Tzovinar (Ծովինար) or Nar (Նար) was the Armenian goddess of water, sea, and rain.Shalian, Artin K. David of Sassoun : the Armenian folk epic in four cycles. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1964. p. xxvi. She was a fierce goddess, who forced the rain to fall from the sky with her fury.

Her name, Tzovinar, means "daughter of the seas" and she is identified as the mother of Sanasar and Baghdasar in Armenian epic tradition.

Name and etymology Her name can be decomposed into two parts: Armenian/Old Armenian tzov 'sea, large body of water', and nar or Nar.YEGANYAN, Larisa. "Du foyer domestique à la naissance du monde: Un pot à sel du XIIIe siècle découvert près d'Ani". In: Revue des Études Arméniennes 32 (2010): 222-223. DOI: 10.2143/REA.32.0.2050521 The word cov is considered by some scholars to be a loanword from Urartian ṣûǝ, meaning '(inland) sea'.. Accessed 19 Feb. 2023. Accessed 19 Feb. 2023.Russell, James R. Armenian and Iranian Studies. Belmont, MA: Armenian Heritage Press, 2004. p. 1122. The second part is speculated to be related to Nara, a Hittite or Hurrian deity.YEGANYAN, Larisa. "Du foyer domestique à la naissance du monde: Un pot à sel du XIIIe siècle découvert près d'Ani". In: Revue des Études Arméniennes 32 (2010): 223. DOI: 10.2143/REA.32.0.2050521

Scholar James R. Russell translates her name as 'Lady of the Lake',RUSSELL, J.R. "Scythians and Avesta in an Armenian Vernacular Paternoster and a Zok Paternoster". In: Le Muséon Vol. 110, 1-2 (1997): 102. DOI: 10.2143/MUS.110.1.525802 from cov ('sea') and nār from Proto-Indo-European ('woman').Russell, James R. Armenian and Iranian Studies. Belmont, MA: Armenian Heritage Press, 2004. pp. 768 (footnote nr. 36), 1122. Larisa Yeganyan translates the name as 'Marine' or 'Nymph of the Sea'.YEGANYAN, Larisa. "Du foyer domestique à la naissance du monde: Un pot à sel du XIIIe siècle découvert près d'Ani". In: Revue des Études Arméniennes 32 (2010): 223. DOI: 10.2143/REA.32.0.2050521 Tsovinar Harutyunyan interprets her name as "the sea", "the spirit of the sea" and "the light of the sea".Harutyunyan, Tsovinar. "The Image of the Cosmogonic Sacrifice in the Armenian Heroic Epic 'Sasna Tsrer'" In: Folk Belief Today. Edited by Mare Kõiva and Kai Vassiljeva. Tartu: Estonian Academy of Sciences; Institute of Estonian Language; Estonian Museum of Literature, 1995. p. 119. .

According to Armen Petrosyan, Covinar, a character in Armenian epic, is also called Covean or Coveal ('Marine'), both deriving from cov 'sea'.Petrosyan, Armen. "Collegiality and Interchange in Armenian Studies". In: Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies 2011, Volume 20: 151.Петросян, Армен Егишевич. "СОССЮРОВСКИЕ АНАГРАММЫ "ПЕСНИ ВАХАГНА"". In: Индоевропейское языкознание и классическая филология, no. 24-1, 2020, p. 184. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sossyurovskie-anagrammy-pesni-vahagna (дата обращения: 17.02.2023). However, Hrach Martirosyan interprets *Covean as 'lightning/thunder goddess of the celestial Purple Sea'.Martirosyan, Hrach (2019). "Traces of Indo-European 'Father Sky, God' in Armenian". In: U. Bläsing, J. Dum-Tragut, T.M. van Lint, (editors). Armenian, Hittite, and Indo-European Studies: A Commemoration Volume for Jos J.S. Weitenberg. Hebrew University Armenian Studies 15. Leuven: Peeters. p. 202.

According to Artin K. Shalian, Dzovinar either means 'a cloudless lightning shaft' or 'sea-born'.Shalian, Artin K. David of Sassoun : the Armenian folk epic in four cycles. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1964. p. 5 (footnote nr. 3).

Role As a goddess Yeganyan associates Tzovinar with the celestial waters or a primordial ocean, where the rain waters gather.YEGANYAN, Larisa. "Du foyer domestique à la naissance du monde: Un pot à sel du XIIIe siècle découvert près d'Ani". In: Revue des Études Arméniennes 32 (2010): 222-223. DOI: 10.2143/REA.32.0.2050521

On the other hand, Armenian folklorist Manuk Abeghian interpreted her as "an angry storm goddess".Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies 1-2 (1984): 108. According to Abeghian's studies, in the role of a storm goddess, she is described as having "fiery eyes". She also dances in the clouds riding on her horse, creating thunderstorms.Petrosyan, Armen. "Armeno-Indian Epic Parallels". In: Journal of Indo-European Studies (JIES). Volume 45, Number 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2017. p. 172.

In epic In the Armenian epic Sasna Cŕer (or Daredevils of Sassoun), a female character named Dzovinar or Covinar (dialectal 'lightning', according to Armen Petrosyan) functions as ancestress of a line of heroes that appear in later portions of the epic:Harutyunyan, Tsovinar. "The Image of the Cosmogonic Sacrifice in the Armenian Heroic Epic 'Sasna Tsrer'" In: Folk Belief Today. Edited by Mare Kõiva and Kai Vassiljeva. Tartu: Estonian Academy of Sciences; Institute of Estonian Language; Estonian Museum of Literature, 1995. p. 119. . by drinking of the spring or Kat'nov haxpür ('Milky Fountain'), she becomes pregnant with heroes Sanasar and Baghdasar.Harutyunyan, Tsovinar. "The Image of the Cosmogonic Sacrifice in the Armenian Heroic Epic 'Sasna Tsrer'" In: Folk Belief Today. Edited by Mare Kõiva and Kai Vassiljeva. Tartu: Estonian Academy of Sciences; Institute of Estonian Language; Estonian Museum of Literature, 1995. pp. 121-122. .Sital, Karapet. Kašti Kaǰer. Caravan Books, 2000. p. 5. .Sargis Haroutyunian. "Armenian Epic Tradition and Kurdish Folklore". In: Iran & the Caucasus 1 (1997): 87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4030741. In another account, Covinar drinks a "milky liquid" that sprouts from a rock in the middle of Lake Van.RUSSEL, J.R. "Scythians and Avesta in an Armenian Vernacular Paternoster and a Zok Paternoster". In: Le Muséon Vol. 110, 1-2 (1997): 102. DOI: 10.2143/MUS.110.1.525802

Parallels Russell sees a parallel between Covinar's impregnation episode with a similar event involving Ossetian character Satanaya, in the Nart sagas.RUSSELL, JAMES R. "Magic Mountains, Milky Seas, Dragon Slayers, and Other Zoroastrian Archetypes". In: Bulletin of the Asia Institute 22 (2008): 59. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24049235.

See also Aramazd Anahit Vahagn Astghik Inara (goddess)

References

External links Armenian Mythology from the Tour Armenia site