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DOI: 10.46698/VNC.2022.17.10.011 OATH-TAKING AND OATH-BREAKING IN THE TEXTS OF THE NARTS’ KADAGS
Gutieva, Elmira T. , Dzarasov, Viktor S.
Kavkaz Forum. 2022. Issue 10.
Abstract:
Oath-giving, as an important component of ritual and ceremonial practice, arouses steady interest among researchers. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the micro-contexts of oath-giving in the texts of Ossetian Nart’s sagas, which played an important role in preserving historical memory and ensuring longevity of ethno-cultural stereotypes of the Ossetians. All examples from the existing editions of the sagas in the Ossetian language were sampled. The conclusion is made about the Scythian-Nart succession of the ritual, its durability, and the different forms of its implementation. Age and gender inequality in the issue of oath-giving is also analyzed. A comparative analysis of the subjects of the action was carried out, which indicates the gender obligation of a man, soldier, to keep his word. The oath is taken by the Narts who have passed initiation, their respected guests, sacred characters. Isolated cases that do not fit into this pattern demonstrate that in exceptional cases the monopoly on the gender of oath-taker can be violated by women of advanced epic age, young but promising Narts, for whom the oath serves as a harbinger of exceptional biographies. The swearing takes place under exceptional circumstances, in a special setting: in sanctuaries, in special jury or oath places, at feasts. The connection of ritual and ceremonial practice with the afterlife is also considered. For women, the possibility of taking an oath is not excluded, but it fits into the general context of their breaking gender stereotypes, assuming male duties or roles. Cases of apostasy in kadags are not many, some liberalization of a strict code becomes possible if the word is given to a hero of a much younger age, a woman, or the famous trickster Syrdon, the expectations of moral behavior from whom are low, in their turn, the Narts themselves ungratefully violate the word given to him, even if he helps them in difficult situations.
Keywords: oath, Narts, Kadagi, Scythians, the Ossetians, gender, afterlife
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