ATU 300 The Dragon-Slayer: Motif of Way in Kalmyk Folktales

Introduction. In the oral tradition of Kalmyks, type ATU 300 The Dragon-Slayer serves an episode to magic and heroic folktales. In Kalmyk narratives, the main character slays a serpent to save a maiden from death. Such tales begin with that a hero takes the road to eliminate some shortage/trouble, the action be based on the former’s spatial movement. So, the to-be serpent-slayer travels through worlds: he descends to the lower world, returns to the human-inhabited middle one, undergoes some difficulties, and finds a bride. Thus, the motif of way proves central to the considered plots. Goals. The study aims to examine the motif of way in ATU 300-based (The Dragon-Slayer) Kalmyk folktales. Materials. The paper analyzes texts of published Kalmyk folktales. Results. In The Son of Khan Gal — Otkhon Shara (Kalm. Һал хаана отхн шар көвүн), the main character — like a tuuli-uliger hero — sets off on a journey after receipt of a message from his betrothed. And it is the traditional formula ‘good advice, or a palm-sized skin’ that provides a stage for the hero to meet the messenger. When it comes to describe the hero’s departure, the narrative involves the genre of yöräl (‘good wishes’) which goes back to magic folk poetry rooted in the belief word has power, a successful arrival in the other world be guaranteed by certain preparatory action and appropriate attributes that had once accompanied the deceased on their last journey. Another motive for a hero to start on a trip is that his reigning father loses eyesight. In The Story of Tögseg Khaan (Kalm. Ном Төгсг хаана туск тууҗ) sons are supposed to leave and dare see what their father never saw for his sight to recover. In this text, the function of adviser and donor is performed by a Buddhist priest — gelong — who replaces the image of zayachi (‘guardian genius’). The hero’s return journey from the lower world to the middle (human) one is associated with the image of Khan Garuda. Conclusions. The motif of way in ATU 300-based (The Dragon-Slayer) folktales tends develop in accordance with magic folktale morphological patterns (according to Propp) and within the framework inherent to oral (tuuli-uliger) traditions, paralleled by that Buddhist representations replace the earlier ones.

1. Badmaev A. A. The hare in traditional beliefs and rituals of the Buryats. Problems of Archaeology, Ethnography, Anthropology of Siberia and Neighboring Territories. 2020. Vol. XXVI. Pp. 723–729. (In Russ.)

2. Bakaeva E. P. Buddhism in Kalmykia: Essays in History and Ethnography. Elista: Kalmykia Book Publ., 1994. 128 p. (In Russ.)

3. Barag L. G., Berezovsky I. P., Kabashnikov K. P., Novikov N. V. (comps.) The East Slavic Folktale: A Comparative Directory of Plots. Leningrad: Nauka, 1979. 437 p. (In Russ.)

4. Basangova T. G. Animals in Kalmyk Folklore. Elista: Kalmyk State University, 2019. 192 p. (In Kalm. and Russ.)

5. Batyreva S. G. Old Kalmyks Arts: 17th – Early 20th Centuries. Moscow: Nauka, 2005. 160 p. (In Russ.)

6. Boktan (Boktaev) Sh. The Custodian of Folk Wisdom Boktan Shanya (Shanya Boktaev). B. Mandzhieva (comp., foreword, etc.). Elista: Kalmyk Humanities Research Institute (RAS), 2010. 172 p. (In Kalm. and Russ.)

7. Bordzhanova T. G. Kalmyk Magic Poetry: A Study and Materials. Elista: Kalmykia Book Publ., 1999. 182 p. (In Russ.)

8. Bordzhanova T. G. Kalmyk Ritual Poetry: Genre System and Poetics. Elista: Kalmykia Book Publ., 2007. 450 p. (In Russ.)

9. Dampilova L. S., Khabunova E. E., Chuluun Z. The epic tradition of Mongolic peoples: Toponym ‘Altai’ in the motif of the way. Oriental Studies. 2018. Vol. 11. No. 5. Pp. 166–173. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.22162/2619-0990-2018-39-5-166–173

10. Dshambinowa J. Märchen der Kalmücken. Herausgegeben und ubersetzt von Jelena Dshambinowa. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch, 1993. 144 p. (In Germ.)

11. Dzhimgirov M. E. About Kalmyk Folk Tales. Elista: Kalmykia Book Publ., 1970. 103 p. (In Russ.)

12. Goryaeva B. B. AT 508 ‘Grateful Dead Man’ plot in the Kalmyk fairy tradition. Dagestan State Pedagogical University Journal. Social and Humanitarian Sciences. 2016. Vol. 10. No. 4. Pp. 79–83. (In Russ.)

