Creatures from Tatar legends

Recently, I came across an old children's book at home by Gabdulla Tukay. In it, I read about several interesting creatures about which the Tatar peoples told tales to their children in ancient times. In today's article I would like to write about some of them.
So. The first creature I want to talk about is Shurale.

He lives in the forest, and looks like a hairy man with a horn in his forehead, has very long arms, with long fingers. He likes to kidnap horses from villages and ride them. Sometimes it rolls to death. It would seem that Shurale is an analogue of the Slavic goblin, but no, the only similarity is that he lives in the forest. Sometimes several of them could live in one place at once. The Shurale lured people into the thicket and there, tickled them to death with their long fingers, but they were afraid of water, and they could escape by crossing the stream. In Tukay’s work, Shurale stumbles upon a lumberjack, and he tricks him into putting his fingers into a crack in the log, after which he pinches them and calmly leaves. The savvy guy called himself Last Year, and when his relatives came running in response to Shurale’s screams, he tried to force them to find a lumberjack. But how can you find last year?

- What's wrong with you, why are you screaming?
— I got my fingers pinched last year!
- When did it get pinched? - they ask the shurale.
- Now it’s pinched, last year it’s pinched!
“I won’t understand you,” says one shurale. — You have both now and last year at once.
- Yes, yes! - Shurale shouts, and he twitches his fingers. - Last Year, Last Year! Catch up with him! Punish him!
— How can you catch up with last year? - says another shurale. - How can he be punished?
“Last year I pinched it, but now I suddenly screamed.” Why were you silent last year? - the third shurale asks him.

The next creature is Zilant, those who were in Kazan probably saw his image near the Kremlin - a winged serpent. Once upon a time, according to legend, the leader of the snakes, Zilant, lived in this place; he had a snake tail and wings; according to one version, he was a good guardian dragon, guarded the city and helped people. According to another version, he had two heads: one of a snake, with which he devoured people, the second of an ox, with which he ate grass. And there was no way to save me from him, people were afraid to walk in that place, they were afraid to hear the whistle of the Big Serpent. Then the ruler turned to the sorcerer, who advised him to drag brushwood, dry grass and branches around the mountain in the winter, while all the snakes, led by their king, were sleeping, and in the spring, when the snow had melted, to set the place on fire. This is what the khan’s people did, the snakes burned in the fire along with Zilant, and in memory of this monster, the khan ordered to depict it on the coat of arms. So says one of the legends. The mountain on which the Kremlin now stands in Kazan is still called Zilantova.

The image of a snake is still very popular in art, in addition to the statue in Kazan, and its image on the coat of arms, its image is often used in souvenirs and in the design of various front grilles and buildings throughout Kazan. It is also a symbol of the Zilantcon festival, which is held annually in November in Kazan, and where all fans come role playing games and science fiction from all over Russia.
There are still a lot of different creatures in Tatar mythology, and in the near future I will try to write about a few more.

Introduction

Siberian Tatars are the Turkic population of Siberia, living mainly in rural areas of the present Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk regions, as well as in Tyumen, Tobolsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Tara, Barabinsk and other cities Western Siberia.

Characteristic genres Tatar folklore are epics, fairy tales, legends, tales, songs, riddles, proverbs and sayings. In order to understand the features of national folklore, a number of plots, motifs and visual and expressive means, it is necessary to have at least general idea about Tatar mythology. The myths of the Tatars can be considered as follows: thematic groups: 1) mythological ideas about the relationship between people and animals; 2) cosmogonic myths; 3) gods and goddesses in myths; 4) stories about characters of “lower mythology”.

myth legend folklore turkic

Tatar myths and legends

Echoes of ideas about the connection between people and animals are preserved, for example, in the wonderful fairy tale “Ak b?re” - (“White Wolf”), which tells about the transformation of a wolf into a young, handsome horseman. There is a lot of information in fairy tales about how pigeons turn into beauties or beautiful horsemen. The plots of some fairy tales from beginning to end are based on family and kinship relationships between women and animals.

Few cosmogonic myths, or rather, their echoes, have survived. Nevertheless, they exist. Thus, the Earth, according to the views of the Tatars, was represented as a flat space. It is located on the horns of a huge bull. In turn, this bull is attached to the mustache of a huge world fish that swims in the vast expanse of water. Thus, these universal ideas are reflected in Tatar mythology.

