Kontakion

Kontakion or Kondakion (Greek: κοντάκιον, kontakion) Slavonic: Кондакъ, Kondakə is a form of hymn performed in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The word derives from the Greek word κόνταξ, kontax, meaning pole, specifically the pole around which a scroll is wound. The term describes the way in which the words on a scroll unfurl as it is read. The word was originally used to describe an early Byzantine poetic form, whose origins date back certainly as far as the 6th century AD, and possibly earlier.