A manual for teaching Yakut folklore in Russian-language schools. Yakut folklore as a means of educating preschool children

Folklore is the basis of Yakut musical art

In loving memory of my husband, friend
Zakharov Timofeevich Tyungyuryadov
dedicated to

Before the Great October Socialist Revolution, the Yakut people did not have their own professional art. Among the indigenous population there was not a single person with higher or secondary musical education, not a single professional composer, musician, or artist. Yakut musical folklore has not been recorded or studied. However, this does not give reason to believe that the Yakuts did not have their own musical culture at all. Extraordinarily original and diverse, it was carefully transmitted in the form of oral folk art- olonkho, dances, songs.
In terms of genre, Olonkho should be classified as a major musical-epic work, which is a kind of dialogical (along with singing, the use of spoken dialogue) unaccompanied opera. The creators of this vast epic tale about the exploits of the heroes of the Middle World are called olonkhosuts.

Olonkhosut is a highly gifted artist who came from the people, must have an extraordinary memory, the gift of musical and poetic improvisation, a bright voice and dramatic talent, since he is the sole performer of large-scale works telling about the struggle of heroes against evil, for a peaceful, abundant, equal life for all . Although the basic melodies of an olonkho are relatively stable, each olonkhosut develops its own unique style of performance and creates many new variations of melodies.
Olonkho, as a piece of music, has not yet become a subject scientific research. The Yakut branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences has collected several hundred texts recorded from the best olonkhosuts.
Some musical notations in pre-revolutionary publications were fragmentary (episodic) in nature. Three songs from “olonkho” (melodies without text), taken from rollers based on the phonographic recordings of Y. Strozhetsky, were notated by A.P. Maslov and published in 1908. Essentially, these are conventional recordings of Yakut songs of the ametric style in general. They are preceded by the title: “Spells of the “olonkho” of Yakut shamans.” But, as you know, shamanic rituals and olonkho are not the same thing, they cannot be mixed. A.P. Maslov also encloses a short article “On the tunes of Yakut songs”, in which he tries to give an analysis of the given melodies, concluding: “... the melodic singing of the Yakuts is at a low level of development and, perhaps, is only experiencing the “era of quarts” . Apparently, this pre-revolutionary musicologist could not assume anything different in the musical culture of the “foreigners” - the Yakuts, hence the categorical assessment.
Serious study of Yakut music began only after the Great October Socialist Revolution, thanks to the efforts of Soviet composers and musicologists.
The greatest expert and researcher of the musical culture of the peoples of the USSR, Professor V. M. Belyaev wrote: “The Yakut people were distinguished in the past by their exceptional musicality, ... in the absence of writing, they existed, however, developed creativity and their own musical culture... in terms of content, the epic-fairy-tale and song creativity of the Yakuts is extremely rich and diverse.” He is the author of the first scientific work devoted to musical folklore “Yakut folk songs”, published in 1937. The article was written based on an analysis of the collection of Yakut songs by F.G. Kornilov and his recordings of Olonkho melodies about the hero Ala Murgun.

In 1940, composer N.I. Peiko and musicologist I.A. Steinman published an article “On the Music of the Yakuts,” where they cite and analyze several fragments from the olonkho as musical examples. Moscow musicians were sent by the Department of Arts under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR to Yakutsk to collect folklore materials. In the summer of 1939, in Yakutsk and in the Megino-Kangalassky region, they recorded Yakut melodies. On the stage of the collective farm club they saw a theatrical performance of olonkho performed by amateur artists, including folk singer, member of the Union of Writers of the USSR N.I. Stepanov (hero of the Middle World).
N.I. Peiko recorded several olonkho melodies, and for the first time published fragments of the tunes of new characters - the white udaganka, the tree fairy and the bride of the hero of the Middle World.
N. Peiko and I. Steinman were the first to point out the presence of an extended second interval and a stable tritone in Yakut melodic music. Using the example of the melody of Baba Yaga's song (according to the text, this is the song of the old woman Simehsin), the authors correctly noted the unstable nature of the Yakut mode. At the beginning, the melody “represents a continuous build-up, achieved by a gradual expansion of the melodic step in an upward movement and intense rhythmic development" Then “an unexpected decline,” and again “a gradual expansion of the melodic step, combined with an increase in register,” begins. However, the researchers considered this unusual way mode formation is not a pattern, but explained the phenomenon by the “archaic disorder” of singing. This is not true.
The pattern of unstable mode formation in the Yakut song was confirmed by composer G. A. Grigoryan (1919-1962). “Often a Yakut singer,” he writes, “starting a song in harmony with a narrow range, as it progresses, he “opens” the mode, expanding it to a large range.” G. A. Grigoryan designated it with the term “opening fret”. The theory of mode formation of the Yakut tune, set forth by G. A. Grigoryan, is confirmed by folklorist researcher, candidate of art history E. E. Alekseev, he writes that its more complete and accurate definition is not “unfolding”, but “evolving”.
Composer-ethnographer S. A. Kondratyev gives him the following scientific justification: “Usually the upper sounds of the mode show a tendency to increase, and the lower sound either decreases during the performance or remains unchanged,” this is “a form of mode formation firmly rooted in Yakut singing.” . He called these modes “modulating,” “for their original tones often disappear into new ones.”

M.N. devoted many years to recordings of Yakut folk music. Zhirkov. The original melodies of the Olonkho, sung to him by the Olonkhosut U.G. Nokhsorov, formed the basis of the opera “Nyurgun Bootur”, and were used in other works. In the archives of M. N. Zhirkov, stored in the Ministry of Culture of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, there are 32 records made by him, many of which have been processed. In 1947, in the first issue of the series “The Heroic Epic of the Yakuts”, prepared by the Research Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, five musical notes of the olonkho by M. N. Zhirkov were published, the melodies of songs: Nyurgun the Swift, the sister of the hero of the Lower World, the black udaganka Ytyk Khahaidaan, the sister of the hero of the Middle World, the white Udagan woman Aiyy Umsuur, the duet of the heroes of the Middle World, Yuchyugey Yukeideen and Oruluos Dokhsun, as well as the hero of the Lower World, Wat Usutaaki.
Several versions of the songs of the two main characters of the Olonkho - Kyys Kyskyydaan and Ayyy Umsuur - were notated in full and with great care for the first time by S. A. Kondratyev, including three with text in the Yakut language. It is characteristic that all three songs of Kyys Kyskyydaan, which have a single musical leitmotif and were recorded from the voices of different performers (S. A. Zverev, U. G. Nokhsorov and K. E. Kononov), differ significantly in their melodic structure. This is one of the performing features of olonkho, as a complex musical epic work.
Descriptive and narrative parts (olonkho) are recited in recitative patter, and the own text of all the characters and their dialogues are conveyed in songs.

Olonkho P. A. Oyunsky “Nyurgun Bootur the Swift”, according to our calculations, consists of 36,768 poetic lines, including: recitatives - 23,259 and songs - 13,509. Of course, the given example is not a certain standard and a mandatory ratio for all olonkhos, although in the two previously published ones, recitatives also made up no more than two-thirds, and songs - more than one-third of the total text.
However, from all of the above, one should not conclude that olonkho is primarily a textual-recitative work, which many pre-revolutionary researchers were inclined to believe, considering it a Yakut fairy tale.

True, some even then noted the song nature of olonkho. “Individual roles in a fairy tale,” wrote academician Middendorf in 1843 in his travel notes, “are pronounced by the narrator in a singsong voice, so I was very surprised when, waking up in the dark dark night, I heard sharp singing from the neighboring yurt, which woke me up. To my question: “What does this mean?”, they answered me: “This is an old man telling a fairy tale... Here is a girl singing... here is a horse...”.
The famous Russian folklorist revolutionary Karakozovo I.A. Khudyakov, who served exile in Verkhoyansk in 1867-1874, wrote that “The Yakut fairy tale (olonkho - G.K.) is the embryo of folk opera. All prayers (algysy - G.K.), almost all conversations, every long speech, so often mentioned in fairy tales, are not told, but sung by the storyteller, which greatly enlivens the story.” In fact, olonkho is the song creativity of olonkhosuts, in which songs occupy most of the time.
For example, the duration of a complete performance of the olonkho “Nyurgun Bootur the Swift” by P. A. Oyunsky (based on the average calculation of 40 poetic lines of recitative and 12 lines of a song per minute according to the recording) would be 28 hours 27 minutes, and the singing sounds - 18 hours 46 minutes, recitatives 9 hours 41 minutes.
Whatever the merits of the literary poetic material, the image and character of the heroes are mainly created by the performing skill of the olonkhosut, the strength of his voice, and knowledge of various melodies. In Yakut folk art, a tune without any instrumental or choral accompaniment is a completely finished musical work. Olonkhosut creates melodies corresponding to the character and image of each character, and in each work he tries to find new ones, different from others, while naturally preserving existing traditions... However, many olonkhosuts in different olonkhos use the same melodies, slightly changing them according to the nature of the image.

Olonkho is usually performed by the best singers who are fluent in the national style “dyeretii yrya”, which was born along with the formation of the independent Yakut people, as a unique form of song creativity. He constantly improved, reaching his highest peak in oral folk art - from toyuk to olonkho.
The first musical notation of the dyeretiya yrya was made by the Russian scientist A. F. Middendorf in 1843 during his trip to Siberia. The Soviet folklorist S.A. Kondratyev called songs of this type ametric, that is, not subordinate to a clearly defined meter, in contrast to another, metrical style of singing - degeren yrya, the tunes of which fit into a certain time signature. Ametric songs are freely improvisational in nature, and predominantly epic in nature. They are characterized by an abundance of kylysakhs - specific guttural overtones and unique decorations.
Some olonkho songs are performed in another style of natsial singing - degeren yrya, the musical notation of which was first published in 1896 in the ethnographic monograph by V. L. Seroshovsky “Yakuts”. They differ from ametric songs in a wider range, developed melody, modal and rhythmic certainty. This style is characteristic of lyrical, patriotic, labor, comic, and dance songs. Based on the metrical style of degeren yrya, the following images are created in olonkho: the guy-herdsman Soruk Bollur, the cow-slave old woman Simehsin, the light udagankas, the sister of the hero of the Lower World. At its core, this singing is a further development, or rather a special form of development of the original dyeretiya yrya.
Diereti yrya and degeren yrya are interconnected and enrich each other. Toyuksuts sing in an ametric style, the best of whom become olonkhosuts. The latter, to create their monumental epic-heroic works of olonkho, use both styles of singing to the same extent, thereby achieving melodic diversity.

There is also another unique national type of Yakut singing - tagalai yryata (palate song). After pronouncing the first syllable of an untranslatable word, the performer interrupts the singing with a sharp inhalation, touching the palate with the tip of his tongue, and then, exhaling, lowers his tongue and finishes the word. At the same time, the palatal clicking of the tongue can be clearly heard, which gives a unique national flavor. Songs of this style with the words “һyt-tya, һyt-tya” are very popular among the people. Olonkhosuts, using palatal songs, conveyed melodies characterizing mythical birds.
Another type of Yakut singing is also known - “khabarga yryata” (throat singing), based on wheezing exclamations “hr-hr”. However, it has not yet been performed by olonkho, so it can be assumed that it is not used in these works.

How many melodies are there in olonkho? Pre-revolutionary researchers tried to answer this question. I. A. Khudyakov wrote: “...the motives of the songs (olonkho - G.K.) are mostly monotonous; experts count them to only twenty.” Soviet researchers V.M. Belyaev, N.I. Peiko, I.A. Shteinman, S.A. Kondratyev, who studied olonkho, do not give an answer, since they did not have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the full recording of the melodies.
However, today we, having many records, including the record of the olonkho “Nyurgun Bootur”, cannot accurately answer this question. The number of olonkho melodies depends on the number created images and from the olonkhosut’s ability to decorate each of them. You can count the number of melodies in individual olonkhos, but it cannot be taken as a criterion for determining the number of melodies in an olonkho in general, as in a musical genre.

