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       An Olonkho hero

      As noted above, from the sixth to the eighth centuries, the Kurykans – the Yakut people’s ancestors – were in contact with the ancient Turkic peoples. The Yakut and Buryat legends show that the last Mongolian tribe with whom the Yakut had any contact (apparently in the North Baikal region) was the Buryat. This might have taken place some time before the fifteenth century. Possibly, it was during this time that the first Olonkho pieces begin to appear. On the other hand, given that the Olonkho has certain features that connect it with ancient Turks, it is quite possible that they originated at the end of the first millennium, approximately during the period from the eighth to the ninth centuries. According to its structure, the Yakut epic belongs to the later tribal period. There are some significant features, which prove that the Yakut epic belongs to the tribal period. These are: the Olonkho mythology, reflecting the patriarchal and tribal relations; the remnants of animistic views; the plots (battles with creatures); the remnants of the general tribal division of hunted goods (remaining in some pieces of Olonkho), and exogamous marriage.

      Facts such as the ancient peoples using bows and arrows both as combat weapons and as working tools (during hunting) also prove the above statement. What proves conclusively that it is indeed an epic of the later tribal period, the time of ‘military democracy’ among the Turkic and Mongolian peoples of Siberia, is the type of cattle-breeding activity of the heroes – both developed forms of cattle-breeding, but especially horse-breeding predominates. A hero is always featured on a horse, the horse being his best friend and help-mate. His rival, on the contrary, is usually depicted on a bull in a sleigh team or astride a horrible creature. Fishing and hunting are in the background, they play a secondary role (the hero hunts only at the beginning of his life). Tribal society is practically divided into heroes (tribal aristocrats and chiefs) and their servants – house-workers that are considered to be lesser members of the family and society generally. The hero is the chief of his entire tribe, and, of course, the younger heroes obey him. There are some aspects of a fledgling division of labour; there is a blacksmith and smithy. Blacksmiths make ironwork tools and combat weapons. A well-developed and strict religious system also proves that the Olonkho is an epic of the later tribal period. There is an ‘Olympus’ – the home of all the good deities, led by Urung Aar Toyon (The Great White ­Lord). Evil Under World, or Hades, (the world of dual) evil chtonich creatures, led by Arsan Dolai, are opposed to the good deities. His people, Abaahy, do evil and harass others. Apart from the Upper World (the sky) and the Under World, there is a Middle World, i.e. the earth itself. The Middle World is inhabited by people, as well as by spirits of different objects, called echi. Every living being, every object in Olonkho has its echi spirit. Aan Alakhchyn Khotun, the goddess and the spirit of Earth plays a significant role. She lives in the tribal sacred tree called Aar-Luuk-Mas (‘Tree of Life’). The goddess of Earth helps the hero and his people, requests other gods to help the people, blesses the hero leaving on a long journey, and sustains his strength, by letting him drink milk from her breasts. During his journey the hero needs the sympathy of echi spirits of different locations – mountain ranges, rivers and seas. He has to give them gifts, so that they willingly let him pass through their territory, without causing him any trouble.

      Olonkho describes a person’s life starting from his birth. Once the human being is born, he starts to organize his life, overcoming various obstacles that he meets along the way; the creators of Olonkho see these obstacles as creatures that pester the human being’s beautiful country. They destroy and demolish all that lives in this country. The human must clear the country of these creatures and create a rich, peaceful and happy life for all. These are the ultimate goals set before the first human; that is why he should be an unusual, wonderful, destined hero, sent specially from above:

      To defend the sunny

      Uluses,

      To prevent the death of

      People.

      In all the Olonkho pieces the first man is a hero.

      The hero and his tribe are heaven-born. That is why the hero’s tribe is called ‘Aiyy kin’ (the deity’s relatives). ‘Aiyy kin’ is the name of the Yakut ancestors, the creators of Olonkho. According to his important role, the hero is depicted not only as strong, but also as a handsome and well-built man.

      The person’s physical appearance in Olonkho reflects his internal state. That is why the hero, Nurgun Botur the Swift:

      Is as slender as a spear,

      As swift as an arrow,

      He was the best among all,

      The strongest among all,

      The most handsome among all,

      And the bravest among all.

      Nobody would stand a chance

      In the hero world.

      But the hero is, first of all, a mighty person, leading deathly battle. Therefore, he is also depicted as a majestic and threatening hero:

      He is as big as a cliff,

      His face is menacing,

      His forehead is protruding,

      Sharp and stubborn-like;

      His thick veins

      Stand out on his entire body;

      They throb and heave

      With the blood running through them.

      His temple is sunken,

      His nerves carefully quiver

      Under the golden skin.

      His nose is straight,

      And he has quite a temper.

      As a rule, the Olonkho characters are all different. If the main hero is a good defender of the people, who saves everyone in times of trouble, then the representatives of the ‘Abaahy kin’ tribe (literally, the demon’s relatives) are represented as evil and ugly creatures; they are one-armed and one-legged Cyclops. They represent all possible kinds of sin and evil, such as wrath, cruelty, bestiality and impurity. The Abaahy (evil) characters attack people, rob and destroy their lands, and kidnap women. In Olonkho, kidnapping a woman is a symbol of all possible insults, offences and humiliation towards the people. Having said that, the Abaahy characters have some human features. Their interpersonal relations are built on the principles of the humans’ tribal interrelationships. Thus, Arsan Dolai has the features of the patriarchal race’s chief. During the course of some events the main characters hold conversations with such evil characters. The nature of these conversations is similar to the conversations of two rival tribes’ representatives. The main heroes make various bargains with the evil characters and Abaahy shaman girls: they make peace for a time, and swear an oath not to attack during the period of truce. Sometimes the main characters do not kill the Abaahy characters that they defeated, but let them go peacefully, with a promise that they will not attack people anymore, or they turn them into servants. In this sense, there are interesting marriage bargains between the defeated Aiyy heroes and the Abaahy shaman girls. The Abaahy shaman girls are very lustful and strive hard to get married to an Aiyy hero. In order to do so, they can easily betray their own brother, the main character’s bitter rival. Using their weakness, the defeated Aiyy hero gives the Abaahy shaman girl a false promise to marry her and strikes different bargains with her, aimed against her brother. The Abaahy shaman girl does not violate this treaty, but the Aiyy hero does. Sometimes the Aiyy heroes and the Abaahy become sworn brothers, but only temporarily, because in Olonkho it is considered impossible for the Aiyy and the Abaahy to be close friends and sworn brothers forever. All this shows that

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