Myths, Legends, Historical Stories of Tuvinians
Summary

This book is the first scholarly monograph devoted to the study of non-folktale genres of Tuvan folkloric prose: myths (burun-chugaalar), legends (toolcburgu chugaalar), and historical tales (teegy-chugaalar).

The corpus of texts is prefaced by an introductory article “Tuvan traditional non-folktale prose”, which reflects the specific qualities of the given genre alongside other genres of Tuvan folklore.

The 106 prose texts included in the present volume, with the exception of two (texts 11, 15), are published here in Russian translation for the first time. All of the texts deriving from archival sources or documented during recent fieldwork are authentic recordings from native storytellers. The translations are accompanied by commentaries, annotations, a glossary of untranslated words, as well as lists of place names, personages, and informants. Also, the commentaries and notes include variants of texts documented at different times on the territory of Tuva from the end of the 19 century to the present.

The first part of the volume contains the texts of 74 myths. These include cosmogonic, etiological, toponymic, and generalogical myths, stories about supernatural denizens of the Middle and Lower Worlds, and also myths about shamans and folk healers.

Tuvan folklore contains a rich array of myths reflecting the traditional Tuvan religious views based on early, pre-Buddhist beliefs of a totemistic or animistic character. The most ancient layer of Tuvan mythology is represented by cosmogonic myths. These include, first foremost, scory lines about the origin of the sky, stars, and other heavenly phenomena, as well as myths about the universe. The present book includes texts about the heavenly thunderbolt-hurler, about the constellations Orion (Ym- Myigak), Ursa Major (Chedi-Khann), Pleiades (Mechin), and also stories about lunar and solar eclipses and evergreen trees (texts 1 to 7), which contain elements of worship of the sky, sun, moon, all stars. The etymologies of names of stars frequently derive from hunting rites.

Myths narrating the origin of humans are represented in the book by the texts “Why people do not eat grass” (text 8), “How people ate craftiness” (text 9), which fit into the cycle of myths about the creation of the world shared among Siberian Turkic peoples.

A large number of Tuvan etiological myths describe the characteristic traits of animals, birds or fish. Zoomorphic myths are not clearly separable from stories about domestic or wild animals. It is quite obvious that the basic of narratives about external qualities of animals derives from animistic beliefs of ancient people who identified the lives of animals with those of people. These myths, which preserve extremely archaic Tuvan beliefs, turn out to be rather stable, insofar as their origin and occurrence derive from hunting and stockbreeding activities in Tuvan economic activity. They include the myths, “About the bat” (text 18), “How the sheep cried her eyes out” (text 27), “The ram and the sheep” (text 28) and “Why the cow‘s kidneys are lumpy” (text 29).

The texts “How snakes got their poison” (text 11), “The grey cuckoo bird asbigas a horse‘s head” (text 17) display noticeable influence from Buddhist mythology.

During the initial stage in the formation of various ethnic groups, there seems to have arisen myths about various clan and tribal groupings. For example, ancient Tuvan totemistic notions about the swan as ancestor to the Kuular and about how this group settled in the area of Bayan Tala, are contained in the myth “The origin of the Kuular” (text 40). At the same time, Tuva possesses myths about the unteraction of the Tuvans with heighboring peoples: Chinese, Mongols (Derbet, Kalga, Oolet), Altai Turks, and Shor (see, for example, text 43, “How the Shor came to be”).

The volume includes myths about the origin of implements and other elements of human culture such as fire or dwellings (texts 31, 32), about the origin of musical instruments such as the igil, chadagan, and shoor (texts 34, 35), and about the appearance of different forms of fortune telling, such as divination involving the use of a ram‘s shoulder blade (text 33).

Also included are toponymic myths explaining the origin of the names of various geographic locations. The story line of texts such as “Kum-Suu” (text 36) and “The Mountains of Great and Lesser Khaiyrakan and the Tes River” (text 38) is connected with the actions of the culture hero and creator-founder giant Kezer-Chingis (known as “Sartakpan” in legends).

Mythological stories about people who possess magical qualities and abilities include story lines about healers (o‘tcbu), people able to change the weather (chatchy), storytellers (toolchu), and blackmiths (dargari). Here we also find myths about shamans and about the possession by them of diverse supernatural abilities such as the ability to cause trunder-storms, lick glowing embers, or teil the future using kuzungu, a type of pendant on the shaman‘s cape in the shape of a bronze mirror.

Part Two contains 32 examples of legends of various sorts. These texts derive from stories about historical personages such as Tuvan freedom fighters (“Sixty Fugitives”), notable strong men, or runners.

The cycle of legends about Amur-Sanaa (Amursana) tells about a real historical personage who entered into the folklore of different Siberian Turkic peoples (Tuvans, Khakas, Altai). This person lived in the 18^th century and became renowned for his struggle to keep Jungaria free. The stories about him are vivid examples of how a real historical figure can be transformed by folklore into a legendary hero and about how historical legends become mythologized. The name Amursana is linked with an old prophesy predicting the hero‘s appearance in Mongolia at a critical juncture in the struggle to throw off foreign domination. The messianic idea of Amursana was also adopted by the Tuvans, Khakas and Altai. Each of these peoples regards “Amur-Sanaa” as their own national hero and awaits his appearance on their territory.

Other Tuvan historical legends tell about the struggle against Mongol feudal lords. The motif of struggle against a foreign yoke can be seen in the legend “The Brothers Kara-Choda and Borbak-Sat” (text 79). The idea of Tuvan independence is expressed in the legend “Burgut-Changy” (text 91).

The events of 1883 — 1885 — the time of the “Uprising of Sixty Fugitives”, the largest rebellion of common people against the feudal lords and their foreign protectors — form the basis for the text “The Best Fugitive” (text 92) and “The Bogatyr Uzun-Belek” (text 94). These stories tell about the execution of the leaders of the rebellion after its suppression. Real facts and people are at the root of these legends.

In Tuva there are a number of legends dedicated to talented national figures: blacksmiths, strong men, runaways, or performers of throat singing (khoomei). The age-old traditions of blacksmithing and throat singers are the topics of the legends “The Blacksmith Changaa” (text 80) and “Budukpen the Throat Singer” (text 82). Other folk talents are described by the legends “The fugitive Baldyr- Chalan” (text 75), “The Strongman Kuvaandy” (text 76).

There is a separate subgroup of legends about toponyms, which include “Saadak-Art” (text 90), “Kus-Khalyyr” (text 90) and “Saksalyg-Bora Hill and Bolchatylyg-÷ÏÔÁ Hill” (text 102).

Part Two of the volume also contains publication of the best examples of non-tale prose recorded during the Multidisciplinary Folklore and Ethnographic Expedition of the Institute of Philology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and TIGI in the Bai-Taiginsk district of Tuva. These texts — “Kemchik” (text 103), “The Story about Bai-Taiga” (text 105) and “The Story about árÁn-Chula” (text 106) — attest to how Tuvan folklore traditions have evolved over time.

Written by Zh.M. Jusha Translated by Edward J.Vajda