The most ancient ideas Tatars' ideas about gods are primarily associated with the common Turkic, perhaps ancient Eastern, heavenly deity Tengri. There are several Tengris, each of them performs a very specific, positive or negative, function. Tengri was widespread in the territory of Malaya, Central and Central Asia, modern Kazakhstan, Southern Siberia, Lower and Middle Volga and the Urals. It is possible that this is precisely what explains the peaceful and relatively easy penetration of Islam into the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia. The only ideological force that could one way or another resist Islam here was Tengrism. However, the requirements of these two religions were so close to each other that they became complementary.

Starting from the outstanding monument of Bulgar-Tatar literature - Kul Gali’s poem “Kyyssa-i Yusuf” (first quarter of the 13th century) and until the end of the 20s of the 20th century. Almost all works of Tatar written literature are imbued with a very strong influence of the ideology and mythology of Islam. However, in the works of folklore, a slightly different pattern is observed: the absolute majority of samples of those genres that, as such, were formed before Islam, are subject to its influence much less than written literature. These include ritual poetry, proverbs and sayings, riddles, fairy tales, mythological stories and folk epic. It was these genres that brought to us the most significant data about pagan mythology Tatars, one of whose representatives is the many-headed Div, or Div-peri. Although Div appears as an evil monster in Tatar mythology, he is sometimes depicted as an assistant to the hero.

One of the most popular and widely famous characters Tatar mythology is Shurale - the inhabitant, and in a certain sense, the owner of the forest, a creature with a hairy body, with one horn, with very long fingers, with which it can tickle a person to death.

Ubyr is depicted as another, much more sinister creature, sometimes appearing in the guise of the bloodthirsty old woman Ubyrly karchyk. It “penetrates” a person’s body and “takes” the place of his soul.

Tatar mythology is quite rich in all kinds of spirits - masters of various elements, which are designated by the general term Iya: Su iyase - Master of water, Su anasy - Mother of water, Su kyzy - Daughter of water, Yort iyase - Master of the house, etc. Most often they act as masters, often lords, of those elements, structures, premises to which they belong.

Myths, legends and tales are an integral part of the culture of any people, which is an invaluable intangible heritage of all humanity.

In this article we will look at the ten most popular (in our opinion) related to various mythical creatures and real characters.

* * *

Zilant - a winged serpent on bird legs. Historical symbol of the city of Kazan.

According to one of the legends, during the founding of Kazan, on the outskirts of the city, there lived a local residents. One day, the khan, who was building a fortress, after consulting with the elders, decided to send the bravest and most agile young man to Zilant so that he would drive him away. In a bloody battle, the young man defeated the serpent, but he himself died. In memory of the fallen hero, grateful residents placed images of Zilant on the coat of arms of their city, which adorns it to this day.

One day, a young horseman went to the forest for firewood and met there, who invited the woodcutter to play tickle with him. He agreed, but on the condition that Shurale first help him fill the cart with brushwood. The unsuspecting forest spirit agreed and, “inadvertently,” thrust his thin and long fingers into the crack of the log and got stuck. And the resourceful horseman returned home safe and sound...

Also, in addition to this legend, there are many others in which the stupid Shurale becomes a victim of his weaknesses, in particular, the legend of racing on a horse coated with tar.

One hot summer day, a village boy, accidentally spying on the river, stole a golden comb from her, forgotten on the bridge. That same night, an angry witch came to the house of the young thief and demanded the return of the stolen property. After a short dialogue with the merman, the boy’s frightened mother returned the comb to its rightful owner...

There are many versions regarding the origin of the name of the city of Kazan. According to one of them, the Tatar people, in search of a place to found a city, turned to a shaman for help, who advised them to build the city where a cauldron of water dug into the ground would boil by itself. After a long search, such a place was found at the confluence of two rivers - Kazanka and Bulak, where they founded a new city, which, in honor of the miracle cauldron, was named Kazan.

