Legends about the Amazons are spread all over the world. Naturally, in different countries they are called differently. But the legends that have come down to us and, fortunately, the recorded legends are an undoubted echo of an ancient era when women ruled the world.
In 1741, Abbot Guyon published in Brussels "The History of Ancient and Modern Amazons", full of very interesting information. But, first of all, we must turn to the legends of the Amazons represented in Greek mythology.
Many of us, even from our high school history course, know that the belief in the existence of the Amazons was widespread in Greece in the most distant antiquity. The invincible Odysseus "met" them in the work of the same name by Homer; echoes of it can be found in "Iliad" - in an episode of love between Achilles and the queen of the Amazons. Actually, for many of us, acquaintance with the Amazons ends there. However, everything turns out to be more interesting. All ancient Greek legends mention the warlike people of women - "man-haters" (another interpretation of the word Amazon - "equal to men").
The oldest story about the Amazons in Greek literature belongs to the historian Herodotus. He mentions, in particular, that “regarding marriages the following rule is observed among the Amazons: no girl marries before she has killed at least one enemy; some live to old age as girls, because they could not fulfill this requirement."
In turn, the historian Hippocrates tells even more amazing stories about the Amazons: “They do not have a right breast, because even in infancy, mothers put on this breast a specially made copper instrument in a heated state and burn it to stop the growth of the breast and so that the whole the force passed to the right shoulder and right arm."
In chapter 53 of his "Historical Library" the great historian of antiquity Diodorus of Siculus even tells us how the queen of the Amazons Mirina, having gathered a strong army of women warriors, was able to conquer the legendary Atlantis with her help!
Paradoxically, the belief in the existence of a people of women was constantly held in ancient times, covering all ancient cultures. The deeper we penetrate into the events of that distant era, the more surprising conclusions we come to: the Amazons existed not only in Greece, but also in Europe and even in the Russian North. Moreover, in many European countries one cannot find folklore that does not mention the distant times when women played a dominant role in magic and religion.
It was believed that they possessed the art of illusion, knew how to cause storms, to cover the ground with fog in order to confuse the ranks of the enemy troops or hide themselves from the eyes of the enemy. They mastered the art of transforming the body. They knew how to see at a great distance. They knew how to prophesy. It is not unusual for a woman to fill this role. After all, a woman is superior to a man in many areas: she resists fatigue, physical suffering, illness, aging longer, not to mention the fact that, thanks to her mental constitution, she is more sophisticated in matters of magic.
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The first mention of the Amazons of Europe in European literature belongs to the historian of King Charlemagne, Paul the Deacon. Talking about Germany, he says that "to this day in the depths of Germany there are still a people of these women." Considering that these lines were written around 800 AD, then we have to admit that these amazing creatures lived in the Christian era.
Map of the settlement of the peoples of the North-West. Drawing from the book "Written News of the Karelians"
Another area where the Amazons live in Europe is ancient Bohemia, which is described by the oldest Czech historian Kozma Prazhsky at the beginning of the 12th century: “At that time,” says Kozma, “Czech girls grew up free, owned weapons and chose their leaders. Not their men, but they themselves when and whom they wanted took as their husbands. The courage of women reached the point that they erected an impregnable fortress on a rock near the city of Prague, which they named Devin. " Another historian even adds that "the Amazons of ancient Bohemia, in order to protect themselves from the seizure of power by men, burned out the boys' right eyes and cut off their thumb on their right hand."
Further, even more interesting. According to a widespread belief, the location of the European Amazons is indicated in the north of Europe, in particular in the Baltic Sea region.
The first author to report these northern or Baltic Amazons was Ibrahim ibn Yakub. His memoir about the Slavic countries, dated 965, indicates that “in the neighborhood of the Russians there is a city of women. They own lands and slaves. They become pregnant from their slaves and when one of them gives birth to a son, he kills him. They ride on horseback and go to war themselves, distinguished by courage and courage."