Olonkho P. A. Oyunsky “Nyurgun Bootur the Swift” consists of 72 main and secondary images, of which G. G. Kolesov created 34 in the recording version. He performed 131 songs, including: Nyurgun Bootur - 23, Yuryun Walana and Wat Usutaaki - 15 each, Tuyaryma Kuo and Aiyy Umsuur - 8 each, Kyys Nyurgun - 6, Ogo Tulaayakha, Wat Usumu and Timir Dyybyrdaana - 5 each, Kyun Dzhiribine and Kyys Kyskyydaan - 4 each. Repeating them as the action progresses. G. Kolesov tried to vary and change the melody while maintaining its basis (this is how olonkho-suts create images of their heroes). The exact number of melodies he created can be established only by notating all the songs presented in the recording and studying each one separately.
However, in any olonkho everything depends on the improvisational talent, experience and vocal abilities of the olonkhosut. And although all the main characters are endowed with relatively stable musical formulas-characteristics - a certain timbre of sound, rhythm, tessitura (register) - the performers modify the leitmotifs, vary them with their individual data, and correlate them with local artistic traditions district. This happens on almost every replay. Only the fundamental leitmotifs that make up the main musical material olonkho.
They were created and improved over the centuries by the skill of many generations of national singers. Having received recognition from the people, they became traditional synonymous melodies and have survived to this day. The main images are preserved in almost all olonkho, only the names of the heroes and other characters, situations and plots of the work change. The presence of melodies of a leitmotif character confirms our conclusion that olonkho has long been considered a major musical epic work, the pinnacle of the singing art of the Yakut people.

Olonkhosuts of the southern regions of the republic use 30 well-known melodies of a leitmotiv nature. How many of them there were in the past is unknown, since they were not recorded before. According to the stories of listeners and eyewitnesses, the northern regions have their own traditions - many mixed images, different leitmotifs. However, limit total Olonkho melodies with the number of leitmotifs would be wrong, because it would impoverish our understanding of Olonkho music. Moreover, the olonkhosut uses many melodies to create the olonkho, in own performance. And the leitmotif characteristics, in turn, have countless diversity.
In this work it is not possible to give musical examples of all leitmotifs and give their analysis. This is the subject of special research. Let us dwell on the general concepts of leitmotif characteristics.

Olonkho leitmotifs mostly consist of three parts. The first part of the song begins with a chorus that has no semantic content. It is repeated several times, and sometimes even in the middle or at the end of the song. Each main image has its own specific chorus, which, as it were, precedes the leitmotif of the image, helps its creation, giving a musical and semantic coloring. In Evenki (Tungus) tales, where all monologues are also sung, there is a mandatory chorus - a refrain, which is the name of the clan, tribe or the character’s own name. This is a musical and poetic formula of the image, similar to the olonkho chant.
The second part is the main melody (with variations), a statement of the content of the song. The third part is the conclusion, often ending with an initial chorus or two or three words: blessings, gratitude, good wishes, oaths. The songs vary in length. For example, Nyurgun's song from the second part (song) of olonkho P. A. Oyunsky consists of 224 poetic lines. It would take 56 minutes to perform.

Olonkho leitmotifs can be divided into five groups.
The first, characterizing the inhabitants of the Middle World, makes up almost half of all olonkho leitmotifs. Among them, the heroic ones stand out: the songs of the main character, the powerful hero, are sung in the bass tessitura, the second hero of the Middle World - in the baritone, the young hero - in the tenor, the female hero - in the contralto, as well as songs - the call of the heroic horse and algys (prayer) - the good wishes of a hero when parting (farewell) with his homeland.
The songs of the heroes of the Middle World begin with the chant: “de-buo!” “Kor-da bu!” The first is used not only in olonkho, it is the beginning of all toyuks. Therefore, songs like “dyeretii yrya” are often called “dye-buo” songs, which, figuratively translated into Russian, means: “Well, there you go!”
The songs of the forefathers - the father and mother of the bride and the heroes - are performed very slowly, sedately, as if conveying the age and solidity of the characters. The same chant “de-buo” is also present in the bride’s song. A special leitmotif characterizes the cry of the bride languishing in the Lower World. It is expressed in the words: (Yy-yy, yyybyn!" (interjection imitative of crying).

There are several variants, the leitmotif of the comedic image of the slave-guy Soruk Bollur, performed in the style of degeren yrya. The chant is the words “oulaata, oulaata”. Soruk Bollur always sings at a fast pace, as if choking and “swallowing” the words, which emphasizes the comic fussiness of the image. It should be noted that the Soruk Bollur chant is also found among other peoples. For example, the main motif of the Kyrgyz heroic epic"Manas". Some olonkho depict the image of the folk sage Seerken Sesen, who is characterized by the osuokhai dance melody “cheyiҥ-cheyiҥ, chekiyder” in the style of degeren yrya.

The motive of the song of another comedic image of the slave-old woman Simehsin, which is sometimes introduced instead of Soruk Bollur, is contradictory. In some olonkhosuts, the leitmotif approaches the main motive of the black udaganka, the sister of the hero of the Lower World (a musical example is given in the analysis of the article by V. M. Belyaev). In such cases, the chant is the words: “Ihilikpin-tagylykpyn.” Others give this image an independent leitmotif and give it almost the same fussy character as Soruk Bolluru, with the chant: “Aanaibyn-tuonaibyn!” (“How sad I am!”). This split image is observed when Simehsin performs in olonkho cameo role and sings only one song.
But usually old lady Simehsin sings two songs that have their own leitmotifs. The first is joyful, in which she reports the news about the arrival of the groom of the hero of the Middle World, starting with the words: “Alaatan-ulaatan!” The leitmotif is close in character to the Soruk Bollur tune, but at the same time is significantly different melodically. Second leitmotif Simehsin with chorus:
“Aanaibyn-tuonaibyn” contains a tragicomic element. The bride, leaving her home with her groom, is told a fiction about the tragic death of her father and mother, about a fire in her home. Rarely are two Simehsins (two ancestors) introduced into the olonkho, but the leitmotifs remain the same.

The leitmotifs of the inhabitants of the Lower World are not numerous, but melodically and rhythmically they are very characteristic. The participation of a powerful hero - the titan of the Lower World usually begins with the chant "Buya-buya, buyaka." However, in his, as well as in the songs of other heroes of the Lower World, there are different chants: “Daya-daya, dayaka”, “Aart-diaaly, aart-tatay”, etc., the melodies of the leitmotifs vary in the course of events. In Evenki legends, the chorus of the permanent enemies of the taiga hunters, the Avakhs (in Yakut, “abaasy”), are the same words: “Dyngdy-dyngdy” (the word “dyng” is formed from imitation of the sound of metal).

The leitmotiv character is the dying song of the hero of the Lower World with the chant: “Abytaybyn-khalakhaybyn.” Big interest The researchers were attracted by the song of the sister of the hero of the Lower World - the black Udagan woman with the chant: “Ihilikpin-tagylykpyn!”, “Iedeenikpin-kuudaanykpyn!” Leitmotifs negative images Olonkho - characters of the Lower World - are completely different in character and melodic structure from the leitmotifs of the inhabitants of the Middle World. They are characterized by a wide range, leaps at large intervals (septima, tritone), emphasized angularity in the melody, instead of melismatic decorations - extra-tonal exclamations, interjections, a sharp, clear rhythmic pattern, fast tempos.

The leitmotifs of the inhabitants of the Upper World are close to the tunes of Aiyy Aimak. The songs of Yuryun Aar Toyon, just like those of the ancestor - the father of the Middle World, are sung widely, sedately, in at a slow pace, but are more militant and strong-willed in nature. The chant: “Bo-bo, boyoko,” and sometimes “Die-buo.” The heavenly messengers, the servants of Yuryun Aar Toyon Dieseldyuta have a special leitmotif with the chant: “Neey-buyakka.”

The leitmotif of the sister of the hero of the Middle World, the heavenly Udagan (Aiyy Umsuur), one of the positive images of the Olonkho with the chants “Doom-eni-doom” or “Die buo!” is original.
The leitmotif of Aiyysyt - the goddess of childbirth, the patroness of the female gender - is sung with the chant: “Che duo-chel baraan!” and is distinguished by great warmth and tenderness.

The leitmotifs of the Tungus Olonkho characters differ significantly from those listed above in the nature of their execution.
Tunguska characters are episodic, present only in some olonkhos, but their leitmotifs are very unique, original, based on the characteristic intonations of the tunes of northern peoples, but differ from the leitmotifs of Tunguska legends. The most characteristic are three leitmotifs: the powerful Tunguska hero - the shaman Ardyamaan-Dyardyaman, the Tunguska hero who pretends to be a freezing poor man to kidnap a girl, and the old Tunguska woman. The chant for everyone is the words: “O-lee-te, o-lee-te! Ataskan! They are sung abruptly and with a lisp. Olonkhosuts vary these leitmotifs in different ways, but the best performer was considered to be D. M. Govorov, the author of the olonkho “The Stumbling Muldyu the Strong,” but no recordings of his voice were made.

The leitmotif of the blacksmith Kytai Bakhsy is close to the tunes of Abaasy Aimak, despite the fact that this character is not negative, he is an assistant to the heroes of the Middle World. His chant: “Boo-ya, boo-ya! Buyaka! Dayaka!

Finally, the last group: leitmotifs of inspired images of animals, birds and nature.
In Olonkho, heroic horses, mythical animals and birds are endowed with intelligence and human speech - Mek Tugui, Eksyokyu, Khardai, Kytalyk (Siberian Crane), Khara Suor (black raven) and others. They all have their own individual characteristics and special leitmotifs. Olonkhosuts always endowed their images with interesting melodies, onomatopoeic techniques, and special epithets. I. A. Khudyakov, who listened to the best olonkhosuts a hundred years ago in the city of Verkhoyansk, writes: “The songs of the ravens begin: “Surt-sart surdurgas, duk-dah dogunas, ikkel-takhal”; songs of the birds: “chilim-roan, chilim-roan! - chachynnyar.”
Unfortunately, most of the melodies of animals and birds have been forgotten, and no recordings have survived. Modern olonkhosuts avoid performing these images traditionally, but sing in the usual style of dyeretii yrya. G. G. Kolesov performs the part of the heroic horse Dyuluskhan Subuya Syuryuk in tenor tessitura to the motif of the hero of the Middle World without any special decorations. The heroic horse “talks” (sings) with the owner in two cases: as an adviser, warning the hero about an accident, and when competing in a race with the horse of the hero of the Lower World. The leitmotif is the same with the chant: “An-nya-kha-an-nyaha” (imitation of the neighing of a horse).
Among the images of mythical animals and birds, the leitmotifs are: exekyu (like an eagle), kytalyk (siberian crane) and black raven (auxiliary images of olonkho). The chant of the kytalyk: “Kyn-kyykyy”, for the rest - as indicated above in the quotation from the work of I. A. Khudyakov. All these chants are performed in folk style tagalai yryata (palate song), onomatopoeic to the cry of an eagle, the singing of a kytalyk, and the croaking of a raven.