Once Ivan the Terrible, captivated by the fabulous beauty of the Tatar queen Syuyumbike, sent his matchmakers to her, but was refused. Then the offended tsar decided to use force - he gathered a large army and besieged Kazan. Syuyumbike, in order to save her city and people from death, agreed to get married, but on one condition, if the Moscow Tsar built a seven-story tower in Kazan in seven days, worthy of her beauty. Seven days later the tower was ready. Then the proud Syuyumbike, having climbed to the very top of the tower, threw herself from it headfirst and turned into white swan and flew away. Since then, the tower has been named after her.

09.11.2016

© All rights to the article and photographs in it belong to its author and the Tatar online magazine “Kara Akkosh” (website). Full or partial copying of site materials is possible only with the written permission of the editors of the Tatar online magazine “Kara Akkosh”.

Tatar myths and legends Completed by: Daria Tyugaeva, 7a grade student at the Secondary Municipal Educational Institution secondary school 1 r.p. New Burasy, Novoburassky district Saratov region» Head: Alfereva M.K. Completed by: Daria Tyugaeva, student of grade 7a, Municipal Educational Institution “Secondary School 1 r.p. New Burasy, Novoburassky district, Saratov region” Head: Alferyeva M.K. Network project “Multi-colored round dance”

The hero Idel and the beauty Akbike On the banks of the river Shirbetle once stood big city, where a rich khan lived happily in a luxurious palace. His wife Fatima was known as a skilled sorceress. The parents' joy was their only daughter, the beautiful Akbike. Many young men were secretly in love with her, but they avoided the palace, fearing the sorceress Fatima. The khan's daughter fell in love with the hero Idel. One day he plucked up courage and stole the beautiful Akbike so that he could always be with her. Fatima demanded that her daughter be returned to the palace. But Idel and Akbike did not listen to her. The sorceress became angry, blew and spat at the kidnapper and drove Idel-Volga away from her eyes, to where the current river bed is. Since then, the lovers have never been separated.

Big people In ancient times, people were completely different - tall, powerful. We made our way through the spruce forests as if through large grass, ravines and gullies, and easily stepped over lakes. Once the son of one of these giants was playing and frolicking and saw a very small man plowing the ground. With a horse, with a plow. The boy put the little man, along with the horse and the plow, in his palm and wondered for a long time: where did such wonders come from? And then he put them in his pocket and took them home. Tells his father; “When I was playing, I found this toy man,” and showed the find. The father looked and said: “Son, don’t hurt him.” Wherever you found it, take it there. This is one of those people who will live after us. The boy carried the little man, along with the horse and plow, to their original place.

The dogs were scared. They were guarding the felled trees. Suddenly they hear someone walking along the branches with a crash, walking straight towards them. In the moonlight you can see: long, thin, covered with fur. - Is there a woof or woof? - asks. “No,” they answer him. - Is there a chug-chug? - No. One of the sons hides the dog behind his back. She is torn, about to jump. And shurale is getting closer. - Shall we play tickle? - speaks. At this point they let the dog go - where did the shurale come from and rushed in the direction of his eyes. The next morning we got up and saw: where the shurale had fled, the trees had fallen in stripes. He turns out to be afraid of the dog and the whip. The deceased father said that in our village there lived a man named Persiam Satdin. One day he and his two sons spent the night in the forest and saw a shurale.

Albasty The Tatars name Albasty as a force or evil creature that lives and appears to people mainly in non-residential houses, wastelands, fields and meadows. Albasty appears to people in the guise of a person, and most of all in the form of a large cart, a haystack, a haystack, a stack, a fir tree, etc. Albasty is dangerous because he can crush a person to death, and sometimes also drinks his blood. Once, a student of the Kazan madrasah once told me, in the month of Ramadan at night after dinner I went to bed. In a dream I saw that I was going to the mosque to pray. When I entered the mosque, the mullah and the people were already praying. Suddenly I see a hefty old beggar man who comes up to me, roughly grabs me and begins to crush me. He pressed so hard that it was impossible to breathe. I was suffocating and losing consciousness. I wanted to scream, but my voice wouldn’t come out of my throat. After some time, Albasty disappeared and I, screaming in horror, woke up exhausted, tired, and fell ill the next day.

