The image of the ruler of the lower world in the Olonkho epic: an analysis of static and dynamic features

The article presents a comprehensive study of the image of Arsan Duolai, the ruler of the Lower World in the Olonkho epic. The relevance of the work is due to the insufficient study of this character in Russian folklore studies, despite the abundance of references to him in texts and ethnographic sources, as well as the growing interest of creative industries (cinema, animation, digital art) in archaic mythological systems. The aim of the study is to reconstruct the semantic core of the image by identifying its stable (static) and functional (dynamic) features. The material comprises a vast corpus of Olonkho texts, including early records from the prerevolutionary period and publications of the 20th–21st centuries. The methodological framework combines the structural-semantic approach of L.N. Vinogradova and the model of static and dynamic feature analysis proposed by M.T. Satanar. The analysis of static characteristics (naming, appearance, attributes, locus, social status) reveals a high degree of variability and syncretism of the image, manifested in the combination of anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, ornithomorphic, and natural features. It is established that the character’s name represents an integral system of designations reflecting his chthonic nature; the attributes (adaҕa, arbaҕas, anaҕas, arbyia) carry the semantics of subordination, dilapidation, and destructive power. The locus of the Lower World is characterized as a downward-expanding space with zoomorphic boundaries. The analysis of dynamic features identifies the key functions of Arsan Duolai in the epic narrative: supreme ruler and progenitor of the Abaasy tribes, judge, regulator of interworld transitions, and, in some cases, helper of the hero. The author concludes that the image is characterized by a dual nature: its basis is an archaic idea of a sacred deity ensuring world order, which in the process of the evolution of epic consciousness underwent gradual “demonization”. The results obtained clarify the place of Arsan Duolai in the Sakha worldview system and open up prospects for further comparative-typological and etymological research, as well as for the adaptation of the image in contemporary creative projects.

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