The leitmotif of the spirit - the Mistress of the earth, nesting in the sacred Aal Duub tree, Aan Alahchyn Khotun is closer to the leitmotifs of Aiyy aimag and begins with the chant: “Kyykyr-haakyr” or “Die-buo!” The leitmotif of Bayanai, the god of hunting and fishing, is rarely performed. It is sung to motives close to the tunes of Aiyy aimag. Chorus: “Haa-haa-haa! Huk die!

The main motives we have listed do not exhaust all the leitmotifs of the olonkho. We do not know the leitmotifs of Dyilga Toyon, Arsan Duolaya, the images of which the Olonkhosuts sing in different ways. Apparently, they were forgotten over time due to the fact that these characters are rarely represented in the olonkho. We do not show the leitmotifs of the guy Suodalba, half-man, half-devil - the positive hero of Olonkho. Perhaps its leitmotif has not been established, since each performer interprets the image in his own way. Some auxiliary images of olonkho do not have stable leitmotifs. Or maybe they are not known to us?

The presence of a large number of leitmotifs is, first of all, explained by the fact that olonkho is a product of diverse characters and multifaceted images. According to folklorist researchers, in ancient times attempts were sometimes made to perform olonkho collectively, in which the songs of individual heroes were assigned to different olonkhosuts, and elements of theatrical action were introduced into the performance.
Olonkho was the first to be staged in the Yakut language. Wonderful person Bariet Bergen", "The hero Kulantay riding the red horse Kulun", in 1906-1907. in Yakutsk. Folk singers and famous olonkhosuts acted as performers.
The monumentality of images and vivid imagery characteristic of Olonkho, the dramatic action inherent in them, the extremely developed art of impersonation of olonkhosuts in the performing and singing manner - all this served as an important starting point in the formation of a national theatrical culture. And it is no coincidence that it was olonkho that formed the basis of the first Yakut opera.

For the development of Yakut musical art great importance there was a drama-olonkho by P. A. Oyunsky “Tuyaryma Kuo” based on the plot of his olonkho “Nyurgun Bootur”. Original: the handwritten version was staged on the stage of the Yakut Theater on February 16, 1928. Although, as can be seen from the author’s review, the singers did not cope with the roles with the exception of the performer Nyurgun Bootur, this work is the first stage embodiment of olonkho on the stage of the national theater.
A second attempt was made after the final edition of Tuyarim Kuo in 1937, with partial musical accompaniment. M. N. Zhirkov’s music for this production was subsequently used in the opera “Nyurgun Bootur”. It is based on authentic melodies sung by Olonkhosut U. G. Nokhsorov.

It should be noted that the performers of the first Olonkho musical drama “Tuyaryma Kuo” M.V. Zhirkov (Nyurgun Bootur), A.I. Egorova and A.F. Novgorodova (Tuyaryma Kuo), V.A. Savvin (Wot Usutaaki) and others became part of the main cast of performers of the opera “Nyurgun Bootur”.
The melodies of the main style of olonkho dyeretii yrya were the first to be symphonized (recreated in orchestral sound) by Honored Artist of the RSFSR N. I. Peiko in Yakut professional music. It is difficult to overestimate his contribution to the development of the musical art of Yakutia.
The tunes of the Yakut olonkho, unique in their melody, mode formation, and rhythms, have enormous potential. Olonkho melodies are a fertile source for the development of Yakut professional art. If the music of the opera “Nyurgun Bootur” is created entirely from olonkho melodies, then thanks to creative comprehension national folklore people have created and are creating Yakut musical works of large forms - operas, ballets, symphonies.

Galina Mikhailovna Krivoshapko,
Ch. symphony orchestra conductor
Yakut television and radio;
honorable and folk art. YASSR, honored art. RSFSR,
honorable artist of the RSFSR

LESSON ON THE TOPIC “YAKUT FOLKLORE”.

The talented and hardworking Yakut people, like other peoples, have a rich and unique folklore. Yakut folklore has various genres that reflect the characteristics of the historical development of the people.

This is a rich mythology, fairy tales, the heroic epic-Olonkho, ritual poetry, folk songs, historical stories and legends, proverbs and sayings, riddles, tongue twisters-chabyrgakhs.

Researchers believe that the ancient ancestors of the Yakuts lived in the south of Siberia, in the Baikal region, and from there, gradually being pushed back, moved north and reached the banks of the Lena River. Here they met with the indigenous inhabitants of the North - the ancient tribes of the modern Evens, Evenks, and Yukaghirs. These were taiga hunters and reindeer herders. Sea hunters.

And the ancient Yakuts, who called themselves Uraankhai - Sakha, belonged to the group of Turkic peoples. They were cattle breeders and in their new homeland they taught northern tribes raise horses and cattle, and from them they learned animal husbandry and hunting.

But the Yakuts did not forget their distant warm south; its description was preserved in folklore.

Ritual poetry.

Ritual poetry arose when ancient people explained the world around them in their own way, natural phenomena. According to their concepts, every mountain, lake, river, valley, as well as every plant, grass, and any object had its own special spirit - ichchi. In the sky lived good deities - aiys, who ruled the world. In the Lower World lived evil creatures - abaas, who caused evil to people.

Ancient people treated the upper deities and spirits -ichchi with admiration, tried to earn their favor and not anger them. Therefore, various rituals were performed in their honor with sacrifices and praise in their honor. These praises or prayers were called spell songs - algys. These songs, based on the characteristics of each ritual, are divided into different types. Among them, birth songs, wedding songs, and calendar songs in honor of various celebrations stand out.

The most complete in terms of rituals and algys is the summer holiday Ysyakh. According to the calendar ideas of the ancient Yakuts, June is New Year. At ancient Ysyakhs, the White shaman offered an incantation song to the upper deities - aiyy and spirits - ichchi of nature. The shaman tried to come into contact with them and asked the deities for the organized holiday of universal grace for those gathered, fertility for cattle and horses.

Literature.

"Yakut folk songs"

Yakutsk book publishing house. 1988

Puzzles.

In the old days, the Yakuts had a custom of amulet, when some things were not called by their proper names. In such cases, people used “secret” speech. Hunters especially used this language. They thought that spirits and animals understood human language, therefore, in order not to reveal their hunting secrets, they used “secret” speech. According to scientists, the riddles are close in their images to these words of the amulet. The main thing in riddles is figurative allegory in the form of an intricate question. A person who solved riddles practiced ingenuity and quick intelligence; it was a kind of mental gymnastics.

Literature.

"Yakut mysteries." Compiled by S. P. Oyunsky.

Yakut book publishing house 1975

Who is the most valuable person in the world? (Mother)

They say the golden cup floats on its own. (Sun)

There is a golden bucket without a bottom (Sun)

In the middle of the alas there is a golden pillar (Sun)

Burns, burns, but does not burn out (Sun)

More expensive than gold, more alive than sable. (Human)

They say that white flowers bloom at night but wither in the morning.

They say that one shepherd grazes thousands of cows. (Moon and stars)

They say the silk sash hung down. (Rainbow)

They say there is an old Mumbling Talker who knows all languages.

They say he is invisible and very fierce. (Freezing)

They say the cauldron is boiling in the forest. (Anthill)

Without seeds, but it grows. (Hair)

And in severe frost the ice hole does not freeze. (Eyes)

The two twins always walk together. (Legs)

They say that a Russian girl sits at the table as the eldest in the family.

(Samovar)

They say that a one-eyed old woman from the southern side comes here and embroiders patterns. (Needle)

There is, they say, something that is smaller than a berry, but stronger than a bull. (Bullet)

Proverbs and sayings.

Proverbs are short folk sayings that summarize life experience people in the form of complete judgments, conclusions and teachings.

Proverbs are short sayings that figuratively define an object or phenomenon.

The main feature of proverbs is their brevity.

Literature.

“Collection of Yakut proverbs and sayings” Compiled by N.V. Emelyanov.

Yakut book publishing house 1965

Conscience is not a gray horse; you can’t borrow it from anyone.

The seed loves fertilized soil, the people love a kind person.

The most valuable thing for a deer is a fawn, for a gun - gunpowder, for a person - health.

You don't find a good friend quickly.

A bird with its color, a man with his mind.

Don’t covet someone else’s, you’ll lose yours.

A good name and great fame have swift wings.

The bad and the good go together in an embrace.

A child who does not cry is not fed.

Don’t be proud that you’re rich, don’t be humiliated that you’re poor.

The hearth of the poor is warm, the hearth of the rich is cold.

Advice from an old man brings happiness.

A kind word is more valuable than wealth.

It's easy to break, difficult to do.

A stupid man with no eyes and no ears.

Even fire makes a family with children happy.

A manual for teaching Yakut folklore in Russian-language schools

Introduction

Folklore called oral folk art. From the name itself it is clear that any folklore work is created by the whole people. It is not for nothing that the word “folklore” comes from the English words “folk” - “people” and “lore” - “wisdom”, that is, folk wisdom. The source of folklore was folk life. It has absorbed a variety of folklore genres. The folklore of every nation is peculiar and unique. Its origin, existence, form, content, language, artistic means have their own national identity, their own unique specificity. Over the course of many centuries, people have created truly unique folklore, characterized by deep content and great genre diversity. The powerful force of artistic generalization embodied in it the history of the people, their experience and traditions, national character, ideals, ideological and aesthetic concepts. Folklore plays an important role in the development of a person’s inner world. The genres of Yakut folklore are vast and attractive. The enchanting sounds of khomus, funny tongue twisters, folk songs, osuokhai, and toyuk are of great interest to children of all ages. Mastering the genres of folklore leads to the development of the child as an individual who loves his folk culture and appreciates the customs and traditions of other cultures.

Relevance: We live in interesting and difficult times, when we begin to look at many things differently, rediscover and re-evaluate many things. First of all, this refers to our past, which most people know superficially. To turn to your origins means to restore the connection of times, to return lost values. Folklore will help with this, because its content is the life of the people, human experience, the spiritual world of man, his thoughts, feelings, experiences.

An inexhaustible source of traditional native culture makes it possible to find various ways to optimize the process of educational and developmental education for schoolchildren, helps solve the problems of moral and aesthetic education, and develop the creative abilities of the younger generation.

Problem: A lot has been written on the methods of teaching Yakut folklore; you can find good literature, manuals, programs, but these works are mainly aimed at Yakut-speaking children in Yakut schools. And for teaching Russian-speaking children, we can say that there are no literatures at all; if there are, they are superficial and do not provide the essence, originality, and brightness of Yakut folklore. And it is formed big question, how to teach Russian-speaking children Yakut folklore, how to convey the enchanting sounds of khomus, funny tongue twisters, folk songs, osuokhai, toyuk, olonkho so that the child absorbs the beauty of Yakut folklore.

While working at Home children's creativity» Kysyl-Syr village, asking the above questions, developed its own methods and techniques for teaching small and song forms of Yakut folklore. Based on knowledge of the teachings and skills of their students, as well as their results in various competitions, in my opinion, these methods most effectively convey the richness of Yakut folklore.

Comparative study of small forms of Yakut folklore.

(Proverbs, sayings, riddles, tongue twisters)

Riddles, proverbs, and sayings contain unique material for enriching speech, since works of oral folk art, by their nature, are most designed for pronunciation. Accuracy, laconicism and accuracy of the folk word - all this helps to develop figurative, expressive, and rich intonation skills in schoolchildren.

Folk literature helps to understand the essence of fiction, turn to language, national culture native speaker, bring the listener and reader closer to understanding the spiritual world.

