Balsag Wheel

Balsagovo Wheel – a celestial being, a mythical character in the Nart epic, a mysterious creature in the form of a wheel, serving God and Fydyuani. It is a terrifying creature capable of transformation, endowed with human abilities, the gift of speech, and extraordinary strength.

The origin of Balsag’s Wheel, according to scholar Alexander Byazyrov ("History of Nart Tales"), is as follows: “An ancient Scythian saw that the wheels of Persian and Assyrian war chariots were bound with the blades of sickles to slash and cut enemy troops in battle. Thus, Balsag’s Wheel is the prototype of the killer wheel of the ancient Persian chariot.”

It is known as the killer of the Nart hero Soslan, who insulted the daughter of Khur (the Sun), whom he saw bathing near the seashore, by refusing to marry her. The girl offers herself to Soslan, but he refuses and insults her with his rejection. After some time, Khur’s daughter takes Balsag’s Wheel into her service to take revenge on Soslan, paying twelve fertile cows for it.

In Ossetian tales, it is an ordinary wheel engulfed in flames because it turns to ashes the trees (except birch) that obstruct its path. It rushes from the sky to the earth through forests and valleys all the way to the Black Sea, where it falls into the water. Meeting the Wheel, Sozyriko pursues it in a famous chase. The first time, thanks to the birch tree that delays the wheel, Sozyriko manages to catch the wheel and take it captive. But the second time, the Wheel appears unexpectedly and cuts off Sozyriko’s legs.

Soslan continues to chase Balsag’s Wheel on stilts, sinking in blood. But by the order of Syrdon, Balsag’s Wheel runs across a plowed field, and Soslan’s stilts get stuck in the freshly plowed earth, causing Soslan to lose the Wheel.

Balsag’s Wheel is also called the Wheel of Iaune (Fyd Iuane). This name is associated with St. John the Baptist, as during the solar opposition in June, the “festival of Soslan” is celebrated: “Every year in June, that is, on St. John’s Day, during the summer solstice, the ‘festival of Soslan’ is also celebrated near his supposed grave. On this holiday, a sacrificial lamb is dedicated to the hero, and they ask him to send rain.”

“Here,” according to Vaso Abaev, “we are dealing with a solar deity, and the wheel itself is a symbol of the sun. This is confirmed by the fact that in the rituals practiced by many peoples during the equinox or solstice festivals, the wheel appears as a celestial symbol of the sun.” Georges Dumézil cites a similar ritual observed in a village in Lorraine. The ritual was performed on St. John’s Day and coincided with the summer solstice. On the night before the holiday, men gathered on the hilltop, where a huge wheel entwined with straw brought from every house was set up. The straw was set on fire, and the flaming wheel was rolled down the hill by two young men who directed its movement. A good omen and a sign of a rich harvest was considered the wheel that reached the valley and fell into the river. Georges Dumézil pointed out that this ritual shows similarities with the Nart tales about Balsag’s Wheel. In some versions of the tales, the Wheel is depicted as engulfed in all-consuming flames. The death of Balsag’s Wheel occurs in the water, or in other versions, in the waves of the Black Sea.”

The Digors call Balsag’s Wheel the “Wheel of Oinon” (a distortion of John). In Digoria, a festival called Soslanikuvd was held in honor of Soslan, with prayers and sacrifices. The feast took place near the village of Matsuta, where, according to legend, the Nart’s grave is located. The festival was celebrated during the summer solstice and coincided with the European festivals of “Burning Wheels” and St. John the Baptist’s Day. The Digor name for the rainbow, Soslan’s Bow, also fits into the concept of the solar cult of the Nart hero Soslan.

Sources:

https://vladgazeta.online/karayushhee-koleso/

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Колесо_Балсага