However, Albasty does not always crush a person; sometimes he gets off with a slight fright, and the mysterious creature does not cause much harm. A man was driving in winter from the city of Kazan to his village at night. Before reaching the village some two or three miles, he sees two haystacks moving on either side of him, and near these haystacks something is glowing. Having looked more closely, the man was horrified, recognizing Albasta in the stacks. He began to urge his horse, but no matter how much he urged it, he could not get past the glowing haystacks. He was finally convinced that Albasty was pursuing him, and began to whip the horse even harder. But it's all to no avail.

He heard the roosters suddenly crow, and both haystacks and the light near them immediately disappeared. After this, the horse, feeling relieved, no longer ran at a trot, but took off straight at a gallop, so that it was impossible to restrain it. Finally, the man found himself in an unfamiliar village and could not figure out where he was. I thought for a long time and guessed that this was the same village through which he had passed during the day. After two or three hours of racing, he arrives at a dark forest, the likes of which have never been seen in this area. He hears the sounds of music, distant human voices, the mooing of cows, the neighing of horses... The man became even more frightened and moved on with prayer. And the luminous haystacks do not lag behind even a step, they all accompany him. I looked around - the same haystacks and the same extraordinary light around them. The man lost all hope of deliverance. He will attack, he thinks to himself, Albasty and crush him. Well, come what may! He lay down in the bag and let go of the reins...

Having collected last strength, the man went to his village. Meanwhile, it had already become light. As he rode, he kept looking around, marveling at the tracks of his sleigh and remembering the night journey. In the end he recovered and, feeling liberated from Albasta, arrived safely in native village. However, after this incident the man fell ill and barely survived. If the roosters had not crowed on time that dark night, his death would certainly have been inevitable.

Star Zukhra Once upon a time there lived a girl named Zukhra. She was pretty, smart, and had a reputation for being a great craftswoman. Everyone around her admired her skill, efficiency and respect. They also loved Zukhra because she was not proud of her beauty and hard work. Zukhra lived with her father and stepmother, who envied her stepdaughter, scolded her for every trifle, and burdened the girl with the most difficult housework. In front of her father, the evil woman held her tongue, but as soon as he crossed the threshold, she began to harass her adopted daughter. The stepmother sent Zukhra for brushwood into a terrible dense forest, where there were many snakes and ferocious animals. But they never touched the kind and meek girl.

Zukhra worked from dawn to dusk, trying to do everything she was ordered, trying to please her father's wife. Where is it? The stepdaughter's humility and patience completely infuriated her stepmother. And then one evening, when Zukhra was especially tired from incessant work, her stepmother ordered her to fetch water from the river into a bottomless vessel. Yes, she threatened: “If you don’t fill it to the brim before dawn, you won’t be able to set foot in the house!” Not daring to contradict, Zukhra took the buckets with the rocker and set off into the water.

She was so tired of sleep during the day that her legs could barely carry her, her arms were taken away, and her shoulders bent even under the weight of empty buckets. On the shore, Zukhra decided to rest at least a little. She took the buckets off the yoke, straightened her shoulders, and looked around. It was a wonderful night. The moon poured silvery rays onto the earth, and everything around basked in sweet peace, illuminated by its rays. The stars twinkled in the mirror of the water, connecting with their round dance in the heavenly ocean. Everything was full of mysterious, captivating beauty, and for some moments Zukhra forgot, her sorrows and hardships went away.

A fish splashed in the reeds, and a light wave rolled onto the shore. Memories of her sweet childhood came flooding back with her, as if the affectionate words of her beloved mother were heard again. And this made the unfortunate girl, who woke up from a moment of oblivion, even more bitter. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, falling like large diamonds to the ground. Sighing heavily, Zukhra filled the buckets, and the yoke laid an unbearable weight on the girl’s shoulders. And the stone lay even heavier on my heart. Zukhra looked at the moon again - she still floated freely along the heavenly path, shining and beckoning. And so Zukhra wanted to forget herself again, like a heavenly wanderer, to know neither grief nor worries and give kindness and affection...

