High Prince Álmos

High Prince (fejedelem) Álmos (IPA: [a:lmoʃ]) was the legendary father of Árpád, the founder of the Hungarian state. He was probably born around 820, and was leader of the Hungarian tribes from 858 till his death in 895 or 896. His mother was Emese; his father was Ogyek, both of Dentumogeria, Central Asia.

The legends say that "his mother Emese had seen a divine dream of a Turul bird that flew over her and got her with child; she saw her womb as the source of many great kings, but they would multiply in foreign lands". This is given as the explanation for the name Álmos (ie, "The Dreamt One"). Although this may seem unusual compared to Christian stories, it justified the divine origins of the Hungarian leaders.

He strengthened the alliance between the tribal leaders, and he probably led the movement to secede from the Khazar empire. He successfully kept his son Árpád in power, contrary to tribal practices. The raids were widespread, and the tribes successfully settled in Etelköz, where they were able to fight back the Besenyő (Pecheneg) attacks, becoming stronger by them.

His death, according to the legends prophesied by a warning that "he is going to found a great line of emperors, but he must not enter the land of Pannonia", was probably caused by either assassination or human sacrifice. Unfortunately, we do not have enough information on tribal beliefs to explain the real significance of the prophetic legend.

Note that the two legends concerning Álmos' conception and death are reported to us by 13th century (already Christian) scholars in medieval codices, who lived 400 years after the actual life of Álmos, and that both legends show very strong parallels to Christian stories from the Bible. It is possible that, for Álmos' birth, the authors borrowed elements of Mary's conception by the Holy Spirit; and for his death, of Moses' not being allowed to enter Canaan after leading Israel to the Holy Land.

Alternatively, there is a very disputed interpretation saying that these legends correspond to elements of Sumerian mythology, eg. with regard to the Turul bird, which could be seen to correspond to the Sumerian Dugud.