Bhrgu, Phlegyas, fulgur, Fir Bolg

In PARPOLA, Asko - The N¯asatyas, the Chariot and Proto–Aryan Religion ∗


The etymology of M¯atarí´svan’s name suggests that it goes back to Proto-Aryan times.
The myth has a close parallel in the Greek myth of Prometheus, whose name is likely to
have originally meant ‘robber’, etymologically related to the root math- ‘to steal, rob’ that
is often used in connection with M¯atarí´svan.158 M¯atari´svan’s double association with the
origin of the fire and with the chariot (as Indra’s charioteer) is parallelled by the chariotdriving
A´svins’ association with the fire-drill.159 According to the R˚gveda, M¯atari´svan
brought the fire, the charioteer (of the sacrifice), to Bhr˚gu.160 M¯atari´svan also kindled the
hidden fire for the Bhr˚gus.161 The Bhr˚gus are not only a priestly clan closely associated
with the fire as its discoverers for mankind, but are also mentioned as chariot-builders
in the R˚gveda.162 The word bh´r˚gu- is considered etymologically related with the word
bhárgas- ‘effulgence’, which characterizes Agni when it is born out of power (i.e. the
fire-drill); these words seem to have a cognate in Greek.[163]

163Cf. R
˚
V 1,141,1b devásya bhárgah. sáhaso yáto jáni; Mayrhofer 1996: II,271, where the old comparison
with the Homeric Phlegúai or Phlégues ‘name of a people’ is rejected as unlikely. However, connection with
bhárgas- implies affinity with Greek phlóks (gen. phlogós) ‘flame’ and phlég¯o ‘burn, kindle’, which Pokorny
(1959: I,124) compares with the following gloss of Hesychius: phlegúas = aetòs ksanthós ‘fiery red’.


Could *bhrgavas, fir bolg and phlegyai be linked to some PIE kind of supernatural being or people?