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Select Glossary and Commentaries

Alina Nakhodkina

Aan Darkhan – spirit of fire.

Abaahy/Adjarai [a’ba:hi], [a’djarai] – evil and ugly creatures; according to I. Pukhov they are one-armed and one-legged Cyclops made of iron with their faces in the back of their heads. The only arm of an Abaahy that grows from the centre of his chest and his only leg are forked at the elbow and knee. They represent all the possible sins (wrath, lust, cruelty, infectious diseases, laziness, bestiality, impurity and cannibalism). The Abaahy (evil) characters attack people, rob and destroy their land, and kidnap women. Their world is a vast dark icy land with low red skies, fiery oceans and infinite swamps. The Sakha were blacksmiths and found iron ore in the ground which is why they believe that underground creatures are made of iron. The most traditional transformation of the Abaahy is a dragon shape. In Olonkho the part of Abaahy is performed in a dull voice, they have their own special interjections like art-tatai, buiaka, etc.

Ap-Charai – enchanted rope.

Arsan Dolai [ar’san] [‘dolai] – the Lord of the Under World. Full name: Arsan Dolai Logayar Luo Khan where ‘luo’ [lu’o] of a Chinese origin means ‘dragon’, and ‘arsan’ derives from the Turkic ‘arslan/aslan’ that means ‘lion’.

Baigal – an ocean. As former steppe nomads the Sakha feel a natural distrust of large water basins and call them ‘бай5ал’ ([bai`gal] – the closest equivalent is ‘ocean’) which has a negative connotation. The spirit of such an ocean is supposed to be only evil (see: Abaahy). There is a hypothesis that the name of Lake Baikal derives from this word.

Botur/batyr [‘botur], [‘batir] – hero, different spellings of the word ‘botur’ came from Turkic and Mongolian languages.

Chabirgah [tchabir’gah] – recitative, a long rhyme or a tongue-twister.

Colours. There are two words in the Yakut language with the meaning ‘white’: Turkic үрүŋ [ju`rjuŋ] and Mongol Ма5ан [ma`gan]. They differ in connotations. Turkic ‘үрүŋ’ derives from milk food but can be decoded as ‘sacred; divine; god’s; light’. It is ­conditionally used in the names of supreme deities or good spirits, e. g. Urung Uolan – Yakut, literally the White Young Man where ‘үрүŋ /white’ means ‘of a divine origin/good’. Sometimes it can be used in addressing human-beings or descriptions of rich fields, etc., always with a positive meaning, e.g. ‘radiant white sky’, ‘white alaas’. It is seldom connected with the meaning of a colour itself. In such cases the word ‘ма5ан’ of a Mongolian origin is used, e.g. ‘ма5ан хаар’ [ma`gan ha:r] – ‘white snow’. The Sakha as blacksmiths and jewellers value metals: iron, copper, gold and especially silver. They prefer silver probably for its disinfectant quality. They called gold – ‘red gold’ (red because of much copper added) and silver – ‘white gold’ that is why they often mention silver in describing beautiful white teeth; they never call teeth silver-white but just ‘silver teeth’ implying their white colour. Yellow also derives from the colour of the most precious milk product – butter. It can be used in a description of a valley, often in a combination with gold/golden, especially in a human appearance description, e.g. ‘yellow-golden cheeks’. Both white and yellow symbolize beauty, richness, abundance and are used in a description of ‘ilgeh’. In Olonkho ‘black’ has additional meanings ‘strength’, ‘power’, even ‘cattle’, e.g. Eles Botur has a horse Ege Khara, ‘black’ also traditionally symbolizes ‘magic’, ‘mystery’ and ‘evil’.

Illustration: A symbolic eagle on top of a hitching post. See page 14.

Ekhsit and Aiyyhyt [‘ehsit], [a’ji:hit] – goddesses of fertility of both human-beings and cattle.

Eluu Cherkechekh, deadly abyss [e`lju:] [tcherke`tcheh] – a pit, one of the entrances to the Under World. It is among ‘three laughing abysses’ often mentioned in Olonkho. Eluu – deadly, death; Cherkechekh is a proper name.

Esekh [e’seh] – a summer solstice festival, in other words the Kumis Festival, usually celebrated on 21 June; now modern Sakha celebrate it from the second half of June until the beginning of July. The name derives from the Yakut word ‘ыс’ that means ‘sprinkle’. Shamans sprinkle the ground with kumis as a symbol of fertilization and prosperity for good grass growth and healthy cattle.

