THEONYMS YEZIM AND YAZHYLKHAN IN THE SHAMAN MYTHOLOGY OF THE ALTAIANS
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2019-2-158-168
The article is the first to give an ethno-linguistic analysis of the theonyms Yezim and Yazhylkan) in the shamanic mythology of the Altaians, taking into account their origin, historical and ethnographic context and cultural semantics. The research material is shamanic texts, written at the beginning of the twentieth century in various dialectal groups of Altaians. In the internal form of these theonyms lies the motivating word jеs / jas ‘copper, copper’ (Yezim – lit. ‘My copper’; Jazhylkan – lit. ‘Copper Khan’). This suggests that the origin of these theonyms is associated with the mythologization of copper and the deification of the mountains. The mythologization of metals and the appearance on the basis of this folklore images is characteristic of archaic cultures. The Altai shamans called Yezim a mountain, as well as the host spirit of this mountain, which they considered their patron saint (aru töc). Altai shamans believed that this copper mountain is located in the very center of the earth, where there is a copper poplar connecting all three worlds – upper, middle and lower. The shaman reaches the mountain peak of Yezim, overcoming seven obstacles. From the deity of Yezim, the shamans received a shamanic gift, spirit helpers, and attributes. The motivating word jеs / jas ‘copper, copper’, which lies in the inner form of the theonym Yazhylkan (Chalkan variant – Tjazhyn), makes it possible to compare this deity with the thunder-god, the patron of blacksmithing in Buryat mythology, Yashil-Sagaan-Tengri. Both Buryats and Chalkans attributed these deities to the category of gods (tengri, tegriler). Altaians was made for this deity an image of a white hare's skin and put it in a yurt.
Keywords: ethnolinguistics, mythology, shamanism among the Altaians, shamanic text, theonym, mythonim, mythotoponim, personification, copper in the mythology of the Turks
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Issue: 2, 2019
Series of issue: Issue 2
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 158 — 168
Downloads: 856