Dagestan is a Russian region located in the North Caucasus, with access to the Caspian Sea. Its area is slightly larger than Slovakia, and its population is about 3 million people.
The southernmost point of Russia is located in Dagestan, at coordinates 41 degrees north latitude. And the region is also home to the oldest still existing city in Russia – Derbent, which is more than 2000 years old. A significant part of the republic is covered with mountains, which means that it is a pretty good place for mountain tourism.
A large number of different peoples live in the republic, and its constitution says that the official languages of the region are the languages of those peoples who live there. Of those languages that have a writing system and are mentioned anywhere, in addition to Russian, it is possible to see Aghul, Avar, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Dargwa, Kumyk, Lezgin, Lak, Nogai, Rutul, Tabasaran, Tat and Tsakhur.
In recent times the region has been recognized for producing some of the world’s best athletes in combat sports and produces the most MMA fighters of any region relative to population. Dagestani born Khabib Nurmagomedov was a UFC Lightweight Champion who retired undefeated.
Let’s talk about it’s anthem. It is quite new since it was adopted in 2016. The anthem is called "the Oath". Its lyrics are a translation into Russian of a part of a poem by the famous Dagestani poet Rasul Gamzatov, and the music was written by one of the Dagestani composers.
The Lyrics of the anthem in English are below as always.
Lyrics:
Down the peaks creeks stream into the seas,
Away the birds fly into the heights.
You are my heart, you are my fountain,
You are my oath, Dagestan.
Chorus:
To you I swear my loyalty,
You’re the air I breathe; you’re the air I sing.
Constellation of families aplenty,
O my little nation, yet so imposing.
Feats of highlanders, kinship, honour,
There you were, and now here you are!
O my Dagestan and my Russia,
Together and forever!
To you I swear my loyalty,
You’re the air I breathe; you’re the air I sing.
Constellation of families aplenty,
O my little nation, yet so imposing.
Dagestan!
Month: November 2022
Categories
Song About a Vietnamese Friend
Vietnam and the Soviet Union were strong allies during the Cold War, from the USSR’s establishment of relations with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1950 through the three Indochina Wars. Vietnam was one of only three countries outside of Europe to join COMECON (the other two being Mongolia and Cuba). The two signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in 1978 and remained close economic and military partners through the years.
Some time ago, while searching the Internet, I found a Soviet-Vietnamese friendship song performed by one of the children’s choirs. In Soviet times there were quite a lot of similar songs dedicated to friendship with different countries, and this is one of them.
Below I will leave the lyrics in English, but since I will have to do the translation myself, please excuse me if it is not perfect.
lyrics:
When Nguyen arrived at the Russian city,
He looked at everything around him With love,
He struggled to find the words to talk to others,
But he remembered the word "friend" first.
Chorus.
Fly, the song, under the sky of our countries,
To Moscow to the north and Hanoi to the south.
You’ll say in Vietnamese: "bạn",
In Russian, I will answer: "friend."
Everyone loved Nguyen like a brother,
They liked him for his seriousness.
With the tenacity of a worker and a soldier,
He studied in Russian from his friends.
Fly, the song, under the sky of our countries,
To Moscow to the north and Hanoi to the south.
You’ll say in Vietnamese: "bạn",
In Russian, I will answer: "friend."
He shared the dream and bread with us together,
He learned the language of his friends perfectly,
But at the train station before returning home,
He forgot all the words in his excitement.
Fly, the song, under the sky of our countries,
To Moscow to the north and Hanoi to the south.
You’ll say in Vietnamese: "bạn",
In Russian, I will answer: "friend."
The Komi Republic is located in the north of the European part of Russia. The region is quite extensive, it is worth mentioning that its area is larger than Germany or Japan. However, due to its location in a zone with a rather harsh climate, the population is not very large, just over 700,000 people.
The Komi peoples, who make up just over 20% of the region’s population, speak the Komi language, which is part of the Uralic, or Finno-Ugric language family. This means that It is in some way distantly related to languages such as Finnish or Hungarian.
The two major groups into which the Komi peoples are divided are the Komi-Zyryans and the Komi-Permyaks. Komi-Zyryans are mostly native to Komi Republic, while a large number of Komi-Permyaks live in the Perm Krai, Region where I live. That’s why at school we sometimes analyzed some parts of their culture, such as myths or folklore.
Most Komi myths are related to shamanism and paganism. The most widespread myths are about the creation of the world as a result of the struggle of two gods, En and Omyol. These 2 deities are regarded as creator-gods in the Komi mythos, who created all life in the world (though it was En who would vivify them). As the Komi were gradually Christianized, the depictions of En & Omyol began to mirror those of God & Satan, in which Omyol would be depicted as the latter due to his efforts to hamper En’s creation process.
Let’s talk about the anthem of the Region.
The original melody was written in 1923, and then was slightly changed to become the anthem in 1994. In 2006, modern versions of the Lyrics appeared in Komi and Russian, and since then the anthem has existed in its modern form. It consists of two verses: one in Komi, and one in Russian. Below I will leave the English Lyrics as usual.
Lyrics:
Far, far away in the North,
The immense taiga* standeth.
There a falcon’s nest resteth,
Joyous chirps heard from the breadth.
Fly away, fearless falcons,
Flutter thy mighty grand wings!
𝄆 Lead Komi land to new paths
To luminous life of bliss!
O North, thou land beloved,
Thy snowy fields deep and wide.
Thy winds wintry and frigid,
Thy taiga lofty and raised.
Brought through the past centuries
By thy mighty falcon wings.
𝄆 O Komi land, thy future
Gloweth merrily and fair!
*Taiga is a type of extensive coniferous forests, which is common in large areas in Russia and some other countries, for example in Canada.