Goal of the work - using the principle of comparison and contrast, to generate interest in Yakut folklore

Job objectives:

1. Identify the features of the themes of small forms of Russian and Yakut folklore;

2. Be able to find and identify proverbs, sayings and riddles in the text;

3. Carry out a comparative analysis of funds artistic expression proverbs, sayings and riddles;

Proverbs and sayings can serve as meaningful material for literary development. Proverbs and sayings of the Russian and Yakut peoples are typologically similar in ideological and thematic content and poetic structure. Russian proverbs, like Yakut ones, consist of one or two sentences, correlated according to the principle of coordinating and subordinating connections. In the richest proverbial arsenal of the Yakuts there are many proverbs and sayings that completely coincide both in content and form with Russian proverbs and sayings. For example:

At the same time, there are such small forms in Yakut folklore that reflect the national identity and imaginative thinking of the Yakuts. For example:

The proverb (өс nomo5o) is close in its external and some internal features to the proverb (өс xohooо). The saying also occupies a prominent place in Yakut folk art. It prepares the minds of listeners for future bold comparisons and teaches them to search for the hidden meaning of words. By comparing Yakut and Russian proverbs and sayings, we learn to note the varying degrees of similarity of these individual genres: in some cases we can talk about ideological and thematic similarity, in others - about the synonymy of proverbs that differ in plot from each other. For example:

Riddles occupy a special place in oral folk art. As a unique genre of folklore, riddles have great educational and educational value. Images of riddles help to understand the surrounding reality, natural and social phenomena, develop imagination and observation, resourcefulness and ingenuity.

The variety of riddle forms and their syntactic structure. In some cases, the riddle is based on a description of the appearance of an object, on a comparison of two objects. And this is found in Russian and Yakut folklore. For example:

Very often used in Russian and Yakut riddles metaphorical comparison:

It is important to pay attention to riddles based on the principle of negative comparison, as well as personification:

The essence and peculiarity of sayings was more difficult for teachers to assimilate than proverbs. In order to include sayings in the general system of works of oral folk art, to form a more complete idea of ​​the uniqueness of this genre, I used the technique of comparison. For example:

Such a scheme, in my opinion, helps the pupil to more accurately and clearly see the similarities and differences between the works of two small genres of oral folk art. In the course of explaining the differences between proverbs and sayings, students had a clear idea of ​​the features of these genres. As can be seen from the examples, students receive a visual understanding of the national identity of the proverbs and sayings of each nation.

The comparative and comparative method of teaching small forms of Russian and Yakut folklore contributes to a more durable and conscious assimilation national identity every literature. It contributes to their mastery of spiritual values, the development of artistic and aesthetic taste and creative potential of schoolchildren, and the formation of their moral positions. In this regard, the role of folklore is significant, familiarity with which develops the cognitive activity of schoolchildren, improves the culture of thinking, contributes to their deep understanding of the origins of their native culture and understanding of respect for other cultures.

on teaching the Yakut song culture of the Sakha people

The living traditions of folk musical culture, the international language of music, understandable to people of any nationality, contribute to the rapprochement and mutual understanding of people. In addition, the enchanting sounds of folk instruments, taking their roots from time immemorial and synchronized with the sounds of nature at the very beginning of their inception, are capable of influencing the psycho-emotional state of a person. As our ancestors said, double his joy, disperse, dispel sadness, heal from illnesses. And the ability to play any musical instrument contributes to the development of a person’s intellectual potential and harmonizes the psycho-somatic state of the body. It is especially important to introduce children to folk music at an early age. school age. Since ethno music develops in children artistic perception the surrounding world, awakens creative imagination, promotes self-identification in society, awareness of oneself as part of the cultural and historical layer of any nationality, a unique individual, strengthens the sense of pride in one’s people and tolerance. Propaganda of traditional music should be carried out on a par with the propaganda of classical music, since ethnic music and folklore are precisely the foundations on which, already at the genetic level, the foundations of a person’s connection with his people, history and culture are based, his entire spiritual component is based.

The problem: there is a shortage methodological literature in teaching Russian-speaking children Yakut folklore.

Goal: to identify effective techniques and methods for teaching children the song culture of the Sakha people.

Identify the features of song culture

Apply different teaching methods

Introducing children to the song culture of the Sakha people

The song folklore of the Sakha people is rich not only in genre, but also in theme and unique manner of performance.

To familiarize children with folklore genre Toyuk and folk songs, I propose to start with the question What are “toyuk” and “folk songs”? This will give children the opportunity to engage in partial search work. Thus, we will generate children’s interest in studying further, learning more about “toyuk” and “folk songs”

Training methods:

visual method (the teacher himself must show how to perform it)

Visually auditory (recordings of folk performers such as A. Badaeva, U. Noskhorov, S. Zverev, etc.)

Analysis of the melody (using a musical instrument (piano, button accordion) to analyze the entire melody note by note).

Parsing the text (I suggest starting with simple phrases since the Yakut language itself is very difficult for Russian-speaking children to pronounce and some words cannot be translated)

Melody + text (on a musical instrument, syllable by syllable, combine all the material by notes)

To consolidate, staged work is required, and all children must be in the roles. This could be excerpts from children's Olonkho or plot and production works invented by you.

Osuokhai in ancient times was danced only on Ysyakh, it was of a ritual nature, the worship of the sun and deities. Osuokhai. Types of Osuokhai singing differ in tempo, melody, rhythm and theme.

Introduction (Osuo-osuo-osuokai, this seems to call, calls people to dance. Serves as a signal to start the dance)

Basics

Climax (Kotutuu)

Conclusion

Varieties of osuokhaya:

Buluuluu osuokai is an extended unison melody.

Ammalyy osuokhai is rhythmic, sung in 2 lines, the movements are significantly different from other osuokhai

Nayakhalyy osuokhay's peculiarity lies in the rhythm, because this type was previously sung only by residents of the northern uluses (northern Yakuts). And you can feel the fusion of two cultures - the Sakha people and the northern peoples.

Ysyakh osuokhaya

Ilin energy osuokhai is more rhythmic and dynamic than the dances of the Vilyui ulus group.

To teach Russian-speaking children how to osokhai, I propose to teach it in stages, comparing it with Russian round dance, using a visual teaching method. This will enable the correct formation of skills in performing osuokhaya.

Stage 1 - analysis of movements

Stage 2 - analysis of the melody

Stage 3 - text analysis

Analysis of movements for example:

Analysis of melodies for example:

A comparative, visual, step-by-step teaching method, in my opinion, gives the most effective result in the formation of correct knowledge and skills in teaching the song folklore of the Sakha people.

Irina Belaya
Yakut folklore as a means of educating preschool children

From the first years of life, a child must love his native land, ethnic culture with his heart and soul, and experience a sense of national pride, as they say. "to take root in one's native land". Preschool age, according to psychologists, is the best period for the formation of love for one’s small homeland.

Yakutskaya the land is rich in forests and rivers. You look at the beauty of the forests and you can’t get enough of it, you drink sweet spring water and you don’t get drunk, and the fields, like a generous tablecloth, are endowed with vegetables.

Among Villages and towns spread across forests and fields. Roads and paths ran from village to village, from city to city. They invite you to take the road and beckon you to walk and drive through the beautiful Yakut region.

In this world there are many ways to travel to near and far lands, and among known since time immemorial - a journey through fairy tales and various wonderful stories - a path that allows you to follow unknown roads behind a magic ball, which must be thrown to the ground and say: “Roll, roll, ball, unwind silver thread, a long, clear path along the ground.”

The ball will roll through forests and fields, through mountains, through villages and cities, and will lead you straight to wherever you want. The best guide on earth fairy tale hero than the magic ball and its silver thread, perhaps, cannot be found. So, we throw a magic ball in front of us and hit the road...

The feeling of the Motherland begins in a child with the relationship in the family, the closest people - mother, father, grandmother, grandfather. These are the roots that connect him with his home and immediate environment.

The feeling of the Motherland begins with admiration for what evokes a response in his soul. And, although many impressions are not yet deeply realized by him, but, passed through childhood perception, they play a huge role in the development of the personality of the future patriot.

U Yakut people nature is an important factor education. In childhood, children learn about the plant and animal counterpart of man, about Ducks as the creators of the world and the receptacle of the human soul, about Deer as a patron god, about the fact that trees give their energy to good people and take it away from bad people.

Raising love and careful attitude to animals, birds, trees, rivers we use myths, legends, traditions, fairy tales.

Our region has a unique culture. Wonderful legends and fairy tales Yakut people always carry a charge of special warmth, kindness, and morality. Each Yakut The fairy tale is a wonderful lesson in generosity, decency, and kindness for the little citizen.

Yakut fairy tales attract children's audiences with their optimism and knowledge. This is one of the reasons that people do not forget their fairy tales, do not part with them, they have a moral impact on the development of children.

Yakut legends and traditions played a big role in the emergence of literature, various types art and have not lost their significance to this day. They are the source education children have feelings of love for native land. Works Yakut folk poetry play an important role in the spiritual life of the people, the formation of public consciousness, philosophical, aesthetic ideas about nature and social life, V raising not only children, but also their parents.

As long as the people are alive, they will develop and folklore, and all types of arts. Folklore, covering in its numerous genres all aspects of our multifaceted life, is one of the forms of social consciousness, an oral form folk history, the memory of the life of past ancestors, a unique folk philosophy.

True folklore always aimed at promoting goodness, beauty, focused on the formation of such a person who would direct all his energy and will to the defense of his homeland, peaceful life and international friendship between peoples, the victory of good over evil, and the achievement of social harmony.

Past experience contained in folklore, serves as an excellent and inexhaustible source in preparing the person of the future.

Yakut folklore- an integral part of creativity Yakut people. For many centuries this is the main means of education.

Children's folklore in all its genre richness (lullabies, songs, nurseries, jokes, chants, sayings, rhymes, teasers) is used in working with children preschool age at training Yakut language.

Children's folklore works with their cheerful, perky poems, word game, vivid imagery contributes to in-depth mastery of the riches of the native language and the development of speech. Lullabies occupy a special place.

More common type Yakut lullabies - songs with impromptu text:

The little child is sleeping

Father went to town

He will sell a squirrel or a hare,

He'll bring bagels and gingerbread

The little baby will eat-

It will become big.

In lullabies, the first seeds of poetry for babies are born - their melodies. Elements of imitation of the sounds of nature instill in children speech skills and develop an ear for music.

Yakut lullabies are excellent examples of oral folk art. Through them, the child’s primary vocabulary is formed, without which knowledge of the world around him is impossible, and his thinking develops.

Therefore, when teaching children preschool age Yakut vernacular language is used folklore, which begins with an exploration of lullaby poetry.

The bearers of Yakut folklore - performers and storytellers - refer to traditions, legends and myths by the general name hepseen (kepseh, seen) - story (tradition). If a fairy tale was perceived as fiction, then traditions, legends and myths were perceived as reality. The Yakut proverb says “kepseen ebileeh, olonkho omunnaakh, yrya dor5oonnooh” - “a story (tradition) - with an addition, olonkho - with an exaggeration, a song - with consonance.” This is how folk wisdom aptly characterizes the difference between folklore genres.

Since the end of the 17th century. travelers and researchers turn to the legends and myths of the Yakuts as reliable evidence of their ethnic history, lifestyle and way of life. Western European merchant Isbrandt Ides, who traveled on behalf of the Russian government in 1692 - 1695. to China through Southern Siberia and Dauria, for the first time expressed a hypothesis about the southern origin of the Yakuts, described their life and the spring kumys holiday. Philip Stralenberg, a Swedish officer who spent thirteen years in Siberian exile and established the relationship of the Yakut language with the language of the Turkic peoples, was familiar with the legends about Er Sogotokh Elley and Tygyn. The first detailed materials about historical legends were left by the participants of the Second Kamchatka (Great Northern) Expedition G. Miller, I. Fisher and Ya.I. Lindenau. G. Miller calls the Yakut traditions a “historical story”: “This story is, truly, not without reason.” Essay by Ya.I. Lindenau, where the legends about the ancestors and ancestors of the Yakuts are retold in more detail, was published 240 years later in the Magadan book publishing house.