13. Goryaeva B. B. Motif of the way in Kalmyk fairy tales of the plot type at 508 ‘Grateful Dead’. New Philological Bulletin. 2022. No. 3(62). Pp. 394–406. (In Russ.)

14. Khabunova E. E. Kalmyk Wedding Ritual Poetry. Elista: Kalmykia Book Publ., 1998. 223 p. (In Russ.)

15. Khabunova E. E., Gejin C. Fairy-tale tradition of the Turko-Mongols: Motives for the expulsion of a bear-born hero. Oriental Studies. 2019. Vol. 12. No. 5. Pp. 1026–1033. (In Russ.)

16. Kukeev A. G. Banner of the Third Don Kalmyk Cavalry Regiment. Oriental Studies (Bulletin of the Kalmyk Institute for Humanities of the RAS). 2010. Vol. 3. No. 1. Pp. 60–63. (In Russ.)

17. Mandzhieva B. B. Motifs in the epic songs of jangarchi Teltya Lidzhiev. New Philological Bulletin. 2022. No. 1(60). Pp. 361–375. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.54770/20729316-2022-1-361

18. Mandzhieva B. B. On the plot of the Maloderbetovsky cycle songs of the Kalmyk heroic epic Jangar. Vestnik of North-Eastern Federal University. Series “Epic Studies”. 2021. No. 3(23). Pp. 26–34. (In Russ.)

19. Mandzhieva B. B. Storyteller Sh. V. Boktaev and his repertory. The New Research of Tuva. 2013. No. 1. Pp. 90–100. (In Russ.)

20. Mandzhieva B. B. The issue of studying the motives of the Kalmyk heroic tale and the heroic epos “Jangar”. Vestnik of North-Eastern Federal University. Series “Epic Studies”. 2016. No. 1(1). Pp. 44–50. (In Russ.)

21. Mandzhieva B. B. The Tale of Nomo Tekseg Khan as a forerunner of the Jangar [Epic]. In: The Researcher of Mongolic Languages. Jubilee collection (B. Todaeva). Kalmyk Intelligentsia series. Elista: Kalmyk Humanities Research Institute (RAS), 2005. Pp. 106–110. (In Russ.)

22. Mirzaeva S. V. Kalmyk folktales: Some Buddhist features revisited. In: Turko-Mongols. Questions of Ethnic History and Culture. Vol. 3. Elista: Kalmyk Humanities Research Institute (RAS), 2015. Pp. 196–204. (In Russ.)

23. Neklyudov S. Yu. Dzayachi. In: Myths of the World. Encyclopedia. Online edition. Moscow, 2008. P. 310. On: Indostan.ru. Available at: https://www.indostan.ru/biblioteka/knigi/2730/3412_1_o.pdf (accessed: 1 August 2022). (In Russ.)

24. Propp V. Ya. Historical Roots of the Magic Tale. Leningrad: Leningrad State University, 1986. 365 p. (In Russ.)

25. Propp V. Ya. The Russian Folktale: Collected Works by V. Propp. Yu. Rasskazov (ed., comment.). Moscow: Labirint, 2000. 416 p. (In Russ.)

26. Pyurbeev G. Ts. (comp.) A Concise Kalmyk-Russian Dictionary of Verbal Phraseological Units. Moscow, Elista, 1971. 60 p. (In Russ.)

27. Sangadzhieva B., Sangaev L. (comps.) Kalmyk Folktales. Vol. 1. Elista: Kalmykia Book Publ., 1961. 220 p. (In Kalm.)

28. Seleeva Ts. B. Dynamic and static attributes of space and time in Kalmyk heroic epos «Dzhangar». Oriental Studies (Bulletin of the Kalmyk Institute for Humanities of the RAS). 2011. Vol. 4. No. 1. Pp. 173–177. (In Russ.)

29. Seleeva Ts. B. Kalmyk and Xinjiang Oirat Versions of the Jangar Epic: A Thematic Guide. Elista: Kalmyk Humanities Research Institute (RAS), 2013. 276 p. (In Russ.)

30. Tokarev S. A. (ed.) Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia. In 2 vols. Vol. 1: A–K. Moscow: Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya, 1987. 671 p. (In Russ.)

31. Ubushieva D. V. The motive of overcoming of water space and of overcoming of a way by means of races (On the materials of songs of the Bagatsohurovsky cycle of the Kalmyk heroic epos «Dzhangar»). Mongolian Studies (Elista). 2011. Vol. 5. No. 1. Pp. 302–308. (In Russ.)

32. Uther H. J. The Types of International Folktale: A Classification and Bibliography Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. S. Dinslage et al. (eds.). Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 2004. Part 1. FF Communications 284. Animal Tales, Tales of Magic, Religious Tales, and Realistic Tales, with an Introduction. 619 p. (In Eng.)