in the 14th century). Both works freely intermingle actual historical events with legend and chivalric tales, so it is impossible to know if Emese is mentioned as legend or as an actual historical personage. In the Gesta Hungarorum ("The Deeds of the Hungarians"), the anonymous author writes "In the year of the Lord 819 Ügek, noble Lord of Scythia descending from the great house of Magog, took in marriage the daughter of Eunedubelia of Dentumoger, Emesu. From her a son was born and given the name Almus. The child was given this divine name for when his mother was pregnant with him there appeared to her a in a dream a bird, and instantly it seemed to her that from her womb a spring began and from her loins spread a great line of kings but they did not propagate in their own lands." The Chronicon Pictum contains the text "Eleud, the son of Ugek by the daughter of Eunodbilia in Scythia had a son, who was named Almus because in a dream of his mother there appeared a bird in the shape of a hawk who impregnated her, and from her womb a fast-flowing stream began to flow, but it was in foreign lands that it grew and propagated. So it happened that from her loins a great line of kings was born." Name Emese is also a feminine Hungarian name. Its meaning is mother or breastfeeder. Emese means "little mother" in ancient Hungarian. It derives from "eme", mother, and the agglutinating "[s]e", which stands for "little". Its root is Finno-Ugric, c.f. Finnish emä, from Proto-Finnic *emä, from Proto-Uralic *emä, and Hungarian anya, from Proto-Uralic *ańa. Cognates of emä include Estonian ema, Northern Sami eapmi (“pistil”), and Nganasan немы (ńemy). See also Hungarian Prehistory Hungarian mythology Sources Given names Hungarian prehistory House of Árpád 9th-century Hungarian people 9th-century Hungarian women