The values of the warhorse suits and the epic tradition

Abstract

In the scientific article “Meanings of war horse colours and epic tradition” the typological similarities of poetic description of heroic epics of Turkic-speaking peoples and Siberia formed in the context of the epic “Manas” are considered. The etymological meanings of war horse colours in the artistic structure of the epic “Manas” are also analysed. The epic “Manas” has brought to our days a whole range of images of horses, starting with fantastic mythological images of horses and ending with realistic ones. Descriptions of the horse’s colours, the peculiarities of its walking and running, its ability to understand not only the master’s orders but also its state of mind occupy a large place in the narrative. Each horse is endowed with a nickname, each is characterised by some qualities peculiar only to it. It is known that different time layers are present in the epic, and from this it is possible to reveal the images of the Tulpar in their stadial evolution, which makes it possible to consider their essence in hyperpolarity. In the epic “Manas” there are more than 150 names of war horses of different colours. The totality of artistic images of war horses depicted in the context of “myth and reality” as endowing them with wings, human speech, and the ability to transform through transformation into werewolves is a real cultural treasure of the epics and a subject of scientific interest of hundreds of researchers. In the process of evolution each national epic preserving the given properties of the archetype, at the same time transformed into the poetic image of horses some specific properties, developing and glorifying some special qualities inherent only to the given epic.