Ügyek (second half of the 8th century – first half of the 9th century), also known as Ugek or Ugec (also styled Vgec ), was – according to the chronicler Anonymus (or "Master P.") – the father of Álmos, the first Grand Prince of the Hungarians. However, according to a conflicting source, Simon of Kéza (writing about five to eight decades later), Előd was the father of Álmos, while the chronicler referred to Ügyek as Álmos's grandfather. He is the earliest known ancestor of the Árpád dynasty. He was said to be a Scythian, i.e. to be from Dentumoger, the homeland of the Magyars, which the chroniclers identify with Scythia, and use to refer both to the land and its inhabitants.

Life

"In the year of Our Lord's incarnation 819, Ügek, the noblest chieftain of Scythia descending from the great house of Magog, took to wife in Dentumoger the daughter of Prince Eunedubelianus, called Emese, from whom he begot a son, who was named Álmos. But he is called Álmos from a divine event, because when she was pregnant a divine vision appeared to his mother in a dream in the form of a falcon that seemed to come to her and impregnate her and made known to her that from her womb a torrent would come forth and from her loins glorious kings be generated, but that they would not multiply in their own land. Because a dream is called álom in the Hungarian language and his birth was predicted in a dream, so he was called Álmos. Or he was called Álmos, that is holy, because holy kings and dukes were born of his line." Ügyek was born in the last third of the 8th century. Anonymus writes that Ügyek married Emese, a daughter of "Prince Eunedubelianus" in 819. She had seen a divine dream of a Turul bird before Álmos's birth in c. 820, according to the chronicles. The Turul's role is interpreted as guardian spirit, who protects the baby from harm until he grows up. It is supported by the chronicles, according to whom the Turul appears to the already pregnant woman. Historian Gyula Kristó said Ügyek's name may have been the chronicler' invention, since it derives from the ancient Hungarian ügy ("saint, holy") word.

Meaning of the name

Anonymus gives the name as Ugec; this caused much speculation later, as to the meaning of it. The latest research on the subject gives the following explanations regarding the origin and meaning of the name:

Significance

There are three types of great ancestry in the traditional steppe culture. Ügyek clearly belongs to the first group. Other examples belonging to this category are Ertogrul, (father of Osman), Sheikh Safi (founder of the Safavids), Saman Khuda (founder of the Samanids), among many others. The Turul narrative is strongly reminiscent of an episode narrated in The Secret History of the Mongols, concerning the foundation of the royal Mongol dynasty. All these traditions popular among different peoples, including the Magyars, were informed by the traditional steppe culture, and do not belong to any specific ethnic group.

Family trees

According to Anonymus's Gesta Hungarorum: According to Simon of Kéza's Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum: According to Mark of Kalt's Chronicon Pictum:

Notes and references

Sources