events’ development.
The Yakut Olonkho is an epic of a very ancient origin. The stories originate from the times when the Yakut people’s ancestors lived on their former homeland and closely communicated with the ancestors of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples living in the Altay and Sayan regions. This is proven by the fact that there are common features in the Olonkho plot and the other people’s epic plots, as well as some similarities in the language structure and vocabulary. There are general features in the heroes’ names (khan – khan, mergen, botur, etc.). The word kuo in the main heroine’s name that the modern Yakut people had forgotten about serves as a permanent element of the name in its modern form.
In the other Turkic people’s epics a similar word ko means ‘beautiful woman’. In Olonkho the story-tellers sometimes add the particle alip to the name of the evil character, thereby changing its meaning to ‘an evil sorcerer’ (Alyp Khara). Alp and alyp are known among the Turkic peoples as words denoting ‘a hero’. Consequently, the Turkic alp (alyp) is represented in Olonkho as an evil enemy. In Olonkho there is such a notion as yotugen (yotuget) tyordyo. It is a place where all the Under World creatures live, the synonym of the Under World, the place, where these creatures bring their captives from the human tribes and torture them. Meanwhile, the ancient Turks used the word otiikan (or utiikan) to denote highlands in modern Northern Mongolia. Clearly, the notions alyp and yotugen entered the Olonkho narratives as echoes of past battles between the ancient Turkic and Mongolian peoples. There are many similarities in the verse structure and also the character of the descriptive passages in different episodes of the Olonkho and the Altay and Sayan people’s epics.
These similarities help to provide an approximate estimate of the timeline when the first Olonkho piece was created. The similar features of Olonkho and the epic of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples of Siberia could only have occurred in the period when there was direct contact between the ancient Yakut people and the ancestors of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples. By the time they reached modern Yakutia, due to the great distances and roadless terrain, the Yakut people had completely lost their links with their former neighbours. Thus, the ancient epic featuring these tell-tale links or connections in language and legend became the only remaining evidence of the earlier contact and interaction.
An Olonkho hero
As noted above, from the sixth to the eighth centuries, the Kurykans – the Yakut people’s ancestors – were in contact with the ancient Turkic peoples. The Yakut and Buryat legends show that the last Mongolian tribe with whom the Yakut had any contact (apparently in the North Baikal region) was the Buryat. This might have taken place some time before the fifteenth century. Possibly, it was during this time that the first Olonkho pieces begin to appear. On the other hand, given that the Olonkho has certain features that connect it with ancient Turks, it is quite possible that they originated at the end of the first millennium, approximately during the period from the eighth to the ninth centuries. According to its structure, the Yakut epic belongs to the later tribal period. There are some significant features, which prove that the Yakut epic belongs to the tribal period. These are: the Olonkho mythology, reflecting the patriarchal and tribal relations; the remnants of animistic views; the plots (battles with creatures); the remnants of the general tribal division of hunted goods (remaining in some pieces of Olonkho), and exogamous marriage.
Facts such as the ancient peoples using bows and arrows both as combat weapons and as working tools (during hunting) also prove the above statement. What proves conclusively that it is indeed an epic of the later tribal period, the time of ‘military democracy’ among the Turkic and Mongolian peoples of Siberia, is the type of cattle-breeding activity of the heroes – both developed forms of cattle-breeding, but especially horse-breeding predominates. A hero is always featured on a horse, the horse being his best friend and help-mate. His rival, on the contrary, is usually depicted on a bull in a sleigh team or astride a horrible creature. Fishing and hunting are in the background, they play a secondary role (the hero hunts only at the beginning of his life). Tribal society is practically divided into heroes (tribal aristocrats and chiefs) and their servants – house-workers that are considered to be lesser members of the family and society generally. The hero is the chief of his entire tribe, and, of course, the younger heroes obey him. There are some aspects of a fledgling division of labour; there is a blacksmith and smithy. Blacksmiths make ironwork tools and combat weapons. A well-developed and strict religious system also proves that the Olonkho is an epic of the later tribal period. There is an ‘Olympus’ – the home of all the good deities, led by Urung Aar Toyon (The Great White Lord). Evil Under World, or Hades, (the world of dual) evil chtonich creatures, led by Arsan Dolai, are opposed to the good deities. His people, Abaahy, do evil and harass others. Apart from the Upper World (the sky) and the Under World, there is a Middle World, i.e. the earth itself. The Middle World is inhabited by people, as well as by spirits of different objects, called echi. Every living being, every object in Olonkho has its echi spirit. Aan Alakhchyn Khotun, the goddess and the spirit of Earth plays a significant role. She lives in the tribal sacred tree called Aar-Luuk-Mas (‘Tree of Life’). The goddess of Earth helps the hero and his people, requests other gods to help the people, blesses the hero leaving on a long journey, and sustains his strength, by letting him drink milk from her breasts. During his journey the hero needs the sympathy of echi spirits of different locations – mountain ranges, rivers and seas. He has to give them gifts, so that they willingly let him pass through their territory, without causing him any trouble.
Olonkho describes a person’s life starting from his birth. Once the human being is born, he starts to organize his life, overcoming various obstacles that he meets along the way; the creators of Olonkho see these obstacles as creatures that pester the human being’s beautiful country. They destroy and demolish all that lives in this country. The human must clear the country of these creatures and create a rich, peaceful and happy life for all. These are the ultimate goals set before the first human; that is why he should be an unusual, wonderful, destined hero, sent specially from above:
To defend the sunny
Uluses,
To prevent the death of
People.
In all the Olonkho pieces the first man is a hero.
The hero and his tribe are heaven-born. That is why the hero’s tribe is called ‘Aiyy kin’ (the deity’s relatives). ‘Aiyy kin’ is the name of the Yakut ancestors, the creators of Olonkho. According to his important role, the hero is depicted not only as strong, but also as a handsome and well-built man.
The person’s physical appearance in Olonkho reflects his internal state. That is why the hero, Nurgun Botur the Swift:
Is as slender as a spear,
As swift as an arrow,
He was the best among all,
The strongest among all,
The most handsome among all,
And the bravest among all.
Nobody would stand a chance
In the hero world.
But the hero is, first of all, a mighty person, leading deathly battle. Therefore, he is also depicted as a majestic and threatening hero:
He is as big as a cliff,
His face is menacing,
His forehead is protruding,
Sharp
