Plots and Motives of Altai Myths about the 12-year Animal Calendar

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the plot-motivational features of Altai etiological myths about the appearance of the 12-year eastern calendar. Analysis of historiography on the problem of the origin of this animal cycle allowed the author to come to the conclusion that the animal calendar existed among the Turkic peoples already in the distant past. Based on the material of the narrative folklore of the Altai people, the plots and motives about the appearance of the 12-year animal calendar are considered. The main research method is plot-motive analysis of the text. The novelty of the research lies in identifying the plots and characteristics of the characters in the myths about the 12-year calendar cycle. The animals present in the calendar – dragon, tiger and monkey – indicate the influence of the mythology of other eastern peoples. The results of a comparative analysis of Altai myths about the 12-year animal calendar with the myths of the Kazakhs, Mongols and Chinese showed a difference in the main characters: among the Altai people the creator of the calendar is the deity Kudai (theonym variants: Dayuchi / Dayaachy), the mythical character Dyylchy, others among the southeastern peoples are Buddha, and in particular among the Chinese – Yu Di. A chronological feature of Altai myths is the relationship between the appearance of the calendar and the mythological time after the flood. In the folklore of the Altai people, based on the plot of competitions between animals wishing to enter the calendar, independent plots of an etiological nature also arose. Independent motifs include the mythological motifs “who will see the sun first” (about a camel and a mouse), “thunder is an animal” (about a dragon), “the cloven hoof of a cow” (about a cow and a monkey). The Altaians have developed certain mythological ideas about the characters of each of the twelve years, repeating in a cycle, which they associate with the behavioral characteristics of animals. Using this calendar, people figured out what the coming year would be like.