Historical legends and myths of the Yakuts attracted special attention of Russian researchers after the journey of Academician A.F. Middendorf to the northeast of Siberia and the publication of the book by O.N. Bötlingka "On the language of the Yakuts." Political exiles made a great contribution to the collection, systematization and research of Yakut myths and legends: I.A. Khudyakov, V.L. Seroshevsky, V.F. Troshchansky, V.M. Ionov, E.K. Pekarsky.

The first Yakut scientists - A.E. - began their scientific activities by collecting and studying traditions, legends and myths. Kulakovsky, S.A. Novgorodov and G.V. Xenophon. A.E. Kulakovsky published a large number of myths and legends in his famous work “Materials for the Study of the Beliefs of the Yakuts” and collected legends about the ancestors. S.A. Novgorodov included I myths and legends in the first textbook he compiled in the Yakut language G.V. Xenophon in the 20s. made expedition trips to the central, Vilyui and northwestern uluses of Yakutia.

The enormous materials he collected formed the basis of his books “Legends and stories about shamans among the Yakuts, Buryats and Tungus” (1928), “Uraanghai-sakhalar” (1937) and “Elleiad. Materials on the mythology and legendary history of the Yakuts” (1977). A major collector of historical folklore was S.I. Bolo, compiler of the collection “The Past of the Yakuts before the Russians Came to Lena” (1938).

For many years, A.A. Savvin, A.S. were fruitfully engaged in collecting traditions and legends. Poryadin, V.N. Dmitriev, P.T. Stepanov, G.M. Vasiliev, I.G. Berezkin, N.T. Stepanov, G.E. Fedorov.

G.U. Ergis in the 60s published a two-volume publication “Historical Legends and Stories of the Yakuts”. The large article he wrote about Yakut legends and oral stories is the first special study on this topic.

A.P. Okladnikov, I.S. Gurvich, Z.V. Gogolev, G.P. Basharin, F.G. Safronov, G.U. Ergis, P.P. Barashkov, I.V. Konstantinov widely used historical traditions and legends in his research. This undoubtedly contributed to a deeper understanding of the meaning and content of individual folklore works.

The main milestones in the formation and development of the Yakut ethnos are reflected in three cycles of historical legends: about the first ancestors Omogoy Baay (Omogon, Onokhoy) and Elley Bootur, who arrived from their southern ancestral home to the middle Lena; about Tygyn Toyon and other founders of the era of development and the beginning of the decomposition of patriarchal-tribal relations in the 17th - 18th centuries; about Vasily Manchaary (19th century), a spontaneous rebel who openly opposed the injustice and tyranny of the ancestors and the rich.

One of the first and complete recordings of the legends about Omogoy Baay and Elley Bootur was made in the early 40s of the 18th century. participant of the Second Kamchatka (Great Northern) expedition Ya.I. Lindenau. According to his record, Omogoi and Elley lived in the upper reaches of the river. Lena, where is the territory now? Irkutsk region. He even saw the Köbyölür valley in the upper reaches of the river. Lena, where the first ancestors of the Yakuts lived, and a place called “Yakut carrier”. “Köbyüölür” is a Yakut word meaning “to raise one’s voice.” ME AND. Lindenau also recorded Buryat legends about how the Yakuts lived in these places, and how Toyon Badzhey, a descendant of Omogoy and Elley, arrived with his people from the upper reaches of the Lena to the middle Lena.

Subsequently, in legends recorded from the 40s. XIX century, the motive about the life of the first ancestors of the Yakuts in the upper reaches of the Lena disappears and is replaced by the motive about their resettlement to the middle Lena. Thus, in just 100 years there has been a transformation of legends about the place of residence of the first ancestors. The reason, apparently, is that in the process of developing ethnic self-awareness in new conditions, the ancient version was rethought accordingly.

In legends recorded since the 40s. XIX century Until now, there is often a story that Omogoy Baai came to the valley of the middle Lena on the advice of a clairvoyant shaman and at the request of the master spirits of this country. Omogoy's arrival is joyfully greeted by the patron deities of people and livestock Ieyehsit and Ayyysyt, who help him find a mare and a pregnant cow. Perhaps behind this mythological motif there is a folk memory of the domestication of domestic animals. Researcher of northern horse breeding prof. M.F. Gabyshev admits that the Yakuts in ancient times domesticated wild horses that lived in the northeast of Yakutia. And the very fact of the existence of wild horses in the ancient northeast is confirmed by the latest finds of Yakut paleontologists.

Legends depict Omogoy and Elley as newcomers to the middle Lena; they exclude the origin of the first ancestors of the Yakuts from the aborigines of this region. I.V. Konstantinov rightly noted that the motive for the arrival of these characters of legends from distant countries cannot be considered accidental; most likely, this indicates the still living ideas of the Yakuts about themselves as a newly arrived people. It can be assumed that researchers do not disagree on the issue of the southern origin of the Yakuts, substantiating this with extensive archaeological, folklore, linguistic and historical-ethnographic material. Their differences lie in determining the ways of forming this people.

Folklore images of Omogoy and Elley are close to the mythological images of persecuted heroes, who later become the ancestors of tribes. Elley, according to legend, arrived on the middle Lena from the Baikal region, the Urankhai land, from Mongolia, from the Tatars; or it is not indicated at all where he was from. It is said that he comes from the fraternal or Batulin tribe. In our opinion, such a variety of ideas of the people about their ancestors was indirectly reflected in the complex tribal composition of the population of the Baikal region, part of which became part of the ancestors of the Yakut people.

Legends say that the reason for the resettlement of Omogoy and Elley to the middle Lena was inter-tribal clashes, which is also not without historical justification. A.P. Okladnikov wrote that in the X - XI centuries. Mongol-speaking tribes invaded the Angara-Lena region and pushed the Kurykan north to the middle Lena.

After arriving at Omogoy, Elley becomes his employee. In fact, he became a slave, worked for free, without any property or tools. Such was the life of other Omogoi slaves. Their property and living situation truly reflected the main features of tribal relations with elements of patriarchal slavery, which were still clearly visible in the life of the Yakuts in the 17th century.

The patriarchal-tribal way of life of the Yakuts explains the time of their arrival on the middle Lena social status Omogoi Baai himself. He is, first of all, the patriarch and head of a large family family. The epithet “baai” (rich man) does not so much characterize his wealth as serve as an artistic and visual means of idealizing him, emphasizing the power and authority of the head of the clan. Slaves, living with their owners and working for them, constitute one common clan family.

The legends reflect the features family and marital relations that era. In the marriage of the newcomer Elley, a native of another tribe, to the daughter of Omogoy, one cannot help but notice traces of exogamy, one of the characteristic signs of clan organization.

When Omogoi Baai, angry that Ellay had married his unloved daughter, drove them both out of his house, giving them one mare and one mangy red cow as a dowry, a small family was formed. In the relationship between the Omogoya and Elley families, a picture emerges of the initial stage of development of a small family and the conflict between the two types of family in the tribal community.
The growing struggle for the independence of a small family was waged in the sphere of property relations. This can also be seen in the legends of this cycle. So, Elley kept the horses and cows of Omogoy, who did not leave the smokehouse he had bred, and disposed of them as his wealth. He used the products obtained from them to prepare the kumys festival of Ysyakh. Apparently, according to the established traditions of communal ownership, Omogoi could not bring back his cattle and take away food from Elley.

Elley's small family is gradually strengthening economically, and Elley's authority among his relatives is growing. “Alley, they say, gives everyone a house, gives a woman, gives cattle and utensils,” and with old Onokhoi you are a worker all your life,” these were the conversations the slaves had. However, based on the content of the cycle of legends, we can conclude that the family connection remained strong. Sharing hunting spoils, the two families lived amicably. In the book by V. Seroshevsky, Elley, returning from hunting, gave everything he had obtained to Onokhoy, who thanked him for it [Ibid].

Ellay is a progenitor with the functions of a mythological culture hero. Omogoy and his relatives “were simple-minded people,” they lived in an earthen yurt without a stove or chimney, and did not know fishing tools, blacksmithing, blessings, or songs. Alley was a blacksmith and carpenter. He installed a stove with a chimney, knocked out a window in the house and made a door, made tools for fishing and hunting animals, built pens and buildings for livestock and lit a smoke smoker against midges, made the divine drink kumiss

Elley is not only the inventor and creator of the material culture of the Yakuts, but also the first organizer of the spring kumys festival Ysyakh, the first minister of the Yakut religion who turned to the highest deities with prayer. Modern Yakuts believe that the annual Ysyakh is celebrated according to the traditions established by the great-ancestor Elley

The conservative patriarch Omogoye Baai does not understand Ellay's innovations. He arrives at the Ysyakh, organized by Elley, according to some legends, only after the third invitation and, frightened by the miraculous phenomena caused by the power of Elley’s blessing, runs away home. In other versions, he and his wife fall dead or ascend to heaven. Although the legends do not directly say that the deities that Elley worshiped were alien to Omogoy Baai, he dies from their punishment for disrespect for the ysyakh, arranged in honor of the aiyy deities.

Elley is the favorite and chosen one of the aiyy deities. He is even a direct descendant, the son of the supreme deity Yuryung Aiy Toyon, or Elley is intended by the deities to be the organizer of life, the establisher of order in the Middle Land.

In many legends, Elley's eldest son Namylga (Labynkha) Silik (Syuyuryuk) is named the first shaman - servant of the aiyy deities. He pronounces a blessing on the first Ysyakh and immediately ascends to heaven. Sometimes he is attributed the function of a culture hero and aiyy shaman.

The plot development of the legends about the first ancestors echoes the plots of the heroic epic Olonkho about the settlement of the Middle World by the outcast descendants of the supreme deities aiyy. In olonkho of this type, from the Upper World to the Middle World, the deities descend their outcast descendants who have been guilty of something, and in legends, exiles who have become separated from their tribe settle in the middle Lena. The heroes of the olonkho, rejected by the deity, are raised and protected by the spirit masters of the epic country. The first ancestors of the Yakuts moved at the request of their host spirits to the Tuymaada valley, where the city of Yakutsk now stands.

Olonkho plots are based on the conflict of heroes belonging to the same Ayyy Aimaga tribe (the epic self-name of the Yakuts). In olonkho, the positive hero is the rejected descendant of the deities aiyy - the “newcomer” - son-in-law, and in legends - Elley Bootur, an alien adopted into the Omogoya family. In the tales about the rejected descendants of the aiyy deities, the motif of heroic matchmaking is almost absent; the theme of miraculous matchmaking predominates.

The main character of the olonkho about the rejected descendants of the aiyy deities is a hero named Son of the Horse Dyyrai Begyo (Bergen). The plot theme about the hero - the Son of the Horse - is based on the ancient myth that "first God created the horse, from him came the half-horse-half-man, and from the latter a man was born." This myth is preserved in a more complete form in the plot of the Dolgan olonkho “Son of the horse Atalami Bukhatyyr”. And the name of the legendary Elley with his constant epithets “Ereideeh-Buruydaah Er Sogotokh” (Long-suffering Lonely Husband) corresponds to the name of the hero of many olonkho Ereydeeh-Buruydaah Er Sogotokh, the Bogatyr-ancestor of the Uraanghai Sakha tribe. In Olonkho G.F. Nikulina "Er Sogotokh" main character endowed with the functions of a cultural hero. He, the first inhabitant of the Middle World, builds himself a house with a stone ax, makes fire, begs cattle from the deities and arranges the Ysyakh holiday. All the actions of the hero correspond cultural activities Elleya. EAT. Meletinsky notes that, in comparison with the olonkho about Er Sogotokh, the historical legends about Elley more clearly preserve the features of the myth of a cultural hero, and explains this by the specificity of the idealization of heroes in the heroic epic and legends.

