History of the Mongols, concerning the foundation of the royal Mongol dynasty.^[10] All these traditions popular among different peoples, including the Magyars, were informed by the traditional steppe culture, and do not belong to any specific ethnic group.

Family trees

According to Anonymus's Gesta Hungarorum:^[11]

According to Simon of Kéza's Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum:^[12]

According to Mark of Kalt's Chronicon Pictum:^[13]

See also

• Şilki

Notes and references

References

Sources

• B. Szabó János – Sudár Balázs: "Vgec-ügyek – Egy elfeledett ősapa". In: Türk Attila (szerk.): Hadak útján XXIV. A népvándorláskor fiatal kutatóinak XXIV. konferenciája Esztergom, 2014. november 4–6. 2. kötet. PPKE – ELTE, Budapest–Esztergom, 2017. 223–231. o. Contains a summary in English at the end.
• Book: Kristó . Gyula . Makk . Ferenc . Az Árpád-ház uralkodói . hu . Rulers of the Árpád House . IPC Könyvek . 1996.
• Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon (9-14. század), főszerkesztő: Kristó, Gyula, szerkesztők: Engel, Pál és Makk, Ferenc (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994)
• Book: Spinei, Victor . 2003 . The Great Migrations in the East and South East of Europe from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century . Romanian Cultural Institute . Dana Badulescu . 973-85894-5-2.

Notes and References

1. Book: Czeglédi, Katalin. Magyarok IX. Világkongresszusa. 34. A Volga-Urál vidéke földrajzi neveinek magyar nyelvi kapcsolatai. August 20, 2016. Magyarok Világszövetsége. Hungarian.
2. Book: Lendvai, Paul. Ann Major. The Hungarians A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat . 2021 . . 9780691200279. 16. Princess Emese, consort of a Scythian king, dreamed that a turul according to different versions, a hawk or an eagle impregnated her by divine command.
3. B. Szabó-Sudár 2017. p. 226.
4. B. Szabó-Sudár 2017.
5. Magyar Anonymus 1926, 146
6. Book: Gy Ránki, György Ránki. Hungarian History--world History . 1984 . Akadémiai K VIII . 9789630539975. 10.
7. Book: Pop. Ioan Aurel. Csorvási. Veronica. Romanians and Hungarians from the 9th to the 14th Century The Genesis of the Transylvanian Medieval State . 1996 . Fundația Culturală Română

   Centrul de Studii Transilvane

   . 9789735770372. 62. The majority of the Hungarian tribe names were of Turkic origin and signified, in many cases, a certain rank..
8. Dromp, M. R.: Tang China and the Collapse of the Uighur Empire: A Documentary History. Leiden 2005.
9. Sudár Balázs: Az Árpádok, Attila és a dinasztikus hagyományok. Századok 150:2 (2016) 431–441
10. Book: Macdonald . Helen. Helen Macdonald (writer). Falcon . 2016 . . 9781780236896. Contents - Mythical falcons.
11. Anonymus (author), Martyn Rady (translator) (2009). Gesta Hungarorum pdf p. 6-12
12. Simon of Kéza, Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum. Károly Szabó's Hungarian translation. quote: "Azon kapitányok közt tehát Árpád, Álmos fia, ki Előd fia, ki Ögyek fia volt, a Turul nemzetségből vagyonban gazdagabb s hadban hatalmasabb vala."
13. Mark of Kalt, Chronicon Pictum Hungarian translation, quote: "Ögyek fia Előd Szittyaországban Eunodubilia leánytól fiat nemzett, kinek neve lőn Álmos, annak okáért, mert anyjának álmában keselyűforma madár jelent meg, amikor terhes állapotban volt; méhéből rohanó víz fakadt, meggyarapodott, de nem a maga földjén; ebből azt jósolták, hogy ágyékából dicső királyok származnak. Miután a somnium a mi nyelvünkön álom, s ama fiú származását álom jövendölte meg, ezért nevezték Álmosnak, aki Előd, ez Ögyek, ez Ed, ez Csaba, ez Etele, [...]"