Ilbis and ohol [il’bis] [o’hol] – flying spirits of war, discord and bloodlust. They sow the seeds of strife and hostility, and fly over the field of a battle screaming and howling. Usually only their children are mentioned in Olonkho: daughter of ilbis and son of ohol. They live at the top of the spearhead, arrowhead or in the blade of another weapon. They drink blood and when they are hungry, flames of blue or sulphur fire appear on the weapon.

Ilgeh – a milk food or drink of a shining white or yellow colour traditionally symbolizes 1) abundance, favour, benevolence, grace; 2) energy, strength. It is often used as a metaphor for food and richness. Usually liquid, sometimes it has an egg shape.

Khaman-Imen land, Tuman-Imen land, Kimen-Imen land – mythological lands where the materials for the various parts of the bow are collected.

Khotun [ho’tun] – a title of an honoured lady; a landlady; a wife. Often it is used together with ‘эбэ’ (ebeh [ä`bä]) – ‘grandmother’. A flattering addition of these words to geographical names either ground (road, mountain, valley, and abyss) or water (river, lake, ocean, swamp) reflects an instinctive fear and respect of the natural forces, e. g. Saidiliki Ebeh Khotun – Saidiliki valley/ lake.

Kun Aiyy (Күн Айыы [кjun aj`i:]) – a human tribe of descendants of the Upper World who inhabited the Middle World by the order of the supreme deity Urung Aar Toyon. ‘Kun’ means ‘sun’, ‘sunny’, ‘solar’; ‘Aiyy’ – ‘god’ – highlights the divine origin of these people. They are usually described as ‘with the reins on their backs/necks’. ‘Reins’ symbolize the sun beams as specific energetic threads.

Kun Jehegei [кjun djehe’gei] – a god of horses, one of the most popular gods for the Sakha, sometimes referred to as ‘the Fiery’ because he is the son of the Sun.

Kuo [ku’o] – a word of Turkic origin meaning ‘beautiful, a beauty’.

Kut [kut] – shadow, usually of a black colour; the closest Christian equivalent is ‘soul’. In the Yakut system of beliefs, each human and supernatural being has three ‘shadows’, i.e. their soul, their physical body and their connection to their ‘mother: according to I. Pukhov, ‘Iye-kut’ [i’je:] [‘kut] - mother-soul, ‘Buor-kut’ [‘bo:r] [‘kut] - earth-soul and ‘Salgyn-kut’ [sal’gin] [‘kut] - air soul. The Sakha believed that at the conception of the foetus the gods take the Buor-kut from the earth, Salgyn-kut from the air and connect it with the major part of the soul ‘Iye-kut’ and then instil it into the woman.

Mother-soul-kut – according to the Sakha belief, Mother-soul-kut consists of three elements: ‘Lye-kut’ (mother-soul), ‘Buor-kut’ (earth-soul) and ‘Salgyn-kut’ (air soul). The Sakha believed that at the conception of the foetus the gods take the Buor-kut from the earth, Salgyn-kut from the air and connect it with major part of the soul ‘Lye-kut’ and then instil it into the woman.

Nurgun Botur the Swift [njur’gun] [‘botur] – one of the most popular mythological heroes of the Olonkho, a legendary giant from the Upper World enbued with force and endowed with mysterious talents. His function is to defend the Middle World and the sunny tribe Kun Aiyy. Unlike the demons he never transforms into a dragon but can significantly change his appearance and easily become eagle, ermine, iron-scaled fish, giant bee, spear, can take the form of an Ajarai and can even transform into a fog. His nickname is the Swift. Quickness is one of the most positive characteristics of someone’s personality for the Sakha people. Cf. the constant epithets of positive epic heroes: Дьулуруйар Ньургун Боотур – Yakut, literally, the Swift Nurgun Botur; Элэс Боотур – Yakut ‘элэс’ [e’les] means ‘moving rapidly’, it becomes the name of a really fast hero Eles Botur. Slowness has more negative connotation for its association with laziness, stupidity and illness. Olonkho is full of cosmogonic characters such as water, sky, sun, moon (the Yi/Moon daughter), some constellations like Pleiades (in other words, the Wolf Constellation, cf. Yakut. ‘Urgel’ from the Yakut word ‘ur’ [jur] – to howl); the Orion constellation, cf. Yakut. Тайахтаах сулус [tajah’ta:h su’lus] which means the Elk/Moose Star. Cholbon Star – the term the Sakha use for Venus. The Olonkho supernatural characters include the triad of the gods – demiurges; the supreme deities of the Upper World; the Sacred Tree Aar Luuk or Luup Mas; the goddess of Earth; a fantastic bestiary: birds and animals including dragons, and five daughters of stars. Turtle is called the Great Turtle in Olonkho; stallion is a symbol of the Universe; eagle is a symbol of space, Sacred Tree and Sakha ancestors. Cuckoo and raven are birds-psychopomps used in shamanistic ceremonies. Moose is a solar symbol. The earth is covered by a dome-like heavenly sphere, the edge of which hangs down like a fringe and rubs the turned up edge of the earth. The noise of this rubbing reminds us of the battle of furious stallions biting each other and their teeth gnashing.

