Some Hungarians pride themselves to be the ancient offspring of a relationship between a woman and some kind of a falcon, named Turul. No harm in this zoophiliac legend of origins, all nations have such legends, dating back to shamanistic and totemic times.
The legend of Turul is mentioned in the disputed Gesta Hungarorum:
In the year 819, Ugek became the greatest Duke of Scythia (…) he married Emesu. He had a son by her, named Almus. But only by a Godly intervention was he named Almus, because his mother, while being pregnant had a holy dream of a vulture which impregnated her. And she saw a torrent originating from her womb and her thighs mothered glorious kings (…)
For anyone in the right state of mind it is quite clear that Gesta Hungarorum is a collection of medieval legends, probably popular among the Hungarian noblemen during the 13th century, remembering their origins from the Asian steppes.
The problem is that this Turul bird is highly revered today by the Hungarian authorities. It amuses me that the Wikipedia page of Turul has quite a detailed census of existing Turul monuments: 195 in Hungary, as well as 48 in Romania, 8 in Slovakia, 7 in Serbia, 5 in Ukraine, 1 in Austria. I have no idea if this Turul monuments census contains the ilegal one in Budapest (here) or the new one to be installed in Romania. I imagine that the Hungarian authorities have large budgets if they indulge into paying homage to a zoophiliac legend.
Pingback:Cât de vasali au fost românii faţă de unguri? | BLOGPOST.timpul.md