Melyekek

Melyekek is a fictional ethnonym used in Hungarian-language speculative fiction and role-playing materials to describe a mountain-dwelling people. The term is not attested in real-world ethnography and is treated as a fictional construct within existing works.

In the fiction, the name is sometimes linked to the Hungarian word mely, meaning "which," but there is no canonical derivation; variations exist between authors. The melyekek are typically portrayed as enigmatic and ancient, shaping their own myths and memory through storytelling and ritual.

They are depicted as custodians of knowledge, navigators, and stewards of ancient routes, with a tradition of oral poetry, mapmaking, and metalworking. Their social organization generally centers on councils of elders, with kinship ties and apprenticeship systems guiding craft and knowledge transmission.

Geographically, melyekek are placed in highland valleys or cliffside settlements, often described as difficult to access and environmentally demanding. Their economies are imagined as based on mining, long-distance trade, and shepherding, while interactions with neighboring groups range from peaceful exchange to guarded borders and occasional conflict, depending on the narrative.

In fictional universes, melyekek appear across novels, games, and folklore-inspired media; the portrayal varies widely, with some works emphasizing mythic motifs and others presenting more nuanced social structures. As a concept, information about melyekek derives from the fictional texts in which they appear and is not a reference to a real historical community.