Golden tree of Tkhagaledzh is Adyghe world tree

In the Nart epic poetry, the golden tree ("dyshe chygy"), grown by the god of fertility and agriculture Tkhagaledzh, is a branched apple tree with miraculous fruits "myeryse". And this apple tree, symbol of the continuation of the Narts’ existence, is considered as a mythological variety of the tree of life or the world tree. Endowed with life-affirming symbolism, the golden tree of Tkhagaledzh predetermined the existence of the Narts as a whole. Therefore, the Adyghes high appreciated the apple tree among fruit-bearing trees considering it as their tree of life.

But what exactly was the sacredness of the Nart golden tree manifested in? And what were his life-affirming signs that characterized him as a tree of life or a world tree?

First of all, it was of great importance that this golden apple tree ("dyshe myeryse") of the Narts was grown by the god of fertility and abundance Tkhagaledzh, that fact initially gave it a sacred character. In the Nart epic, Tkhagaledzh, son of the seer Worsar, brother of Amysh and Mamysh, was the first plowman, and he gave millet seeds to the Narts, taught them to cultivate the land, to plow and to sow. He gave them a magical golden tree with miraculous apples which were half white, half red (1).

In the mythology, the god of fertility and abundance Tkhagaledzh is depicted as a mighty old plowman with a white beard to the waist and a golden staff in his hands; he was dressed in white clothes. "His shoes were made of the skin of ninety bison, and he immediately ate broth cooked with ten bulls and porridge of millet harvested from eight hundred acres of land" (1). In the Nart gods’ hierarchy, this mighty plowman was closer to the supreme deity Tkhashkho and was considered as a powerful mediator between him and the people. At the supreme councils ("khase"), he always occupied together with the patron of blacksmiths Tlepsh the honorable place. On festivals, the first health cup of the Narts was raised in his honor. And the Adyghes associated almost all their agricultural rites with his name (1).

So, in the old days, before starting spring field works, the Adyghes set the table at the strongest tree, which they recognized as sacred, and held a meal led by the main plowman ("vak’ue tkhemade"). Then the ploughmen pronounced their good wishes to the main deity of agriculture Tkhagaledzh, asking him for assistance during plowing works, and told the children about him and his power:
"O, Golden Tkhagaledzh!
Grant us the following:
Who has to do good,
Who owns to give horses to feed,
To flutter like a goatee,
To be as heavy as a chain mail sleeve,
To sway with plowing,
To bend over a young man,
To have a strong stem,
To have a large top,
So that there are eight hundred haystacks on one row,
To have ten stacks of millet from one pile,
So that every family could have much to sift,
So that it was destined to eat for the good,
May the great God grant us!" (2,83)

Undoubtedly, such a sacred attitude of the Narts to Tkhagaledzh was transferred by them to his miraculous gift, a cultivated golden apple tree, the magical fruits of which could heal even a barren woman. This life-affirming symbolism of the golden tree of the god of fertility and agriculture is indicated in its epic description in the legend "The Golden Tree of the Narts":
"One side of it (apple) is white-gold,
Its other side is red-gold,
With the sunrise, the kidney swells,
As the sun sets, the fruit ripens,
The rays of the morning sun turn one side of it red,
The other side is painted white,
If a barren woman bites off the red side,
Then she will be pregnant and give birth to a son,
Biting off the white side, she will get pregnant and will give birth to a beautiful girl" (3).

The presented description shows the golden tree of the Narts gave one apple a day. And during this time, it was getting through the entire life cycle: from a kidney on the tree at sunrise to a ripe fruit at sunset. The apple itself was growing under the influence of sunlight. In addition, the miraculous fruits of Tkhagaledzh’s golden apple tree endowed the Narts with youth, strength and beauty. Thus, the miraculous fruit of the golden tree, which gives fertility, is the fruit of life, and the apple tree itself, a symbol of fertility, correlates with trees of life (4).