Thus, the most ancient period in the history of the Yakut ethnos is reflected both in the heroic epic Olonkho and in historical legends, transforming in accordance with their genre nature. In contrast to these legends about the first ancestors, in the cycle of legends about Tygyn (Dygyn) Toyon and other ancestors, echoes of a different, higher stage are heard social development Yakut people.

Tygyn is a real person, the name Tygyn is found in historical documents of the 17th century. People have written many stories and legends about him, in which he most often appears in the form of a powerful and formidable tribal leader, a power-hungry and a despot. Many moments of his life, full of military valor and tragedy, are transformed in the spirit of folklore hyperbolization.

According to legend, Tygyn (Dygyn) is the grandson of Elley, i.e. he comes from a noble family, which occupied a dominant position among other Yakut families. Tygyn is born with three golden hairs on the crown of his head. This, according to Elley’s prediction, is a sign that instead of the suddenly dead tyyn (breath, i.e. soul) of Elley’s son (Tygyn’s father), a new tyyn appeared, and he was named Tygyn (text 3, block 20). According to another legend, Tygyn, at the age of six, raising his spear with the tip upward, turned to the formidable celestial Uluu Toyon, who created him, with a request to send down to him a bloody symbol of the spirit of war and bloodshed. In response to this, a blood clot appeared at the very tip of the spear. Thus, he was appointed from above to become a military leader.

Tygyn (Dygyna) time in people's memory remains as Kyrgyz uyete - the century of battles, the century of wars. And indeed, in legends, he, the head of the most powerful Yakut clan of the Kangalas, leads the fight against the Khorin, Nakhar, Nam and other clans. The reasons for Tygyn's attacks on other people's families were: the abduction of Tygyn's daughter by foreigners, Tygyn's campaign for the woman he loved, Tygyn's campaign against famous strongmen, revenge for separation (escape) from his family and for the desire for independence of a small family (text 6). These conflict situations echo the conflicts on which the plot of the heroic Olonkho epic about the ancestors of the tribe is based: the kidnapping of the sisters of the heroes of the aiyy aimag, the heroic campaign for the bride. Great place in the legends about Tygyn (Dygyn) Toyon is occupied by the motif of fights and competitions for the sake of glorifying his tribe. Tygyn, the powerful leader of the Kangalas, does not tolerate competition; he and his people must always be the first in fights and sports games. Tygyn often invites strangers and organizes ysyakh, where competitions in strength, agility, running and jumping are organized.

Tygyn in legends is shown as a vengeful and treacherous leader, power-hungry and cruel person. Even in his own family, he does not tolerate people superior to him in strength or other qualities. Thus, Tygyn kills his son, who was born with a horny covering, seeing in him a hero stronger than himself. He killed a child born with gold earrings - a sign of power over people (option 6).
The powerful leader of the Kangalas clan Tygyn (Dygyn) in legends is often called toyon (lord, ruler), ruler, Yakut king. The mother of the mighty hero Bert Khara, seeing that her son is preparing to enter into battle with Tygyn, persuades him to avoid a duel with a man destined to be a ruler by the deity himself.

The image of Tygyn in legends is, on the one hand, the image of a strong leader who tried to unite under his rule the disparate, warring Yakut tribes in the first half of the 17th century, on the other hand, he is a despot for his clan and an invader for neighboring clans, not abhorring the most cruel and insidious means to achieve his goal.

The legends note that, in carrying out his intentions, Tygyn took for himself the wealth, livestock and slaves of the clans, tribes and even individual households he defeated. Tygyn's predatory attacks on neighbors led to the subjugation of individual clans and tribes to him.

Legends record the formation of a hereditary nobility in the person of Tygyn's sons, who continued the conquering traditions of their father. These stories correspond to the content of historical documents. S.A. Tokarev quoted a message from Ataman Galkin (1634), which talks about the sons of Tygyn, who “own all the land, and many other princes are afraid of them.”

To fully understand the military campaigns of Tygyn and other toyons of the Yakut region of that time, which lasted until Yakutia became part of Russia, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the patriarchal-tribal way of life of the tribes of that distant era.

Historical sources and legends equally emphasize that in the 17th century, when the Russians arrived in the middle Lena, the aboriginal tribes were at the stage of a developed patriarchal-tribal system, but they were still dominated by the tribal way of life, in which family-related groups and dependent Their slaves (“slaves”, “fosters”) made up a large patriarchal family. At the head was the toyon.

The legends reflect what continued in the 17th century. the process of formation of small families, their separation from large patriarchal families. One legend says that Batas Mendyuken and his wife run away from Tygyn, fearing reprisals. This plot corresponds to the historical reality of that time. S.A. Tokarev wrote that cases of slave escapes are far from isolated; only according to the documents known to him, it was possible to count 45 such cases.

The depiction in legends of the lives of the families of the poor Bert Khara, Chorbogor Baatir (texts 5, 6), “feeding themselves by hunting wild animals and ducks,” is generally associated with the emergence of a new layer in social structure tribes that inhabited the middle Lena in those days. This is a part of the population ruined as a result of the predatory Toyon raids, which also formed into a separate family independent of the patriarchal one.

It should be noted that in the depiction of the relationship of a small family to a large patriarchal family in legends and historical documents, there are discrepancies due to the specifics of folklore idealization. There is a well-reasoned scientific hypothesis according to which in the 17th century, before the Russians arrived in this region, small families among aboriginal tribes were independent economic units. Weak economic ties remained between these two types of families. At the same time, related families rallied and united during military clashes, forming a large patriarchal family. It is this circumstance that is reflected in the legends about Tygyn, who is shown as a military leader who stood at the head of his tribe. Apparently, for the same reason, the slaves of Tygyn are most often depicted as brave and strong warriors, and not servant slaves; introductions about their property and payment of their labor by toyons are not clearly recorded in the legends. There are only a few plot motifs, for example, about how Batas Möndyukäen gets a job as Tygyn’s assistant for one salary. This folklore fact to some extent reflects the emergence of classes and early forms of exploitation in Yakut society.

The legends about the first ancestors say that Elley showed his sons places to settle with good hunting grounds and conditions convenient for raising livestock, which indicates the emergence of hereditary private land ownership. Judging by the legends, during Tygyn’s time the seizure of land only accompanied his warlike policy. As a military leader of tribes, he first of all sought to subjugate new tribes and clans to his influence. The weak reflection of the struggle for land in these legends can be explained by the absence in those days of private land ownership and the right to inherit it.

In the legends of this cycle one cannot help but notice echoes of the silent struggle that went on between slaves and toyons. There are stories about the irreconcilable enmity of the poor man Bert Khara with Tygyn. According to some legends, Tygyn, fearing the sons of the old woman Kutyur Emeekhsin, moved to a new place, near lake. Muryu. Here the sympathies of the narrators are on the side of the offended and humiliated.

The legends about Tygyn reflect events related to the entry of Yakutia into the Russian state. They tell how Tygyn fought the Russian Cossacks (although it was short-lived).

Historical documents published by S.A. Tokarev, in our opinion, is given the opportunity to understand true meaning and the nature of events related to the relationship between Tygyn and a detachment of Russian Cossacks. For example, Ataman Ivan Galkin in his petition describes his clash with the Yakut toyon in 1631: “Yes, sir, the same Yakol people, Prince Tynina and Prince Boydon, live on the Lena River and fought with us, your slaves, all day long and They didn’t give us your sovereign’s yasak, and they didn’t want to let us, sir, your servants out of their land. And we, sir, were few. And how, sir, will many serving people come from the Yenisei prison, and pacify those unpeaceful princes wet_". This document testifies to clashes between the Yakut toyons and the royal slaves who came to impose tribute on the local population. The Yakut toyons, in particular Tygyn, in this struggle pursued only their own selfish goals, wanting to become the absolute masters of the region. But the tsar’s slaves, as can be seen from the petition, advocated for the establishment of payment procedures for the tsar’s government on this remote outskirts. Thus, individual skirmishes that took place during the period of Yakutia’s entry into Russia were essentially a struggle between representatives of the ruling classes for the establishment of their own orders in the distant Lena region.

Mainly patriarchal clans led by toyons, who were also organizers of anti-yasak uprisings that took place until the second century, entered into the fight against the incoming royal troops. half XVII V.

In the legends, only Tygyn and his military squad appear among those who resisted the incoming Cossacks. At the same time, the names of other brave warriors are almost not mentioned and their exploits are not told.

The cycle of legends about Tygyn, as can be seen from the above, reflects the milestones of one of the early stages of the history of the peoples of Yakutia. The identification of the hearth nobility and family as the main economic unit, patriarchal slavery, the beginning of the formation of hereditary property, the subordination of new clans and tribes by military leaders, embryonic forms of class struggle - all this, reflected in the legends about Tygyn, testifies to the presence in the life of the Yakuts era of the annexation of the Lena region to Russia, the main features of a developed patriarchal-tribal society moving towards early class relations.

The people spoke with hatred about the wild tyranny of individual rich people, such as Dodor, Chokhoron and others.
In the stories about the desire to become related to the celestials, in particular in the stories about the matchmaking of Kudangsa and Dyalagai Kiileen with demonic maidens from the Upper World, the willfulness of the tribal rulers is revealed in a mythological vein.

The rich, distinguished by greed and cruelty, are contrasted with ordinary people, hardworking, brave, defending their independence.

The repertoire of Yakut myths consisted of the following main groups: 1) about the supreme deities and savior deities; 2) about evil and good spirits living in the Upper World, on earth and in the Lower World; 3) about the nature surrounding humans; 4) about the first ancestors, the ancestors of the Yakuts; 5) myths and legends about shamans.

Among the supreme deities, which are known under the general name ayyy (plural ayyylar), the image of Yuryung Ayyy Toyon stands out - “the creator of the universe and man, the head of heaven and the rest of the gods.” His other name is Yuryung Aar Toyon. In olonkho, the supreme deity sometimes acts as the father (grandfather) of the hero-ancestor of the people of the Middle World (Yakuts). So, in Olonkho M.N. Ionova-Androsova, recorded in the 90s. XIX century, Yuryung Ayyy Toyon is the progenitor of all ayyy - deities whom he settled in the Upper World, and ichchi - Aukhov-hosts settled by him in the Middle World. The deity also lowers the youngest of his sons and daughters into the Middle World for permanent residence. These younger children of Yuryung Aiyy Toyon become the first ancestors of people (aiyy aimag), of which Uraanghai Sakha is a part, i.e. Yakuts. And aiyy (deities) and ichchi (master spirits) are endowed by the supreme deity with the functions of patrons of uraangai sakha. The celestial deity Kyuryuyo Dzhosegoy Aiyy gives people horses, Aiyysyt and Ieyehsit are the patronesses of women giving birth, and Ieyiehsit is the patroness of chosen people.

In many olonkhos, fairy tales and legends, celestial deities do not have such a close family connection. Each deity performs its own specific function, and Yuryung Aiyy Toyon does not interfere with its actions. Thus, it is impossible to change human destiny, determined at the birth of a person by the deities Dyylga Khaan and Chyngys Khaan.

