Batraz

Batraz, Batradz, Batyradz, or Pataraz (Ossetian: Батырадз Batyraʒ) is a central character in the North Caucasian myths known as the Nart sagas. The Narts were the central figures of the folklore of peoples of the North Caucasus. Batraz in the Ossetian Nart sagas is son of Khami(t)s (Хæмыц, Xæmyc). Khamis was married to a sea-nymph or water-sprite, in Ossetian variants a daughter (named sometimes as Bisenon of the Bisenta clan) of the Ossetian sea-god Donbettyr and in Circassian versions the frog-like Lady Isp. Whilst at a meeting of the Narts (see ru:Ныхас) the Nart Syrdon (see ru:Сырдон) ridiculed Khamis's wife, who had taken the form of a frog which he put in his pocket. As a result, Khamis's wife left, but before going she breathed (spat?) the embryo of her son upon her husband's back, creating a type of womb-like cyst from which Batraz is later delivered, glowing hot. After being born from his father's back, still on fire, Syrdon throws Batraz into the sea, where he dwells during his childhood. Batraz gained his powers by visiting the god-blacksmith Kurdalægon (Куырдалæгон) – the smith heats Batraz to white heat, then using tongs, throws him into the sea. From then on Batraz's great feats begin – he lives in the sky and is able to summon lightning bolts to aid the Narts. In one variant Batraz demands a huge amount of charcoal from the Narts, then with two dozen bellows the charcoal is heated, and Batraz is heated to white hot, he then jumps into the sea, and next kills many Narts.