Kavkaz - forum
 

Contacts

 

DOI: 10.23671/VNC.2020.8.58157

OSSETIAN EPIC AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Tuallagov, Alan A.
Kavkaz Forum. 2020. Issue 1.
Abstract:
The article is devoted to the problem of the appearance of a rare image of
a lizard in the Narts’ epic of the Ossetians. This image is practically unknown in
Ossetian mythological, ethnographic and folklore materials, which corresponds
to the situation in other Caucasian peoples. The specified position determines
the relevance of the topic proposed for analysis. The scientific novelty of the
study consists in the analysis of the materials of the Ossetian epic in the light of
ancient Iranian religious and mythological representations and archaeological
monuments. The aim of the study is to determine the source and conditions
for the appearance of the corresponding zoomorphic image in the Alanian
antiquities and the Ossetian epic heritage. In the course of the study the method
of a comprehensive analysis of narrative and archaeological sources based on the
principle of historicism and systematic presentation was applied.
As a result of the study, it was possible to identify a common circle of
archaeological and written sources, allowing to determine the source of the
appearance of the image of a lizard in the Ossetian epic. This zoomorphic image
penetrates to the Alans in the early Middle Ages through the mediation of the
population of the North-West Caucasus, who experienced the direct influence of
Zoroastrianism due to the entry of this territory into Sasanian Persia. It is possible
that one of the local species of lizards could serve as the prototype of the image
itself. But, if here the image of the lizard directly corresponded to the images of
the Zoroastrian «forces of evil», then among the Alans it was reconsidered in line
with its own mythological ideas. The time of its appearance is determined by the
corresponding finds of the mirrors in the Alanian monuments. But the image of a
lizard could not replace or displace the traditional image of a snake, presented in
the epic. In epic, it only replenished a number of images of reptiles in the plot of
the magic cup.
Keywords: Ossetian epic, archaeological data, zoomorphic images, Alans.
+ References


← Contents of issue
 
 
© 2024 Kavkaz forum