Consequently, the correlation of Tkhagaledzh’s golden tree with the life tree or the world tree (arbor mundi) is based on the fact that it includes the ideas of the Narts about life, it is a symbol of fertility, youth, strength and beauty, it determines the continuation of the entire Nart genus. According to the myth of the Nart golden tree, as a world tree, it plays the role of the sacred center of the universe, connecting and harmonizing all its spheres. At the same time, the tree branches correspond to the sky, its trunk to the earth, and its roots to the underworld. And as a world axis, the golden apple tree of Tkhagaledzh represents the unity of opposites: "sunrise – sunset", "white – red", "upper world – lower world" in search of the stolen fruit (5).

In the legend "The Golden Tree of the Narts", the only miraculous fruit of the apple tree of the god of fertility began to disappear every day. Some trace-less thief managed to steal the divine gift every day. And then the confused Narts built around their life tree, without which they could not imagine themselves, a fortress without entrance and exit. However, this measure did not help them, the apple fruit continued to disappear every day. This time the angry Narts decided to guard their golden tree in turn. But the elusive and invisible thief managed to bypass vigilant guards of the apple tree and to steal its miraculous fruit. And only two sons of the Nart Dada from the Guazo family, two twins, two brave horsemen, noticed at the end of their guard night how three white-breasted pigeons flew up to the golden tree and plucked its apple. One of the brothers shot a bow and wounded one of the feathered kidnappers. And in the morning, both brothers went in search of the stolen fruit following the bloody trail that led them to the sea. The young Nart who shot pigeons, went to the sea depths for the apple, and his twin brother was waiting on the shore. At the depth of the sea, the Nart was met by seven young brothers and their beautiful sisters, children of Aushdger and the goddess of all seas. It turned out that the three daughters of the sea goddess turned into white-breasted doves and stole every day "a ripe and incomparable fruit among miraculous fruits: half-white, half-red" from the tree-miracle grown by the god of fertility in order to find her worthy partners among the Narts (6).

The legend content shows how the golden tree of the Narts unites three worlds: sky ("doves"), earth ("apple tree") and underworld ("sea depth"). And after the dramatic events around one of the sisters-doves and two twin brothers, the sea goddess’ third daughter Migazesh confused the brothers, and it led to tragic fratricide, the young girl goes obeying her mother’s advice to the fearless Narts to live among them and "to multiply the Nart family, to raise brave Narts":
"And Migazesh settled
at the Narts after having left the sea,.
Soon she has two sons,
Two twins were born,
They were similar like two stars,
Like two drops of the light water.
One was called Imys,
Another - Uazyrmes" (6).

The sacred golden tree of the Narts, the golden apple tree of the god of fertility and agriculture Tkhagaledz, is a symbol of fertility and multiplication of the Narts. It became the tree of life for the Adyghes, whose cult of trees, sacred groves and oak trees has always occupied an honorable place in their traditional religious beliefs. They worshipped trees and believed that invisible deities lived on them fulfilling their desires for spiritual goodness and eternal life (7, 46). All fruit trees, including the apple tree, were considered "noble" or "good" by them; they could not be cut down (7, 52). The Adyghes are still treated the apple tree with their special love and reverence, having considered it as a symbol of longevity since ancient times. And, in their opinion, the apples heal from many ailments. As they say: "one apple for lunch - and there are no diseases!"

Sources:
1.Tkhagaledzh/my-dict.ru.
2. L.A. Gutova. Folklore in the labor education of the Adyghes (based on materials of the agricultural cycle). Article in "Philological Sciences" No. 8, 2017/ cyberleninka.ru.
3. M.A. Kumakhov, Z.Y. Kumakhova. The Nart Epic poetry: language and culture. Moscow, 1998.
4. A.A. Khatkhe. The sacred in plants as one of the means found in the art works of Adyghe writers. Article in “Philological Sciences. Questions of theory and practice”. Tambov: Gramota, 2013. No. 7 (25): in 2 parts. Part II. Pp. 191-193.
5. The world of the Adyghe culture (Idea, compilation, editorial by R.A. Khanakhu) Maykop: “Adygea", 2002, Pp.46-47.
6. "Golden tree". Legend /adyghe.ru.
7. A.T. Shortanov. Adyghe cults. Nalchik. "Elbrus". 1992.

The illustration is the Art-khokh (well-wishing) made of threads "Golden tree of Thagaledzh" (master is Fatima Teuchezh)