E-mail: himins@yandex.ru Moscow, Russian Federation PhD (Philology), independent researcher
The article is devoted to the comparison of the Mordovian epic about Tyushtya with the folk legends about Chud’, popular in the Russian North. All points in which Tyushtya epic corresponds with the Chud’ tradition are analyzed successively. Such correspondences are for example idealized description of “thushtyan times” in Mordovian songs and accounts of agricultural prosperity of Chud’ in Komi legends, the notions of the Chud’ folly in Russian and Finno-Ugric folk legends and “tyushtan anecdotes” in the Mordovian folklore. The most conspicuous motif, typical for both traditions, is the “white birch” motif — the “white birch” appears suddenly, proclaiming the arrival of Russians. In Russian and Komi legends Chud’ flee or bury themselves alive after an appearance of the white birch; in Erzya songs Tyushtya, having seen the white birch, flee with his people oversea. It is concluded that this motif is of Finno-Ugric origins and it’s original form was the narratives about the disappearance of Chud’, symbolized by the “dark”, coniferous forest, and arrival of the new people’s generation. In the article Mordovian calendar rites, associated with the name of Tyushtya, and “commemorations of the ancients”, which existed among Komi-Permyaks and Russians of Kai region are compared. It is concluded that Tyushtya epic and Chud’ legends have their roots in the myth about the first human generation, which had disappeared after an advent of the modern people.
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