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SCANDINAVIAN RUNIC SYMBOL ON THE WALL
OF MEDIAEVAL CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE IN TSKHRUKVETI Andrew Andersen
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The
history, in general, is filled with mysteries. And, in particular, it is true
when you are trying to unveil the past of such mysterious countries as little
Georgia squeezed between Russia, Turkey and Iran. High in the green mountains of Georgian
province of Imereti there is an ancient village of Tskhrukveti (“Abode of Angels” if translated from old
Georgian). And in Tskhrukveti there is a well-built
old church partially destroyed and vandalized by the Soviet occupants in the
early 20th century and restored by Georgian-Canadian businessman
George Bitsadze whose origins go back to this village. And over one of the
entrances to the church – there is a mysterious stone-carved sign, the meaning of which is known neither to local residents,
nor to the Georgian Orthodox priests whom I had a chance to ask about it.
Most of the locals tend to believe that it is just a decorative element. But
that explanation could hardly be found acceptable. Indeed, even nowadays they
would not invest so much hard work and time into creation of a meaningless
“decorative element” measured over a meter-and-a-half in diameter just above
the church entrance, and in the Middle Ages that would be absolutely
impossible. So,
what is that symbol that was placed above the gates of the mediaeval Georgian
church by its builders? Even a cursory research leads to the conclusion that
this sign is one of the ancient runic characters known as Odal – an Elder Futhark rune also known as Othal, Oepel, Opalan and Opila that since at least the early 3d
century a.d. was used to denote the concepts of
heritage, inheritance, estate, shelter, clan/family possession and even
nobility. In the good old days
(between the 3d and 8th century) in Northern Europe that
sign had the same force as if there was a stone fence around the object
marked with it. Everything that bore the sign of Odal was considered safe,
protected, blessed and fruitful in various senses.
Given all this, however, the questions
arise: How did this rune find her way into the mountains of Georgia and is it
only St. George church in Tskhrukveti that bears
its sign? Not at all! These runes can be found on the walls of ancient
buildings in other parts of Imereti, in Upper Svaneti and throughout the Caucasus, including Russian
North Caucasia. All this is not surprising, because the characters of this
type are coming from pagan times, and their sacred meaning is not totally
lost even today. These runes serve as the symbols of nature, the cult of
fertility, as well as with the cycles of the Earth, Sun and Moon, etc... One
may add to the above that the signs of this type, among them Bordzhgalo,
starburst and swastikas,- were born during the same
epoch and even earlier and are widely used in various religions. Almost in any country of Europe and the
Near East one can run across the runes or signs of runic type that have been
often used both as alphabets and sacral symbols. These signs are older than
any known written sources. Scandinavians attributed their appearance to the
supreme god Odin, although old Germanic runes were often used in other
cultures and eras. Nordic runes could have got to Georgia the very same way
they found to Russia, Bulgaria, Greece and other countries. And,
specifically, they could have easily to the mountains of Imereti
and Svaneti through the trade routes, such as the
Silk Road, that also served as the lines of cultural and political ties. According to the historian Nana Burchuladze, the appearance of runic symbols in Georgia
could possibly be connected with the arrival of the Vikings in the region in
the 10th-11th centuries. For example, in the middle of
the 11th century, King Bagrat IV of
Georgia hired a few thousand Vikings to fight against Liparit
Baghvashi, the Duke of Trialeti.
And even before that both Georgian monarchs and the Governors of the eastern
frontier provinces of the Byzantine Empire used the services of the Vikings
in many battles. There is also an opinion that runes could have come to the
Caucasus long before the arrival of the Vikings, and their origins could go
back to our common ancient German-Baltic-Slavic-Caucasian Vedic heritage. And, by the way,
“the ancient Georgian cross”, also known as St. Nino Cross, which is still
very popular in Georgia, looks very similar to the old Germanic rune Teyvaz (Teiwas, Tivaz), that traditionally served as the symbol of God,
sacrifice and ultimate justice... A FEW PHOTOS OF ST.
GEORGE CHURCH IN TSKHRUKVETI:
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