The Image of the Supreme god of the Yakut Pantheon of Deities in the Olonkho epic: semantic signs of statics and dynamics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2025.2.15Keywords:
olonkho; Ürüng Ayıı Toyon; Yakut folklore; Yakut language; supreme deity; epic tradition; mythological imageAbstract
The article examines the issue of identifying one of the most complex figures in terms of origin within the Yakut pantheon of deities — the image of Ürüng Ayıı Toyon. The most coherent conceptions of this figure have been preserved in the texts of the archaic epic Olonkho. The study reviews over one hundred epic texts, beginning from the last quarter of the 19th to the early 20th century. This approach is motivated by the aim to determine the most stable features of the image of Ürüng Ayıı Toyon in the Olonkho texts.
As a result of the analysis of the descriptive static features of the image, semantic markers related to the proper name, epithet, portrait description, social status, attributes, personality traits, locus, and genealogy of the examined figure were identified.
The analysis of the character’s roles in narrative action makes it possible to record stable traits that demonstrate the functional orientation of the supreme deity — creation, organization of life, assistance, granting of divine water, governance of destinies, and punishment. A semantic connection is noted between the image under study and the symbolic sequence of the chain “milky gift (living water) the size of an egg — horse — young eagle — world pillar”.
It is concluded that the group of semantic markers may reflect temporally diverse rudiments that emerged during different historical periods.
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Satanar M. T. The Image of the Supreme god of the Yakut Pantheon of Deities in the Olonkho epic: semantic signs of statics and dynamics. New Research of Tuva, 2025, no. 2, pp. 258-279. (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2025.2.15
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Author Biography
Marianna T. Satanar, M. K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University
Candidate of Philology, Senior Researcher, Sector “Olonkho Studies”, Olonkho Research Institute, M. K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University.
Postal address: 2 Lenina Ave., 677000, Russia, Yakutsk.
E-mail: satanar68@mail.ru
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