A pityergő Árpádtól a könnyező Szent Lászlóig : a könnyekre fakadó hadvezér a Névtelen Gesztája 39. és a Krónikaszerkesztés 121., 137. fejezetében

Abstract

The study examines the relatives of time in chapter 38 of De Administrando Imperio, which was compiled under the rule of the Byzantine emperor, Constantine Porphyrogennate between 948 and 952. The chapter is about the origin and history of the Hungarians (Magyars) before their settlement in the Carpathian Basin between 895 and 900. There are altogether six relatives of time referring to the past history of the Hungarian tribes. Most of these relatives — ’of old’, ’at that time’, ’a short while afterwards’, ’some years/time later’, ’at that time’ cannot be connected surely to definite time. There is only one exact time relation: „for three years” the Hungarians lived and fought together with the Chazars. Supposing a mistake from the part of the copyist of the original text, some scholars substituted it with a much longer period (20, 30, 200, 300 years). In my opinion, based on the testimony of the oldest copy (Codex Parisinus Graecus 2009), one should accept this short interval, because the number ’three’ (JD,\l) was written in letters, and not with the so-called ’letter-number’. I think, that the military alliance of the Hungarians with the Chazars can be dated either between 859—861 or at about 870—880. It is highly probable, that chapter 38 can be divided into two sections, based on two reports. Each of these sections contains a story of a settlement (Levedia; Etelköz), a Chazar episode (military alliance and the Chazar marriage of Levedi; the visit of Levedi to Chazaria, the ’offer of the Khagan’ and the election of prince in Etelköz), and a Pecheneg attack against the Hungarians. With the help of the relatives of time and considering the two generations of leaders (Levedi and the son of Álmos, Árpád) we may date the story of the Hungarians described by Emperor Constantine at the second half of the ninth century.