At this time, a star fell from the sky. And as she fell to the ground, it became lighter and lighter. Zukhra’s soul suddenly felt lighter, the heavy stone stopped pressing on the girl’s heart. A sweet languor overcame her, she felt joyful and at peace. Zukhra felt the buckets of water becoming almost weightless. Her eyes closed of their own accord. And when Zukhra opened her long eyelashes again, she saw herself on the moon, which she had been peering at for so long. She was surrounded by a dance of many stars, one of which shone especially brightly.

It turns out that this star has always been watching Zukhra. She saw her suffering, which did not embitter the girl against her evil stepmother. This same star embraced Zukhra with its rays and lifted her up, right up to the moon. No one on earth saw this, nothing disturbed her nightly peace. Only the surface of the river near the shore began to ripple and again became clear, like a mirror. And with the morning dawn both the moon and the stars disappeared. Zukhra's father came to the shore, searched for his daughter for a long time, called and called her beloved and beloved. But I saw only two buckets filled to the brim with water. And either it seemed to him, or it really was - as if it flared up and disappeared into clean water small clear star. It got dark and started to appear in my father’s eyes. He touched the buckets with his hand - the water stirred, sparkled, and began to play. As if the buckets were not full of her, but with many precious diamonds...

List of references and sources tatarstana/skazochnyie-suschestva-tatar.html tatarstana/skazochnyie-suschestva-tatar.html Myths of the Ancient Volga: myths, legends, tales, life and customs of the peoples who lived on the banks great river from ancient times to the present day / comp. V. I. Vardugin; ill. G. M. Panferov. - Saratov: Nadezhda, p. : ill.

Ministry of Education Russian Federation

Nizhnevartovsk State Humanitarian University

Faculty of Culture and Service

Department of Social and Cultural Service and Tourism

on the topic “The Myth of the Siberian Tatars”

in the discipline: “Fundamentals of Mythology”

Performer: Antonenkova. A.M.

Scientific supervisor: Gumerova. G.A.

Nizhnevartovsk, 2012

Introduction

The characteristic genres of Tatar folklore are epics, fairy tales, legends, baits, songs, riddles, proverbs and sayings. In order to understand the features of national folklore, a number of plots, motifs and visual and expressive means, it is necessary to have at least a general understanding of Tatar mythology. The myths of the Tatars can be considered in the following thematic groups: 1) mythological ideas about the relationship between people and animals; 2) cosmogonic myths; 3) gods and goddesses in myths; 4) stories about characters of “lower mythology”.

myth legend folklore turkic

Tatar myths and legends

The most ancient ideas of the Tatars about gods are primarily associated with the common Turkic, perhaps ancient Eastern, heavenly deity Tengri. There are several Tengris, each of them performs a very specific, positive or negative, function. Tengri was widespread in the territory of Asia Minor, Central and Middle Asia, modern Kazakhstan, Southern Siberia, the Lower and Middle Volga and the Urals. It is possible that this is precisely what explains the peaceful and relatively easy penetration of Islam into the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia. The only ideological force that could one way or another resist Islam here was Tengrism. However, the requirements of these two religions were so close to each other that they became complementary.

Starting from the outstanding monument of Bulgar-Tatar literature - Kul Gali’s poem “Kyyssa-i Yusuf” (first quarter of the 13th century) and until the end of the 20s of the 20th century. Almost all works of Tatar written literature are imbued with a very strong influence of the ideology and mythology of Islam. However, in works of folklore, a slightly different pattern is observed: the absolute majority of examples of those genres that, as such, were formed before Islam, are subject to its influence much less than written literature. These include ritual poetry, proverbs and sayings, riddles, fairy tales, mythological stories and folk epics. It was these genres that brought to us the most significant data about the pagan mythology of the Tatars, one of the representatives of which is the many-headed Div, or Div-peri. Although Div appears as an evil monster in Tatar mythology, he is sometimes depicted as an assistant to the hero.

One of the most popular and widely known characters of Tatar mythology is Shurale - the inhabitant, and in a certain sense, the owner of the forest, a creature with a hairy body, one horn, and very long fingers, with which it can tickle a person to death.

Tatar mythology is quite rich in all kinds of spirits - masters of various elements, which are designated by the general term Iya: Su iyase - Master of water, Su anasy - Mother of water, Su kyzy - Daughter of water, Yort iyase - Master of the house, etc. Most often they act as masters, often masters of those elements, structures, premises to which they belong.

