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Table of Contents
Nahuatl/Aztec
Nahuatl language, spoken primarily in central Mexico, is part of the Uto-Aztecan family with variants of the language predating the Aztecs. This is a short videofor a brief guide on the language.
The term Aztec emerged from nineteenth century scholars to define the Nahuatl-speaking group in Central Mexico, “Aztec is actually an eponym derived from Aztlán, meaning “Place of the White Heron“, a legendary homeland of seven desert tribes, called Chichimecs, who miraculously emerged from caves located at the heart of a sacred mountain far to the north of the Valley of México. They enjoyed a peaceful existence of hunting and fishing until they were divinely inspired to fulfill a destiny of conquest by their patron gods Mixcoatl and Huitzilopochtli” (The Beginnings of the Aztec)
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Helpful Related Pages:
Gods and Symbols
The Florentine Codex by Bernardino de Sahagun Click Here
“Offering of Flowers” provides a Spanish outsider's perspective on what festival dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec deity of war. Flowers, or xochitl are offered. According to Gordon R. Wasson, flowers serve as a common motif in Nahuatl poetry (306). As Wasson writes in their article, “ A peculiar trait of Nahuatl poetry is the preoccupation of the poets with 'flowers': they write incessantly about flowers but they fail to distinguish the kinds of blossoms, though Nahuatl was rich in botanical terminology” (305). This reflects the flowers in Bernardino's “Offering of Flowers':
“I offer flowers. I sow flower seeds. I plant flowers. I assemble flowers. I pick flowers. I pick different flowers. I remove flowers. I seek flowers. I offer flowers. I arrange flowers. I thread a flower. I string flowers. I make flowers. I form them to be extending, uneven, rounded, round bouquets of flowers” (SaF 35).
Flowers were pivotal in Aztec culture as they were used as offerings to both deities and royalty, such as Moctezuma (“Aztec Flowers”).
Works Cited:
“Aztec Flowers.” Aztecs and Tenochtitlan, https://aztecsandtenochtitlan.com/aztec-civilisation/aztec-flowers/
De Sahagun, Bernardino. “An Encyclopedia of 16th-Century Indigenous Mexico.” Digital Florentine Codex, External Link
Famsi. “John Pohl’s Mesoamerica - the Aztecs Pg. 1.” FAMSI, www.famsi.org/research/pohl/pohl_aztec1.html. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
Marhenke, Randa. “Maya Codices - Table of Contents.” FAMSI, www.famsi.org/mayawriting/codices/marhenke.html. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
Read, Kay Almere, and Jason J. González. Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America. Oxford University Press, 2000.
“Nahuatl: Language of the Aztecs.” YouTube, LangShack, 19 Feb. 2020, youtu.be/9_gp1I5Njig?si=r7UBubyuDIRWqlRb.
Wasson, R. Gordon. “THE ROLE OF ‘FLOWERS’ IN NAHUATL CULTURE: A SUGGESTED INTERPRETATION.” Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University, vol. 23, no. 8, 1973, pp. 305–24. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41762283. Accessed 3 Feb. 2025.
