THE EPIC OF SIBERIA by GEORGE MURRAY HAINING SHOOLBRAID B.A., University of British Columbia, 1963 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of SLAVONIC STUDIES We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, 1965 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study* I further agree that per• mission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly , purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publi• cation of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission* Department of The University of British Columbia, Vancouver 85 Canada ii ABSTRACT The thesis deals with the oral, or folk epic of the non-Slavonic peoples inhabiting Siberia, excluding the so-called PalaeoSiberiana. It is divided into four main parts, as follows: I. Essay on the historicity of.epics, in general terms, but with special reference to those of- Siberia. II. Discussion of the epics of the two main groups, Mongolian (Burjat) and Turkic, which latter includes the Yakut of the north. Form and construction of the epics, with remarks on their versification, mode of presentation, and content, in general. III. Details of the content, shown in summaries of the stories of selected epics. IV. A short account of the Soviet attitudes towards folk literature, and conclusion. The appended bibliography lists the major works in the field, both primary and secondary, and the Glossarial Index gives excursi upon several topics and motifs regu• larly met with. iii CONTENTS • ABSTRACT. ii CONTENTS Iii ILLUSTRATIONS iv PREFACE. .-..'. v PART I The Historical Basis of Epics.. .....1 I. Introduction... ..1 II. Accuracy and Variation.. 3 III. The Eliciting of History......... 10 PART II Form and General Content.. 24 I. .The Burjat-Mongol Epic. .24 II. The Turkic Epic 55 PART. Ill The Stories of the Epics.. ......79 I. Gar' julaj-Mergen .79 II.. Irinsej. 94 III. Manas... 96 IV. Alpamysh ...103 V. Kyrk Kyz . ...106 I VI. Kambar-Batyr ;i.lfJQ0 i. Kambar. 110 ii. Early version.... .....112 VII. Unstumbling Mjuldju the Strong. 114 VIII. The Samoyed Epic of Itje... ...119 PART IV Conclusion.... ....123 NOTES. .. .' .127 BIBLIOGRAPHY .153 GLOSSARIAL INDEX 169 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure I The Khuur 29a Figure II Uliger Music • 33 The illustration of the khuur is taken from N. Sharakshinova, Bur.1 atski.1 Fol'klor, 1959, p. 197. That of uliger music, from 0. 0. Tudenov, Bur.latskoe Stikhoslozhenle, 1958, pp. 7-6-7. PREFACE The oral literature of Siberia, like that of any large geographical area, is extremely diverse, including every type of folklore from proverb to epic. There are connect• ions to be seen with the literature of other countries, mainly, of course, those contiguous to Siberia, such as Mongolia, Persia, and Russia. There are several studies of these "major" literatures extant, and Indeed a complete bibliography of them would fill many volumes, even if it were only confined to the languages of Western Europe. The study of the Siberian epic is but part of the larger study of the oral productions of mankind, yet it yields a picture of humanity which is surely of great inter• est to the ethnologist, social scientist, and litterateur. Within the confines of a study such as this, only the •barest outline is possible. The bibliography tries to be full, but no bibliography of such a wide field can hope to be exhaustive. Much work requires to be done in all this territory, and it is hoped that the following survey and bibliography will be of use to scholars, and even laymen, who wish to pursue this subject further. Most of the sources used in this thesis are In Russian; books in Oriental languages have been kept to the minimum. It is not of course ideal that translations should be used as a basis for statements (and even con• jectures) regarding the literature or folkways of a people, but at least seme idea can be gathered of the vast, fund of material in the "other" languages, much of it untranslated, much of it still unpublished. The majority of the critical works is also in Russian, and . a summary digest of these should prove helpful to the student, and direct his steps towards those which seem most fruitful. There are few controversial issues at stake here. My statements and theories are generally supported by quoted facts, and where I have gone so far as to make a hypothesis, it can be argued that there is evidence on both sides of the question. In literature, as in his• tory and psychology, there is often ground for debate, but no hope of a self-evident truth to be