| Grigor Narekatsi |
 (951-1003) Grikor Narekatsi's name comes from the village Narek, where he was born, on the southern shores of Lake Van. (He is often referred to as Narek). He was educated by his father, Bishop Khosrov, and his uncle, the famous scholar Ananias, at the monastery of Narek. He later became the outstanding teacher at the monastery, where he spent his entire saintly life. He has been called an angel in a human body. His work was revered by theologians, mystics, and the general population, who thought the prayers in his “Book of Lamentations”, had healing powers or served as talismans against evil. Copies of the poems were put under pillows of the sick, and buried with the dead. Narek's first work was "A Commentary on the Songs of Solomon”, written in 977. This was followed by a historical work. His poetry marks the beginning of the first renaissance in Armenian letters. This renaissance preceded the European Renaissance by several hundred years. His “Book of Lamentations”, a series of conversations with God, contains 95 conversations or confessions, with very rich and varied diction. In this short work Narek uses 6,962 different words, according to Varak Arakelyan, a contemporary Armenian Narek scholar. (The Old Testament used 5642, the New Testament used 4800, the poems of Homer 9000, and the works of Shakespeare 15000 words.) Much of Narek's vocabulary consists of new words which he coined or combined himself and which have been incorporated into the language since his time. |