დალი კლდეზე მშობიარობს
Dali Gives Birth in the Crags

Summary/Abstract: The figure of the goddess Dali (often addressed as “Dali of the Crags”) is regarded as the personification of kindness and beauty in the Svan folklore and beliefs. In her nature and behavior we can trace how the ways and stages of the development are shaped. To see Dali from a distance (imaginational vision) was perceived by lucky hunters as a sign that the hunting would be always successful. However, the hunter was strictly forbidden to tell anybody about this secret, otherwise the hunter’s death would be inevitable. There are also such renderings where Dali teaches hunting to her chosen one, instructs and gives advice as how to behave, where to go for hunting. It is obvious that the sexual relation is excluded at this stage, and on the hunter’s side too only reverence and veneration are manifested in relation to Dali. However, the goddess is close to the earthly way of life. Though it was pure relation but still she has love affair with a hunter. And at the next stage, Dali becomes the sweetheart of her chosen hunter. It is just from here that for the hunter a new stage of development, a communion with divinity starts. Dali constantly shows mercy upon him, fulfills all his wishes, and his family is doing well, he is successful in every sphere, the beginning and the end of the prosperity is seen but any breach of these conditions (Dali warns the hunter in advance not to tell anybody about their relationship and other things) results in his death. In such case Dali is very severe, she can’t be merciful. It is a fact that Dali always returns a kindness. She has the power of perceiving in things but in some texts sensuality prevails; naturally, this version is an addition of the following period. It is from this viewpoint that presented for the analysis the perkhuli (round-dance) song, “Dali gives birth in the crags” is interesting. A baby was dropped down from the high cliff, and a wolf snatched up the baby but the hunter Mepisa shot the wolf. The newborn child that was gifted with speech ability from the very birth, shouted from the foothill and let his mother know that his savior was the hunter Mepisa. The goddess offered the hunter to make a choice. She might grant him a flock every day, or jackals and turs (mountain goats) in September, or her sexual favors. The hunter timidly responded that he won’t dare to sleep with her and he set his choice on ten wild goats. Dali sent him the goats among which there was one with golden horn. The hunter targeted to the one with the golden horn but the bullet recoiled from the beast and hit the hunter’s forehead. After thorough analysis of such finale, the folklorist, E.Virsaladze put the question, as to why Dali got furious with the hunter. It turned out that the hunter had shot a bullet to a tur with a golden horn that was the animal form of the goddess.

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