ARANY JÁNOS „PREPOSZTMODERN” TÁLTOSAIRÓL
ON JÁNOS ARANY’S “PREPOSTMODERN” TÁLTOS

Summary/Abstract: János Arany’s epic poem The Lost Constitution, with its folkloric inspirations – namely the battle of the witches and the táltos – has received scant attention, although the poetic ingenuity in the work is not a mere parodic element: the táltos’ battle with the witches has deep roots in folklore – extending beyond the confines of Hungarian folklore. So far, this has not attracted much attention either among literary scholars or scholars of folk beliefs. However, in light of recent Hungarian and European research, a preliminary examination of the work is warranted, particularly given Éva Pócs’ conclusion that the conceptual systems of witchcraft and táltosság “are characterised by a shared belief complex: spirit battles”. This finding underscores the importance of acknowledging the genious of János Arany, who gained such insights about the Hungarian and, in a broader sense, European folk beliefs, that took specialists another century to discover. The study will also try to present the topos of the attributes of the Hungarian táltos, garabonciás and witches based on this epic.

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