Description of characters

Abzar iyase

In addition to the brownie, according to the belief of the Kazan Tatars, there is also Abzar iyase - the owner of the stable, who lives in the yard or in the stable. The Russians do not have a corresponding name for Abzar iyase, since responsibilities he is carried by the same brownie. Abzar Iyase is primarily the ruler of cattle. Sometimes Abzar iyase appears to people in the form of a person or animals, but only from a distance and at night. He has a close relationship with cattle. The barn owner braids his favorite horse's mane and brings him food. A horse that Abzar does not like for some reason, he tortures it all night, rides it all night, takes away its food and gives it to his favorite horse. Disgraced horses become boring and thin; it is best to sell them out of the yard as soon as possible so that they do not die.

Albasty

The name Albasta is used by the Tatars to name a force or an evil creature that lives and appears to people mainly in non-residential houses, wastelands, fields and meadows. Albasty appears to people in the guise of a person, and most of all in the form of a large cart, a haystack, a haystack, a stack, a fir tree, etc. Albasty is dangerous because he can crush a person to death, and sometimes also drinks his blood. When Albasty crushes a person, he feels a strong heartbeat and suffocation.

Bichura

Bichura - the same as Russian kikimora or neighbor This creature appears in the form of a woman - from one and a half to two arshins in height. On her head is an irnaq, an ancient Tatar headdress. Bichura lives in residential premises - on the ceiling, in the underground and in the baths, but not for everyone, but only for some owners. Others set aside a special room for the bichura, where she is watered and fed. A plate of food and a few spoons are left overnight. The next morning the plate is empty, Bichura leaves nothing. And if she gets angry with the owner for something, she will break the cup in which she is served food and scatter everything that comes to her hand. Bichura often crushes a person in a dream, likes to suddenly scare him and generally plays pranks on people. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a brick or a piece of wood flies by. It is unknown who threw the log. Because of Bichura, people sometimes leave their homes; it can be impossible to live, especially if you are alone.

The hero Idel and the beauty Akbike

On the banks of the Shirbetle River there once stood a large city, where a rich khan lived happily in a luxurious palace. His wife Fatyma was known as a skilled sorceress. The joy of his parents was their only daughter, the beautiful Akbike. Many young men were secretly in love with her, but they avoided the palace, fearing the sorceress Fatima. The khan's daughter fell in love with the hero Idel. One day he plucked up courage and stole the beautiful Akbike so that he could always be with her. Fatima demanded that her daughter be returned to the palace. But Idel and Akbike did not listen to her. The sorceress became angry, blew and spat at the kidnapper and drove Idel-Volga away from her eyes, to where the current river bed is. Since then, the lovers have never been separated.

Genie

By folk stories, Jinns do not cause much harm to people. But, distinguished by their intrusiveness and taking on carved guises, they frighten a person, and meeting them is at least undesirable.

Iyyase

Fabulous creatures, according to the beliefs of the Kazan Tatars, live everywhere - in houses, in the field, in the forest, and in the water. Among those who live in houses and courtyards, next to a person, the place of honor is occupied by Iyase, or the owner of the house, the brownie. He usually chooses underground as his home, from where he comes out at night. He appears to be an old man wearing a rather long hair. The brownie is a caring owner and even a useful creature: he protects the house, in anticipation of trouble he walks around all night, worries and sighs. If some misfortune happens at night, he wakes people up, shakes their legs or knocks.

Pitsen, in the mythology of the West Siberian Tatars, the spirit is the owner of the forest. It was believed that it could bring good luck and cause evil, leading into the wilds. He was represented in the form of a man (in particular, a handsome old man with a long staff and a knapsack over his shoulders), as well as various animals (for example, a monkey). Pitsen lives in abandoned hunting huts, loves horses, rides them, tangles his mane, smears it with resin. In the guise beautiful woman enters into love affair with a person. One of the stories about Picena. says that one day a hunter in the forest met a woman (in whose guise a picenus appeared before him), married her and lived richly. One day, arriving home earlier than expected, instead of his beautiful wife, he saw a monster with fangs sticking out of his mouth. She pulled out lizards from her flowing hair and ate them.

