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Here at Language Log we know our Ossetes and have been learning much about Scythians (see "Selected readings"), so it is good to have this new (forthcoming) book by Richard Foltz: 

The Ossetes: Modern-Day Scythians of the Caucasus
New York / London: I. B. Tauris / Bloomsbury, 24 February 2022

Publisher's description:

The Ossetes, a small nation inhabiting two adjacent states in the central Caucasus, are the last remaining linguistic and cultural descendants of the ancient nomadic Scythians who dominated the Eurasian steppe from the Balkans to Mongolia for well over one thousand years. A nominally Christian nation speaking a language distantly related to Persian, the Ossetes have inherited much of the culture of the medieval Alans who brought equestrian culture to Europe. They have preserved a rich oral literature through the epic of the Narts, a body of heroic legends that shares much in common with the Persian Book of Kings and other works of Indo-European mythology. This is the first book devoted to the little-known history and culture of the Ossetes to appear in any Western language. Charting Ossetian history from Antiquity to today, it will be a vital contribution to the fields of Iranian, Caucasian, Post-Soviet and Indo-European Studies.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgements

Historical Timeline

A Note on Transcriptions

Introduction: The Ossetes: Caucasians, Iranians, or Both?

1. The Scythians: Mounted Archers of the Steppes

2. From Sarmatians to Alans: An Iranian Element in the History of Europe

3. The Nart Epic: A Neglected Treasure of Indo-European Mythology

4. The Ossetes and Russia: A Special Relationship

5. Religion and National Identity: The Uatsdin

6. South Ossetia: A Fragile Independence

7. Life in Ossetia Today

Appendix: A Popular Ossetian Love Song

Bibliography

Index

In the grand sweep of Eurasian history for the past four millennia, Iranian peoples have often been overlooked, and groups such as the Sogdians and Khotanese who died out after the medieval period are barely known today — though making a gradual comeback thanks to the labors of dedicated philologists, historians of religion, and other specialists.  Yet it was these same Iranian peoples who were often drivers of commerce, culture, and civilization.  They were, as I am fond of calling them, Kulturvermittlers par excellence.  Consequently, I welcome works such as Richard Foltz's The Ossetes that will enable the premodern Iranian peoples to be better known to the general public.

 

Selected readings

• "The dissemination of iron and the spread of languages" (11/5/20)
• "Know your Narts: cattle rearing and cattle raiding" (6/6/20)
• "Know your Ossetians" (2/17/20)
• "Blue-Green Iranian 'Danube'" (10/26/19)
• "Sword out of the stone" (8/9/08) — and see especially this comment
• "Of reindeer and Old Sinitic reconstructions" (12/23/18)
• "Horses, soma, riddles, magi, and animal style art in southern China" (11/11/19)
• "Of armaments and Old Sinitic reconstructions, part 6" (12/23/17)
• "Of horse riding and Old Sinitic reconstructions" (4/21/19)
• "Of jackal and hide and Old Sinitic reconstruction" (12/16/18)
• "Indo-European religion, Scythian philosophy, and the date of Zoroaster: a linguistic quibble" (10/9/20) — with a bibliography of numerous relevant previous posts
• "Trefoils across Eurasia: the importance of archeology for historical linguistics, part 4" (10/11/20)
• "Headless men with face on chest" (9/28/20)
• "'Skin' and 'hide' ('pelt') in Old Sinitic and Proto-Indo-European" (11/7/20)
• "Of armaments and Old Sinitic reconstructions, part 6" (12/23/17) — particularly pertinent, and also draws on art history as well as archeology
• "'Horse Master in IE and in Sinitic" (11/9/19)
• "Ashkenazi and Scythians" (7/13/21)
• "'The old man at the pass loses his horse'" (5/2/20)
• "Tattoos as a means of communication" (9/1/12)
• "The importance of archeology for historical linguistics" (5/1/20)
• "The importance of archeology for historical linguistics, part 2" (5/11/20)
• C. Scott Littleton, "Were Some of the Xinjiang Mummies 'Epi-Scythians'? An Excursus in Trans-Eurasian Folklore and Mythology." In Victor H. Mair, The Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Peoples of Eastern Central Asia (Washington D.C. and Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Man and the University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1998), vol. 2, pp. 746-766.
• C. Scott Littleton and Linda A. Malcor, From Scythia to Camelot: A Radical Reassessment of the Legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the Holy Grail (New York and London: Garland, 1994; rev. pb. 2000). In the British journal, Religion, 28.3 (July, 1998), 294-300, I [VHM] wrote a review in which I pointed out that the celebrated motif of a mighty arm rising up out of the water holding aloft the hero's sword can also be found in a medieval Chinese tale from Dunhuang. That review is available electronically from ScienceDirect, if your library subscribes to it. Otherwise, I think this version on the Web is a fairly faithful copy.

July 25, 2021 @ 7:00 am · Filed by Victor Mair under Announcements, Language and archeology, Language and history, Language and literature, Language and religion

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