The famous Arab geographer and traveler of the first half of the 12th century, Al-Idrisi, says that there are two islands in the Northern Ocean, called the "Amazon Islands", and the historian and geographer Adam Bremen, describing the European north, points out: "Near the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea there are the Amazons, which is why these lands are called "the land of women." They avoid communication with men; if they are, then they bravely drive them away. " And the old chronicle of Norway tells about the wild, foggy shores of the White Sea, where the "land of girls" was. One of the old Russian books, the so-called Azbukvin, explains in particular: "There are Amazons in the Murian countries." The researchers of this text suggest that "Murskie" here means "Murmansk" and we are talking about the Kola Peninsula.
The above reports about the northern Amazons have been commented on several times in the historical literature. At the same time, the suggested guess was often repeated that all this news has as its source the ancient ideas of the peoples of the Kven country - the oldest population of present-day Finland and adjacent regions, including part of the territory of modern Karelia.
The History of Norway is a Latin-language chronicle covering the history of the Norwegian kings (rulers) from ancient times to 1115. Its author is unknown. The chronicle was preserved in a single manuscript of the mid-15th century and became available to the modern reader, in particular, thanks to the book "Written News of the Karelians" published in Petrozavodsk in 1990, the authors of which were S. Kochkurkina, A. Spiridonov and T. Jackson.
For the first time, this publication contains a collection of Old Scandinavian written sources on the history of Karelia, including the History of Norway. The special value of these sources is determined by the fact that they contain information on the history of our region up to the 12th century - a time that was practically completely ignored in Russian written monuments.
Achilles kills the ruler of the Amazons Penfesilia. Drawing on a vase (Greece)
“To the northeast,” says the History of Norway, “extend beyond Norway to numerous tribes devoted to paganism, Kirjals (ancient Korels) and Kvens, horned Finns (in this case, the Sami) and those and other Bjarmons (inhabitants of the legendary Biarmia). But we do not know exactly which tribes live behind these. However, when some sailors tried to sail from the Ice Island (modern Iceland) to Norway and were thrown back into the winter area by the oncoming storms, where they approached between the Viriden (Greenlanders) and the Bjarmons, where, as evidenced, people of amazing size were found and there was a "country of virgins", since Kvenland (Kven tribe) is translated as "Land of the virgins".
This information echoes the stories of the Norwegian Ottar, set forth in the "Orosia of King Alfred" of the late 9th century - this source, three hundred years earlier, also mentions Kvens, Finns (Terfinn) and Bjarms. However, the presence of ancient Karelians in this region is first recorded by the “History of Norway”. According to the context, even before 1170, Kirjals were met somewhere near the areas of settlement of the Kven and Finns.
It would seem that surprising in the legends of the Amazons? And the amazing thing here is that a woman does a man's actions. But, even more surprising, these actions did not seem to her contemporaries to be something out of the ordinary. The fact is that masculinity was a trait common to people of that time - both men and women. These were centuries of strength, courage and glorious deeds.
By the way, one can read about the courage of Russian women in the pagan era in Byzantine manuscripts. Chroniclers say that during the war of Svyatoslav with the Greeks, after one fierce battle, when the Greeks began to undress the killed "Scythians", they found many female corpses. It turns out that these women fought on equal terms among men.
“Courage and wisdom in that time far from us were not only positive properties of character and mind, but also a substance force that brought a person closer to the gods, - we read in the book of the Russian historian Ivan Zabelin“Domestic life of Russian queens.” the female personality is a mythical creature. She has the gift of fortune telling, enchantment, prophecy; she knows the secrets of nature and therefore in her hands is kept healing, witchcraft, conspiracies, spells. She is in close ties with mythical forces, in her hands both the good and the evil of these forces."
Over time, historical opinions about the mysterious Amazons are increasingly attracting the attention of specialists. Perhaps, the study of this direction will further enrich our understanding of the prehistory of the peoples inhabiting the northern territories of Europe, including the peoples living in the territory of modern Karelia.