demonstrated. Finally, I should like to thank those colleagues, librarians and friends who have borne with me in my travail, and in particular, my sister. Naturally, none is responsible for any errors but myself. PART I THE HISTORICAL BASIS OF EPICS I. INTRODUCTION Epic poetry has long been highly regarded by the west• ern world. Aristotle held it to be the near equal of Tra• gedy, for him the most exalted form of poetic art.1 Dryden indicated the informed opinion of his generation when he declared: "Heroic poetry, which [ the illiterate, censorious, and detracting critics] condemn, has ever been esteemed, and ever will be, the greatest work of human nature."2 Two types of epic may be distinguished: the epic of art, or the literary epic, and the epic of tradition, or the , folk epic. The first "is exemplified by Vergil In antiquity, by Ariosto| in • sixteenth-century Italy (Orlando Furioso, 1516), and a hundred years later by Milton. With the exception of the remarkable epic of Poland, Adam Mickiewicz* Pan Tadeusz,5 and Nikos Kazantzakis' sequel to the Odyssey,^ this lite• rary form appears to be dying out in the western world. The second type, the folk, or oral, epic, seems to follow a similar course. In Britain, after two centuries of rapid social change, it can no longer be said that every village is "a nest of singing birds", although examples are 2 found even now of the singing of ballads, some of very ancient provenance. The "muckle sangs" of the old peas• antry are dying, however, and the metrical romance is dead. The words of George Lyman Kittredge are fast com• ing true: "Ballad-making, as far as the English-speaking nations are concerned, Is a lost art; and the same may be said for ballad-singing."5 While ballads are still sung and composed in Britain and America, they are by no means as ambitious as those in vogue among other nations. In Russia, byliny of some length have appeared, with Lenin and Stalin as their sub• jects in place of the legendary demigods and princes of Kiev who figure in the "classical" heroic songs of pre- revolutlonary times,^ and one still finds examples of the folk epic flourishing among more primitive peoples, including those that inhabit the Soviet Union. The native tribes of Siberia have for a long time treasured a vast store of epic songs, which have been pass• ed from, one generation to the next by oral tradition alone. Some of these peoples have only recently acquired an alpha• bet, and because of the preliterate nature of their society research on this material is still in its infancy. Soviet scholars have continued with increasing enthusiasm the work of such pioneers as Radlov? and Pekarskij,^ but the western world is not yet familiar with a great deal of this literature. The oral art of the Turkic tribes has, it is true, been dealt with at some length by the Chadwlcks9 and Winner;10 yet much still remains to be done in this sphere, as in others. II. ACCURACY AND VARIATION The student of oral epics is faced with the necessity of reconciling two factors in their production: absolute ' accuracy of repetition, which originates in a religious attitude towards the poems, and the unconscious, or at times even conscious, editing of the material. Examples of absolute accuracy of transmission are nu• merous. John Whitehead, for instance, observes that "among the Celts, history was customarily passed down by word of mouth, by bards trained to meticulous accuracy in oral repetition,"11 and as a consequence, traditional sto• ries should not be inconsiderately rejected as a basis for a hypothesis.12 The bardic schools of Wales and Ireland had an extremely lengthy programme of instruction, at the end of which the file, or bard, was able to recite an enormous number of poems, in all the different styles ~ all from memory.1^ In the Cycle of the Fian alone, there were one hundred and twenty prime tales which the bards could recite.1^" The legends of the Hebrews seem to have been cast by the priests and prophets into saga form, used in a litur• gical way at such seasonal rituals as the Feast of In• gathering (Feast of Tabernacles); it was on these occasions that the "cult myths" would be recited and Yahweh's concern with his worshippers eulogised.^ This was both a commemor• ative and a magical act, just as the ceremony of the Mass in a Catholic Christian church is intrinsically a magical rite. Such, in all probability, was also the case among the Celts, for the druld (derwydd) was priest, magistrate and historian, and constant recitation kept traditions alive into historical times.