Yakut epic before leaving the Southern homeland

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the text of the tale Altyn Kyok (Golden Cuckoo) of Minusinsk Turks, the ancestors of the modern Khakas people, in comparison with the Yakut olonkho. The study was conducted using the comparative-historical method including a structural analysis, as well as a review of scholarly literature and the descriptive method. The history of the text Altyn Kyok, which is of great interest for comparative studies of Turkic epics, has not yet been studied. It was written down in 1847 by Kastren during his expedition to Siberia, and published in 1859 in a German translation by Schifner. This work established that the main structure of the tale is identical to the plots of archaic variants of the Yakut olonkho about a lonely hero Er Sogotokh. The established similarity firstly proves the development of two separate epic traditions, the Yakut and the Khakas, from the common primary source. Secondly, it provides a clear idea of the basic structure of the epic of the Yakuts before their departure from their southern homeland: about plot structure, motifs and episodes, images, realities and mythological notions, as well as about some verbal means of epic imagery. The text of Altyn Kyok, in our opinion, also shows a stage of development of a separate epic tradition (or the influence of another tradition), as evidenced by structural elements, which are not typical of the Yakut olonkho. As far as the future prospects are concerned, our aim is to investigate the mythological basis of the epic tale Altyn Kyok on a deeper level using ethnographic data, in particular the Udagan cult, to continue the comparative study of the Yakut olonkho in comparison with other texts of Minusinsk Turks, as well as to study linguistic aspects on the original manuscript in the “Tatar” (Khakass) language.

1. Yakut heroic epic. “Mighty Er Sogotokh”. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., Siberian Publishing Company of RAS, 1996, 440 p. (Monuments of folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East). (In Yakut and Rus.)
2. Uvarovsky A. Ya. Olongkho = Olonkho = Olonho = Olongko. Yakutsk, Bichik Publ., 2010, 61 p. (In Yakut, Rus., Turkish and Altai)
3. Samples of the folk literature of the Yakuts. Edited by E. K. Pekarsky. 1911, vol. 1, iss. 5, pp. 401–475. (In Yakut)
4. Yastremsky S. V. Samples of the folk literature of the Yakuts. Leningrad, USSR Academy of Sciences Publ., 1929, 239 p. (In Rus.)
5. Priklonsky V. L. Yakut folk believes and tales (appendix to the ethnographic sketches “Three years in Yakut Region”). In: Zhivaya starina. Edited by V. I. Lamansky. Vol. 2. Saint Petersburg, Printing House “Saint Petersburg Gazette”, 1890, pp. 169–176. (In Rus.)
6. Priklonsky V. L. Yakut folk beliefs and tales (Supplement to the Ethnographic sketches “Three years in Yakut Region”). In: Zhivaya starina. Edited by V. I. Lamansky. Vol. 3. Saint Petersburg, S. N. Khudekov Printing House, 1891, pp. 165–179. (In Rus.)
7. Illarionova T. V. Textology of the olonkho “Mighty Er Sogotokh”: Comparative analysis of different time records. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 2008, 96 p. (In Rus.)
8. Pukhov I. V. Heroic epic of the Altai-Sayan people and Yakut olonkho. Yakuts, Publ. House of the SB RAS, Yakut Branch, 2004, 328 p. (In Rus.)
9. Meletinsky E. M. The origin of the heroic epic: The early forms and the archaic monuments. 2th edition. Moscow, Oriental literature Publ., 2004, 462 p. (In Rus.)
10. Meletinsky E. M. About the earliest heroes types in the epic of Turkic-Mongolian peoples of Siberia. In: Problems of Comparative philology: collection of articles devoted to the 70th anniversary of V. M. Zhirmunsky, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1964, pp. 426–443. (In Rus.)
11. Mainogasheva V. E. Description of variants of the tale “Ai-Huuchin”. In: Khakas heroic epic: Ai-Huuchin. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1997, pp. 461–469. (Monuments of folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East; vol. 16). (In Khakas and Rus.)
12. Mainogasheva V. E. On the Khakas heroic epic and the “Ai-Huuchin”. In: Khakas heroic epic: Ai-Huuchin. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 1997, pp. 461–469. (Monuments of folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East; vol. 16). (In Khakas and Rus.)
13. Gold Cuckoo: bogatyr poem of the Minusin Turks. Transl. and comm. by N. F. Katanov. Saint Petersburg, I. S. Levi Printing House, 1885, 9 p. (Single print). (In Rus.)
14. Valeev R. M., Tuguzhekova V. N. Professor N. F. Katanov and his contribution to the study of ethnography and folklore of Turkic peoples of Central Asia. The New Research of Tuva. 2011, no. 1, pp. 186–238. (In Rus.)
15. Rakhimova S. K. History of the study of turkic epic folklore in Russia. Bulletin of Saint Petersburg University. 2012, iss. 1, pp. 3–10. (In Rus.)
16. Schiefner A. Heldensagen der minussinischen Tataren. Saint Petersburg, Printing House of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1859, 432 p. (In German)
17. Kastren M. A. Works in two volumes: Vol. 2. Journey to Siberia (1845–1849). Edited by S. G. Parkhimovich. Tyumen, Yu. Mandrika Publ., 1999, 352 p. (In Rus.)
18. Khaan Djargystai: olonkho. Recording by A. I. Khudyakov, comp. by V. V. Illarionov. Yakutsk, Alaas Publ., 2016, 230 p. (In Yakut)
19. Olonkho of Djulei. Editor N. I. Popova. Yakutsk, IHRISN SB RAS Publ., 2013, 266 p. (Samples of the folk literature of the Yakuts, collected by E. K. Pekarsky). (In Yakut)
20. Teploukhov-Timofeev I. G. Stubborn Kulun Kullustur: olonkho. Yakutsk, Yakut Publ. House, 1958, 254 p. (In Yakut)
21. Olonkho of Srednekolymsk. Compiled by V. V. Illarionov, T. V. Illarionova. Yakutsk, Bichik Publ., 2016, 280 p. (Sakha booturs: in 21 vol. Vol. 18). (In Yakut)
22. Dolgan folklore. Compiled by P. E. Efremov. Novosibirsk, Publ. House of the Institute of archaeology and ethnography, Siberian Branch of the RAS, 2000, 448 p. (Monuments of folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East; vol. 19). (In Dolgan and Rus.)
23. Zakharov T. V. Ala Bulkun bogatyr. Yakutsk, Alaas Publ., 2018, 320 p. (In Yakut and Rus.)
24. Karataev S. N. Suuleldjin Bootur. Editor I. E. Alekseev. Yakutsk, Tsumori Press Publ., 2011, 111 p. (In Yakut)
25. Petrov S. V. Ogo Djulakh bogatyr: olonkho. Yakutsk, NEFU Publishing House, 2012, 144 p. (In Yakut)
26. Orosin K. G. Nurgun Bootur the Swift: olonkho. Yakutsk, Gosizdat YaASSR Publ., 1947, 410 p. (In Yakut and Rus.)