Zilant

In Tatar legends and fairy tales, a mythological creature in the form of a dragon or snake.

Tulpar

Winged horse in Kipchak (Bashkir, Kazakh, Tatar) mythology. Corresponds to Pegasus in ancient greek mythology. Tulpar in Bashkir heroic tales acts as an adviser and assistant to the hero, whom he helps to defeat monsters; carries the warrior on himself through the air, throws lightning, raises the wind with his wings, and shakes the earth with his neighing. With a blow of his hoof, Tulpar knocks out a source, the water of which gives inspiration to the sesen.

The epic is not widespread among the Tatars-Mishars; it is characteristic of the Siberian Tatars. Baits, a unique genre inherent in Tatar folk poetry and in essence close to ballads, became widespread. The word b?et (bait) Arab origin and denotes a two-line stanza. Later it becomes a designation individual works and the whole genre of Tatar folk art. Baits belong to the lyro-epic genres of folklore. They are created during or after important historical events(wars, peasant uprisings) or after any exceptional incidents ( sudden death, death). Therefore, their content is associated with specific historical, most often tragic, events, and the images have prototypes. Baits are characterized by first-person narration. This technique is associated with very deep traditions. In the modern folklore repertoire of the Tatar-Mishars, the genre of baits is fading.

Among the Mishars, fabulous and legendary stories book origin. Fairy tales are considered one of the most durable genres of folklore: having originated in primitive antiquity, they still remain one of the most active genres of prose folklore. Main place in prose folklore Fairy tales occupy a large place, although tales about animals were previously a genre variety.

Among fairy tales There are many heroic ones, in the very names of which, in the designation of the name of the hero, the word batyr is present. But in these tales there is still more of the dastan-epic than the fabulous.

IN everyday tales plot, composition and artistic features much simpler and more accessible. There are no traditional voluminous beginnings and endings, and there are practically no repetitions. Their plot is simple and clear and usually consists of two or three episodes-motives. Great place are occupied by dialogues, competitions in wit, wordplay. They contain a lot of sharp satire, but more often gentle humor.

In addition to the genres discussed above, there is another type of Tatar folklore - these are aphoristic genres (proverbs, sayings, riddles).

The functions of proverbs are very wide and varied. And the most important among them is ensuring harmony in relationships between people. They formalized customary law verbally and demanded its observance. Proverbs were of considerable importance in preserving information and passing it on to next generations. The role of proverbs and sayings in the moral and ethical education of people, especially young people, was great.

A specific group consists of riddles that, externally, according to the pattern of the verse, on the one hand, are close to proverbs, and on the other hand, they differ from them in their two-part nature: they must always have a corresponding answer. The origin of riddles dates back to ancient times - to that distant period when the main economic activity people were hunting, which required adherence to strict rituals, including taboos, i.e. prohibition of certain words - names of animals, hunting tools, designations of certain actions. On this basis, verbal and brief, easily memorized descriptions of various animals and beasts, hunting tools, etc. were formed. There are many mysteries associated with the specific conditions of human life and society. The content of the riddles is generally wide and varied.

The music of the Tatar people, like other types of art, has gone through a centuries-old path of historical development. Mode-intonation (pentatonic) and rhythmic features have common features with the musical traditions of the Turkic and Finno-Ugric peoples.

All the diversity of Tatar musical folklore can be divided into songwriting and instrumental music. It was in the song that it was clearly reflected emotional life people - their sorrows and joys, holidays and customs, life and historical development. The song creativity of the Tatars includes ritual (calendar, wedding), historical (baits), lyrical songs and quatrain songs or ditties (takmaklar). In folk musical art Only solo singing, traditionally monophonic, developed.

In the ancient songs and folklore dances of girls with their plasticity and grace, shy movements, there is no hint of scope, freedom or revelry. Monotonous movements with small steps almost in the same place in the Tatar folk dance, as well as lingering sad songs, speak eloquently about the modest reclusive life of Muslim girls.

The most common instruments of Tatar musical folklore were: accordion-talyanka, kurai (a type of flute), kubyz (violin), surnai (oriental musical instrument).

Mythical and fairy-tale creatures of the Tatars. Mythology of the Tatars

Creatures from Tatar legends

Introduction

Tatar myths and legends