In olonkho stories, the donor of horses, Kyuryuyo Dzhesegoy Aiyy, at the request of the heroes, lowers the horses destined for them to the ground. The kumys holiday Ysyakh is dedicated to Yuryung Ayyy Toyon and Dzhesegoyyyyyy. According to myths, in ancient times Dzhosegoy was a participant in Ysyakh in the form of a white stallion.

The patron goddess of women in labor, Aiyysyt, is one of the revered deities. She implants the soul of the child into the woman and is present at childbirth. In her honor, after a successful birth, the ceremony “Seeing Ayyysyt” is organized with a complex ritual and prayers.

Myths about the supreme deities are not included in this volume, since there are no complete works about them. Myths about the supreme deities of aiyy are present as a necessary and obligatory part in the texts of the heroic epic olonkho, fairy tales, legends, songs and ritual poetry. The Yakut mythology about the supreme deities, in all likelihood, existed in the form in which we know pre-Homeric Greek mythology, i.e. it was disordered, unclear and “uncanonized” in many respects, which concerned, for example, the functions and activities of the supreme deities.

More common are myths about deities close to totem animals and birds, known under the general name tangara (tanara - god). Birds and animals of Tangara are revered by the Yakuts not as the creators (creators) of people or the ancestors from whom they originated, but as the saviors of dying ancestors and ancestors.

It must be emphasized that these works had an original structure, different from other genres of folklore. Thus, the Yakut myth consisted of three parts: first, the origin of the myth was explained, then the rituals and actions determined by this myth were described, and at the end it was noted what punishment awaited a person who violated the rules dictated by the myth. In some cases, the myth consisted of only the first part or the first two, or the third part was moved to the very beginning. In this case, the text began with a description of the misfortune that happened to a person who did not believe in this or that myth. The rearrangement of parts of the myth was carried out depending on the situation and environment in which the myth was told. Having a purely practical purpose, the myth among the Yakuts, as a rule, was presented only when it was necessary to explain to one or several interlocutors a phenomenon that was incomprehensible to them, to prove the need for some kind of ritual. It is appropriate here to recall that Yakut myths, like the myths of their peoples, “were not only figurative expressions of religious thought, but also ready-made formulas for poetic creativity, giving rise to new images and generalizations.”

Myths about birds and animals - the rescuers of our ancestors - are generated by the difficult living conditions of the Yakuts, their struggle for survival and self-affirmation.

An analysis of Yakut myths showed that in a number of texts birds were attributed magical abilities. Thus, an eagle allegedly could give a person a stone of happiness, with the help of a woodpecker it is supposedly possible to get heroic grass (Archives of the YSC SB RAS, f. 5, op. 3, d. 648, l. 17), etc.

In Yakut myths about birds, the humanization of birds, ancient in origin, continued to exist. They stated that birds, like people, were divided into separate clans and tribes and had their own head. Along with works in which birds were likened to people, the Yakuts have preserved myths about the transformation of people into birds. This is a sad myth about a guy-herder who stole and ate a foal, for which he was condemned to become a kite and fly, emitting a cry reminiscent of the neighing of a foal." Close to this text is the myth about a seagull, who was previously a girl-bride. She was betrothed to a resident of Upper world When the wedding train arrived to the groom's parents, it turned out that it had disappeared along the way whole piece oil, which was part of the bride's gifts. Outraged by this, the formidable inhabitants of the Upper World cursed the girl, turning her into a seagull as white as Yakut oil, and ordered her to search for that oil all her life. Here the moralizing function of the myth is clearly indicated, which not only explained the behavior of birds, but also regulated the life of the group, instilled in listeners the ethical standards of everyday relationships: the inadmissibility of theft, negligence in the performance of wedding rituals, etc.

The presence in Yakut mythology of works in which birds were humanized or talked about the transformation of people into birds may have been due to the fact that the Yakuts hardly distinguished themselves from nature and were constantly dependent on elemental forces, unpredictable and inexplicable vagaries of the harsh climate.

The awareness of unity with the surrounding world was also reflected in myths telling about the ability of a number of birds - the eagle, swan, crane, raven and hawk to curse people, to take revenge on them for the grief caused (Archive of the YSC SB RAS, f. 4, op. 12, d. 69 , l. 26, 50, 72; f. 5, op. 3, d. 652, l. 12 - 12 vol.). Among the Yakuts one can find totemistic myths about birds, ancestors - patrons of one kind or another. The presence of ancient mythological images among a relatively young ethnic group is due to the fact that its mythology was based on the spiritual culture of its ancestors, whose memory preserved works dating back to the earliest stage of human history.

That is why the Yakuts, who formed into a single ethnic group in the middle Lena basin in the 10th - 15th centuries. AD there are totemic myths. Believing Yakuts until the beginning of the 20th century. continued to treat the totem as an older relative, killing one's own totem species of birds was equivalent to killing a person, and wives, according to custom, avoided meeting the totem of their husband's clan.

The totemistic myths recorded among the Yakuts in the first half of the 20th century are somewhat modified. Birds in them are no longer considered direct relatives of people, but are recognized as deities who saved the founder of the clan from death.

Some of the myths about birds were formed under the influence of animistic ideas of the Yakuts associated with the fishing cult, the cult of the patron spirits of the clan and tribe, and shamanism. For example, among the myths of the fishing cult there is a text about the curlew, which is recognized as the younger brother of the master spirit of the forest Baaya Bayanay.

According to the mythological views of the Yakuts, some of the revered birds were created by supernatural creatures of the Upper World or were aliens from there. Thus, in the myth of the kite he is called the younger brother of the deity Dzhosegoy. The eagle was revered as one of the main deities of the aiyy. All eagles and part of the Yakut clans allegedly descended from him. In Yakut myths, the deities aiyy appeared in the form of a swan and an eagle. And in one of the myths, the hawk was recognized as a creature of higher origin than the eagle, although according to Yakut beliefs, only the head of the aiyy deities Urun Aiyy Toyon was higher than the Hump-nosed Eagle aiyy.

The complex of cult ideas about clan and tribal patron spirits also included the recognition by the Yakuts of the raven as the eldest son of the head of the evil spirits of the abaasy of the Upper World, Uluu Toyon, and the belief about the kinship of the raven with Uluu Toyon.

The Yakuts' attribution of the eagle and the raven to deities personifying different principles (aiyy and abaasy) perhaps indicates the multi-ethnicity of the ancestors of the Yakuts. At the same time, the eagle and the raven were obviously totems of both that part of the Yakuts who worshiped the aiyy deities, and another group of Prayakuts who linked their origins with the evil spirits of the Upper World.

Yakut shamanism was reflected in myth-making about birds. For example, it was said about the hawk that it is the embodiment of yuor (uor) Agrafena - a spirit supposedly living on the island of the river. Lena near Zhigansk. One of the myths about the swan says that it began to be considered a patron deity after one shaman closed the exit from the Lower World with his swan’s head and thereby blocked the way to disease. A number of Yakut myths claim that the spirits of shamans appeared in the images of a loon, a raven, a cuckoo, a seagull and a martin.

Among the myths about birds, this volume includes myths about the eagle, raven and hawk, which belong to a relatively late layer of Yakut mythology. A stable element in them is the motif of a bird that saved the ancestor of the family from death. This is the eagle that shot down a goose for the dying ancestor of the Kangalas clan, and the raven that brought flint to the ancestor of the Khorin clan when he, having broken his leg, was dying of cold and hunger. In a number of similar myths, the deification of totems is explained not by blood relationship, but by a benefit shown to the founder of the clan.

A common feature of Yakut myths about the eagle is a list of rituals that must be performed when meeting an eagle. It is noteworthy that in some myths the transformation of the totemistic ritual under the influence of shamanism is visible. The myth about the eagle states that only a shaman can protect a person (clan) from the wrath of the totem. A typical example of the artistic structure of myths of this kind is the text “The Deity of Crows.” At the very beginning, it tells about the help that a raven provided to the ancestor of the Khorin people, followed by a rationale for how the Khorin people cure skin diseases, and a description of the treatment ritual with the words of a spell-conspiracy. Unfortunately, the latter was rarely recorded when recording myths. This composition of the story is typical of Yakut mythology. It was dictated by the practical purpose of the myth, which was to establish the norms of customary law.

Yakut myths about animals, like myths about birds, are of a magical, totemistic and animistic nature. The most archaic of them, apparently, are the myths that explain the features appearance wild animals. Told vividly, with subtle observations of wildlife, these myths aroused constant interest among listeners, and over time were easily transformed into tales about animals. For example, the myth of why the ermine’s skin became white and the tip of its tail black, etc. The Yakuts, like other ancient hunters, maintained faith in the ability of killed animals to take revenge on their offenders. And first of all, those who killed them for fun or in a very cruel way. This belief was supported by a number of myths that prescribe a respectful, careful attitude towards hunting objects and condemn those who killed animals unnecessarily. For example, in the myth about the fate of people from the Mayat clan, it was said that they all died of hunger after, for fun, they skinned a live deer and released it in that form.

In a number of myths, animals were credited with the ability to understand human speech. The basis of such myths is the pan-Siberian cult of the dying and resurrecting beast and the Eurasian-American layer of the bear cult.

As examples of Yakut myths about animals, the volume includes myths about the bear and the wolf. The myth of a woman turning into a bear and worshiping it as a totem may not be originally Yakut. It lived among the Uryunei clan, which was of Evenki origin. We considered it possible to include it in the volume due to the fact that it belongs to a very ancient pan-Siberian layer of mythology.

In the myth of the wolf totem, we again encounter the same stable motif that we traced in the myths about birds - the motif of the deification of the wolf after the ancestors were saved from starvation thanks to supplies allegedly made by the wolf.

In the myths of the trade cult and shamanism, animals are also actors. In myths about the master spirit of the forest, for example, animals are called his cattle. In shamanic myths, shamans themselves appear and fight in the images of wolves and bears. In myths dedicated to the cult of the patron spirits of a clan and tribe, it is mainly domestic animals that act. For example, horses with black spots on the withers, which were considered created by one of the aiyy deities. In myths about domestic animals, common Turkic mythological images were clearly preserved, such as a dog that scares away evil spirits; a horse in which the happiness of its owner lies, etc.

The Yakuts have relatively few myths about fish and reptiles. An analysis of the available records showed that their structure and content coincided with the myths about birds and animals. They also clearly show a connection with the mythology of the Turks of Southern Siberia and Christianity. From this group of Yakut myths, the myth “Fishes and Reptiles” was included. It was obviously borrowed by the Yakuts from Christian mythology.

A number of myths were associated with human ideas about luminaries (sun, moon, stars), atmospheric phenomena and the so-called Upper World, supposedly located in heaven. In Yakut myths, as well as in the mythology of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples, there is a common plot about an orphan worker, offended by her owners, who was pitied and taken by the moon; her silhouette is now visible on the lunar face. Several Yakut myths tell that Venus, the Pleiades, and Ursa Minor send severe cold to the earth.

Most myths about the Upper World talk about the activities supernatural creatures, living there. In the sky, according to the mythological views of the Yakuts, lived the benefactor-deities aiyy and the formidable spirits abaasy. Yuryung Aiyy Toyon was recognized as the chief of the aiyy, and the spirits of the Upper World were subordinate to Uluu Toyon. These mythical creatures, like people, were divided into clans and tribes, and led the same way of life as all the inhabitants of the earth. The deities of the Upper World allegedly had a significant influence on the course of earthly life. There are myths that affirm the divinity of the origin of the heads of clans and shamans, their direct connection with the celestials, and myths about the competition of people with the inhabitants of the Upper World in dexterity and lightness of legs, as well as in singing.

