Hungarian mythology

[4] The most important sources are: Amongst the modern religions, Hungarian mythology is closest to the cosmology of Uralic peoples.

[6] In Hungarian mythology, it was believed that the human soul (Lélek) is immortal, and life was seen as a peregrination to Heaven (Menny).

The manók (elves / goblins) and the törpék (dwarfs) are foxy beings living in woods or under the ground.

(Bába means "midwife" in modern Hungarian, and originally they were wise old women, later equated with witches as Christianity became widespread.)

The Underworld is the home of Ördög, creator of everything bad for humans: for example, annoying animals such as fleas, lice, and flies.

It is uncertain whether the underworld was regarded as a place of punishment or not, since the naming of it as Pokol (Hell) developed after Christianization.

[7] Research about the ancient Hungarian religion has led to the conclusion that it was a form of Tengrism, the ethnic Turko-Mongol religion which was probably picked up from the Turkic peoples the Magyar came into contact with, but was influenced by Hindus and Buddhists whom the Huns and Avars had encountered and converted to during their westward migration.

A taltos was selected by fate; their slight abnormalities at birth (neonatal teeth, caulbearer, white hair, and additional fingers) were believed to be the sign of a divine order.

Thus, they interpreted dreams, mediated between humans and spirits, cured and removed curses, and had an ability to find and bring back lost souls.

Comparative methods can reveal that some motifs of folktales, fragments of songs or rhymes of folk customs preserved pieces of the old belief system.