A forgotten forefather named Vgec

B. Szabó János – Sudár Balázs

Hadak útján. A népvándorláskor fiatal kutatóinak XXIV. konferenciája. Esztergom, 2014. november 4–6. Conference of young scholars on the Migration Period. November 4–6, 2014, Esztergom

MŐT Kiadványok 3.2 (2017) 223–231

DOI 10.55722/Arpad.Kiad.2017.3.2_09

Az első magyar nagyfejedelem, Álmos körül az elmúlt évtizedekben ismét megpezsdült a kutatás, de az első magyar nagyfejedelem hús-vér atyjáról, Vgecről szinte szó sem esett, általában nem szokás valódi történeti szereplőnek tekinteni. Nevének és szerepének vallatóra fogásával azonban talán többet is megtudhatunk róla. Érdekes, hogy hasonlóan ritka nevet viselt egy kortársa is a sztyepperégió másik végén.

Kulcsszavak: magyar, fejedelem, ősapa, Vgec, Turul-monda, Üge ujgur kagán

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 ‛mythi-cal 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.