A group of myths reflecting the Yakuts’ deification of the heavenly bodies and the worship of the supernatural inhabitants of the Upper World, in this volume begins with the above-mentioned myth about the girl on the moon. This is a typical example of not a religious, but a fantastic explanation of the phenomena of the surrounding world. Further in the volume there is a myth about the settlement of three heavenly maidens in the Middle World. It also contains a number of episodes of a fantastic nature. The heroines of the myth, although they looked like the inhabitants of the earth, walked without leaving traces. They possessed magical spells: leaving the land on which they settled, they not only disappeared, but also took with them three walls of their yurt.

The myth "Wat Ayah Kudungsa" included in the volume is one of the variants of a fairly common myth about the unsuccessful attempts of the rich to enter into a family relationship with the inhabitants of the Upper World. Such myths usually ended with a description of the ruin and death of the entire rich man’s family. You should pay attention to the language of this cycle of myths. It is close to the language of the epic and is full of stable phrases. For example, in the description of the wealth of a rich man: owning herds that barely fit in the meadow; herds - barely able to fit in the valley; possessing white and black fur-bearing animals, having numerous slaves." The storyteller widely used, as in the epic, paired expressions. Thus, in the myth there are phrases: "when there were few livestock people" "what the aiyys and abaasy intend for matchmaking - marriage" food-food "matchmakers-matchmakers", etc. Thanks to the use of poetic formulas and set phrases, the myth has a rhythmic structure, a sublime style of narration, close to epic.

Further in the volume, two works are included that tell about the fight against creatures that arrived from the Upper World. In the first myth, an earthly hero is defeated in a single combat with a strongman from the Upper World, who specially descended to earth to compete with him. Another tells about the ancestor born to an earthly woman from her relationship with a celestial being. He managed to take revenge on the spirits from the Upper World who “ate” his boy. It should be noted that in Yakut myths, it is often people who become winners in the fight against the inhabitants of the Upper World.

The next, very significant group of myths consists of works that explain the origin of individual geographical places and tell about spirits supposedly living on earth.

The toponymic myths of the Yakuts often provided a fantastic explanation for the origin of mountains, rivers and lakes. As a sample of such works, the volume includes the myth of the emergence of Mount Agrafena. Its plot is based on a dispute between three sisters - to change or not to change the direction of the river bed. Lena. The youngest of the sisters tears off a third of the mountain and floats down the Lena on it, and the middle one, about to swim away after her, stopped at the request of the older sister. The part of the mountain torn off by her becomes a mountain on the island.
A number of Yakut myths assert the existence of master spirits of individual territories, rulers of the taiga, mountains, lakes, etc. The Yakuts believed that a person’s prosperous life, the wealth of some and the poverty of others, largely depended on the will of these spirits.

Thus, in the myth about the hunter and the mistress-spirit of Mount Agrafena, the hunter’s bad luck was explained by the fact that he did not bring a sacrifice to her. The mistress of the mountain relented only after she forced the guy to sacrifice a dog to her. It should be noted that the sacrifice of a dog was performed by the aborigines of Yakutia back in the Neolithic. Perhaps this ritual passed to the Yakuts from local tribes that participated in the ethnogenesis of the Yakut peoples. According to the mythological beliefs of the Yakuts, success in fishing was directly dependent on the will of the hunting spirit Baai Bayanay. The study of the traditional beliefs of the Turkic-speaking peoples of Siberia showed that the image of the Yakut Baai Bayanai was formed in the southern ancestral home of the ancestors of the Yakuts. This confirms the myth about the meeting of a young hunter with the daughter of Baai Bayanai. As in the myths of the Turks of Southern Siberia, she comes to the aid of an inexperienced hunter, bestows her love on him and gives him rich prey. It is interesting that this traditional plot recorded the consecration of the right to new hunting grounds that did not previously belong to this Yakut clan.

The Yakuts were greatly feared by the spirits in which suicides, madmen and people subjected to undeserved persecution, as well as shamans, were supposedly reincarnated after death. From this group of myths, two texts are included in the volume. The beginning of the first of them describes the spirit of Chaadai Bollokh, which prevents hunting. He was once a shaman, and his only dog ​​was stolen. After this, he fell into poverty, died of hunger and became the spirit Chaadai Bollokh. The third part of the myth describes how Chaadai Bollokh interferes with hunters and fishermen, and states that only a shaman can protect him from persecution. The latter can supposedly force the spirit to “give” his dog. Then the shaman “infused” it into one of the hunter’s dogs, and at the end of the myth the rules for keeping “Chaadai’s dog” are set out. Analysis of the plot shows how secondary myths appeared. The work was obviously created by shamans on the model of traditional myths about the wandering dead and justifies the introduction of new, shamanic rituals into the trade cult.

The myth of Bakhsy Aiyyta, contained in the volume, is a typical example of stories about people who died an unnatural death and became spirits that send illnesses.
The Yakuts also had myths about the supernatural inhabitants of the Middle World, apparently borrowed as a result of ethnocultural contacts with the Russians. So, after the annexation of Yakutia in the 17th century. To To the Russian state The Yakuts developed beliefs about the spirit of smallpox, “neighbours” and syulyukuns. The myths said that the spirit of smallpox walks around Yakutia in the form of a Russian woman, and the families she visits become sick with smallpox. The image of the “neighbors” of Russian folklore coincided with the image of invisible creatures that supposedly settled with people. One of these myths is in the volume (text 47). From the Russian old-timers of Siberia, the Yakuts borrowed ideas about the Syulyukuns, very rich creatures that live under water and appear on land only on New Year’s Eve. According to legend, one could get untold riches from the Syulyukuns. They supposedly could predict the fate of a person. The volume includes two examples of this group of Yakut myths.

The most dangerous creatures that bring disease and death to people, according to the beliefs of the Yakuts, were evil spirits who come to earth from the mythical underworld. It was claimed that only shamans could cope with them, and only they knew the myths about the inhabitants of the Lower World. These stories were the professional secret of shamans. True, the shamans expounded the content of these myths in their hymns and spells. In them they described the terrible appearance of the spirits, pointed out the diseases they send, the victims they expect. Although shamans intimidated ordinary believers in every possible way, the Yakuts still preserved myths about ordinary people visiting the Lower World. One example of such work is included in our volume. It tells how terrible the inhabitants of the Lower World are; their country appears to be a very disorganized place. But the inhabitants of this world lead a lifestyle similar to that of the earth.

According to the myth, a person who comes from the Middle World to the Lower World becomes invisible and inaudible to its ordinary inhabitants. Everyone he touches gets sick. The uninvited stranger was allegedly brought back by the shaman of the Lower World. Similar myths exist in the mythology of the Turkic-speaking peoples of Siberia. Therefore, it can be assumed that it was inherited by the Yakuts from the ancient Turks.

A special group of Yakut myths consisted of myths about the ancestors and founders of individual clans. This group of works was formed by sacralizing some historical traditions and legends. Due to the fact that these myths are included in single cycles of works of oral folk art, consisting of interconnected myths, traditions and legends, we considered it necessary to publish them in the first section (texts 1, 2, 3).
A number of Yakut myths claim that a person’s fate is predetermined by the deities, and he is unable to change it. Thus, Yakut traditional beliefs clouded the consciousness of people and restrained attempts at social protest. An example that supports the idea of ​​the inevitability of fate is the myth "Destiny", included in the volume.

A relatively late group of Yakut myths consisted of myths and legends about shamans. They substantiated the right of shamans to lead religious life. Myths stated that shamans are the chosen ones of the spirits who “raised” them. Shamans are given the ability to know the “truth” about the events of the past and present, and to foresee the future. A number of stories described the actions of shamanic spirit helpers, magic items shamans: costumes, tambourines, invisible crossbows, etc. Yakut legends about shamans convinced believers that they could, on the one hand, protect people from the machinations of evil spirits, on the other, they themselves could send misfortune, illness and death to those who offended them or simply did not like them. But still, according to Yakut beliefs, shamans were not omnipotent. It was believed that they could not defeat those people who had strong patron spirits. Moreover, the legends emphasized that ordinary people can sometimes win in single combat with shamans.

A significant place in the mythology of the Yakuts was occupied by stories about the struggle of shamans with each other and about the deeds of deceased shamans. They described the miraculous abilities of shamans, thereby asserting that shamans have supernatural qualities and can serve as intermediaries between people and various spirits and deities. The volume includes three legends of this kind. The first of them artistically expressively tells how great shamans were brought up.

The following text tells how the future shamans were ill and how they convinced others that they had the gift of reincarnating as mythical creatures. The last legend claims that after death, shamans can return to the human world at a certain time and live the same way as they lived before. At the same time, their long-destroyed yurt and the buildings around it allegedly reappeared with them. When the time comes for them to leave, everything disappears at once.

With the development of society, the acquisition of labor experience and knowledge by people, myths fade away and begin to exist in a different form. Individual plots, motifs, and mythological characters are found in other genres of folklore: olonkho, fairy tales, legends and traditions, as well as in aphoristic poetry.

As can be seen from the above, the main milestones of the early history of the Yakut people are interpreted in myths, legends and traditions. In their plots and images we find elements of a person’s early understanding of the world around him, ethical standards of behavior and everyday rules. These genres of Yakut folklore in our time no longer function in their “pure” form. Myths changed their form of existence; they “dissolved” in other genres of folklore. Legends and traditions, in which various facts and events from the life of the people are reflected in a figurative and vivid form, exist independently. And they all find new life in literature and art.

Traditions, legends and myths are the historical memory of the people about their past, at the same time they are also stories about what happened recently. G.U. Ergis noted that the surrounding reality, historical events, and remarkable life phenomena provided rich material for the emergence of oral stories. Academician A.N. Okladnikov characterizes Yakut legends as “an excited and lively story of eyewitnesses or even direct participants in events that have come down to us in the same oral transmission from generation to generation, from great-grandfather to grandfather, from grandfather to father and from father to son, and most often from grandfather or grandmother to grandson, from the famous old man-storyteller to his young listeners" [Ibid.]. Oral traditions and stories about the past, about recent events, legends about shamans and miraculous phenomena associated with beliefs, Yakut myths can be called, in contrast to olonkho, fairy tales and songs, mass works that any expert could tell. But among them, remarkable master storytellers stood out. Such experts on antiquity were the famous Olonkhosut singers E.M. Egorov - Miine Wala (Tattinsky district), D.M. Govorov, R.P Alekseev (Ust-Aldan district), E.Kh. Gorokhov (Verkhoyansk district), I.I. Burnashev - Tong Suorun (Megino-Kangalassky district). There were also masterful performers of legends and stories, such as I.N. Nikolaev - Ugaldy and I.A. Alekseev from Nyurbinsky district.

This volume consists of 56 samples of traditions, legends and myths, of which 41 are published for the first time. The first part of the volume “Historical Legends and Stories” includes three versions from a cycle of legends about the ancestors of the Yakuts, six legends about Tygyn Toyon, the central image of the ancestors of the period of decomposition of patriarchal-tribal relations on the eve of the annexation of Yakutia to the Russian state, and three legends characterizing life and customs ancestors after the annexation of Yakutia to Russia. The second part of the volume is devoted to myths and legends.

Included are notes, commentaries, indexes, and a glossary. In the comments, in addition to the explanation of the text and translation, there are options and versions of the traditions, legends and myths included, which provides rich information and reference material for those who wish to deeply and comprehensively study the Yakut traditions, legends and myths. E.N. took part in compiling the indexes. Kuzmina. The authors thank A.L. for assistance in preparing the volume. Novgorodov and L.F. Rozhin, as well as V.V. Illarionov for checking the national text.

ON THE. Alekseev N.A. Emelyanov V.T. Petrov