Vahagn’s Birth - Ancient Armenian Song

Vocals and arrangement by Farya Faraji, many thanks to Anet Gharibian for providing the pronunciation. The melody isn’t mine, they’re melodic motifs native to the region of the Armenian Highlands and often found in many folk songs of the region. Vahagn was an ancient Armenian deity associated with fire, war and thunder in the native Armenian polytheistic faith. He is often called Վիշապաքաղ (Vishabakagh), which means Dragon-Slayer. Vahagn has an Indo-Iranian equivalent called Verethragna. The lyrics are in Classical Armenian or Old Armenian, the oldest attested form of the language which begins in the 5th century A.D. They are some of the only remnants of pre-Christian Armenian language and religious belief, preserved thanks to the efforts of Movses Khorenatsi, an Armenian historian from Late Antiquity. Khorenatsi is regarded as the father of Armenian history and the Armenian equivalent to Herodotus, and he claimed to be a disciple of Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet. This song was coll