B. Szabó János – Sudár Balázs: Vgec-ügyek – Egy elfeledett ősapa [A forgotten forefather named Vgec] (original) (raw)

2017, HADAK ÚTJÁN XXIV. A népvándorláskor fiatal kutatóinak XXIV. konferenciája Esztergom, 2014. november 4–6. 2. kötet. Főszerkesztő TÜRK ATTILA Szerkesztők BALOGH CSILLA – MAJOR BALÁZS .

Research on the first Hungarian Grand Prince Álmos has gained impetus in the last decades, however, the first Hungarian Grand Princes’ father, Vgec, has hardly been mentioned. We can say that Vgec was generally ignored by research focusing on the Turul myth ever since Dezső Pais, in his book of 1926, put forward the idea that the name is to be derived from the Hungarian word igy/egy (‛holy’). The ‛mythical holy forebear’ thus created rendered it practically impossible for Hungarian research to investigate Ugek’s identity as a potential historical figure. Although György Györffy attempted in 1948 to involve in the scope of the Vgec-related investigations üge/öge, a common noun indicating dignity, which may have been taken over from the Old Turkish language before the Conquest Period, but the idea was not subsequently expounded and research did not deign it attention; Lorand Benko held it recently a completely implausible explanation. In contrast, the legends related to Álmos’ conception (Cyrus, Ottoman) regularly talk about actual fathers (Astyages, Ertuğrul). We can pose the question whether in the absence of genuine grounds for refusal, so far unnamed, cannot we possibly assume, in a similar way, an authentic historical character in the background? This paper puts forward arguments to support a positive answer, and presents another historical personality of a similar name who lived in the same era.