Article

Name: Mount Surgu and the Milk Lake in the Shor epic

Authors: Lyubov N. Arbachakova

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of folklore

Abstract:

This work examines the beliefs of the Shor people about the mythical Mount Surgu/Sumer/ Sugur with the süttüg-kӧl (a milk lake) at the foot. This mythical mountain is well known in the Sayano-Altaic epic. The analysis focuses on the examples of twenty Shor heroic tales recorded by N. P. Dyrenkova, A. I. Chudoyakov, D. A. Funk, L. N. Arbachakova, and others. Mount Surgu and the milk lake cannot be regarded as ancestral places for the Shor people, as an ancestral mountain is a mountain near the residence of the people. The epic life of an alyp (giant or bogatyr) does not feature rituals at the foot of Mount Surgu and the Milk Lake. Instead, the spirit helpers of alyp are sent there for repose. Mount Surgu and the Milk Lake are heavenly places where grass and leaves do not wither, as they are eternal. Moreover, it is the place of purification from all evil, the place of rebirth, and the resurrection of the lost souls of bogatyrs or spirit helpers of alyps. It is the place where the horse (alyp’s assistant) and the spirits-helpers will go. When necessary, alyp can summon his horse from this place. Once the narrator accomplishes the epic, he sends the horse to Mount Surgu to graze. Similarly, the narrator sends his spirit helper to this heavenly place. To summarize, the Shor heroic epic and shamanic mysteries associate the mythical mountain and milky lake as a sacred dwelling place for both the alyps’ and shamans’ spirit helpers.

Keywords: Shor heroic epic, Mount Surgu, Milk Lake, story-tellers, alyps, shamans, spirits-assistants

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