Oburgu – a traditional epithet that is attached to the names of heroes. It is a polysemantic word meaning ‘bold’, ‘mighty’, ‘brave’, ‘cunning’, ‘smart and quick’, sometimes its meaning is close to an American expression ‘good on you!’. It may be used both in a negative and positive sense. It always expresses ‘awe’.

Odun Khan [o’dun], Genghis Khan, Jilga Toyon [djil’ga] the Elders – gods of fate. It is interesting that a historical figure Genghis Khan is included in the Sakha pantheon as a god.

Olonkho [olon’ho] – a Yakut heroic epic about the feats and adventures of mythological characters. It first appeared during the eighth-ninth centuries AD. The researchers classify three main plots: the inhabitation of the Middle World by a human tribe Aiyy; the adventures of an orphan child Er Sogotokh – the Lonely Man who is the ancestor of the Yakut people; the most popular is the defence of the Middle World from the attacks of demons – Abaahy or Ajarais. In one of the versions the Abaahy occupy the Middle World, fell the Sacred Tree Aar-Luuk Mas with its eight mighty boughs that float in the Upper World like green islands and burn it. This reminds one of elements of the plot of James Cameron’s Avatar and prompted the Minister of Culture and Spiritual Development of the Republic of Sakha to talk about the similarity of the plots.

Olonkhosut [olonho’sut] – Olonkho performer or singer. They used real Olonkho performers’ names: Timofey the Fat, Kokhaian, Akim, Kylachisap, Tabakhov, Androsova, Deaf Beken and others. Tired people may go to sleep during Olonkho performances because they usually take place in the evening after the working day. There was an obligatory rule to wake sleepers up otherwise they might never get up and stay in the fantastic world of Olonkho forever. (E.N. Romanova (2007) Lecture at the Olonkho translators’ group workshop. Yakutsk.)

Platon Alekseevich Sleptsov-Oyunsky [pla’ton alek’sejevich o’junskij] – Recording the Olonkho, Oyunsky organized its written form according to the general rules of European drama. He divided Olonkho into chapters and songs, introduced short annotations to each song and monologues and dialogues to make the composition of the epic more distinct and readable. The oral forms of Olonkho do not provide a strict organization of the narrative and usually are performed as a whole without any subdivisions into fragments, parts or speeches.

Sata – a bezoar concretion, as hard as a stone found in the stomach or intestines of animals. It is believed that it can affect the weather causing dramatic thunderstorms and hurricanes. Sata-stone traditionally is found underground; because of that and because of its glimmering light it is closely associated with a piece of coal.

Seleh – a thick rope made of light and dark horse hair stretched from (birch) tree to tree around the place where the Esekh (summer festival) is held to ward off the evil spirits.

Toyon [to’jon] – a title of a lord; master; husband. It is also used in names as well as ‘эhэ’ (eheh [ä `hä] – grandfather), e.g. the Yakuts call bear ‘эhэ’ (grandfather) highlighting a high status in the family hierarchy and relative connection with a forest predator. In fact, the Sakha resort to the euphemism ‘тыатаа5ы’ [teta:’hi]– the one from the forest.

Toyuk [to’juk] – a traditional folk song of a melancholic character. Toyuk may be performed as a part of an epic or a single song.

Urankhai Sakha [u’ranhai] [sa’ha] – a self-given name of the Sakha people.

Urung-Aiyy Toyon or Urung-Aar Toyon [ju’rjung], [a’ji:], [‘a:r] – a supreme deity whose name means literally ‘the White Lord of Gods’ or ‘the White Lord of the World/Universe’ (see: Colours).

Weapons – batas [ba’tas], batyia [bati’ja], ynyy [u’nu:]; sugeh [sju’ge]. Batyia – a Yakut weapon with a long handle and relatively short blade on one side, like a wide and thick hunting knife. Sometimes it is called ‘pal’ma’ [`paljma]. Batas – ancient weapon, the closest analogue is a spear, with a type of big knife as a spearhead approximately 45 cm long and 4.5 cm wide. The handle is about 1.5 metres long. It can be three-headed. Ynyy – a spear. Sugeh – an axe.