In the paper we continue the analysis of calendar-numerical characteristics of epic texts, with the inclusion of ancient Egyptian (the Tale of the Pharaoh Khufu), the Story Peteite III, of the epic Beowulf, the Song of my side of Olonkho Kyys debiliye, Eles Bootur, Latvian lāčplēsis, Tuvan Hunan Kara, Bartug Kirish, Albini (Khakas). The dominance of the number “three” in all the studied epic texts relating to the peoples inhabiting the Northern part of Eurasia, from Scandinavia (Beowulf) and Karelia (Kalevala), Pomorie (epics), and ending with Yakutia (Nyurgun botur, Kyys debiliye) and Buryatia (Geser) was revealed. In Western European texts uniformity is missing, in the text Sid's, and one version of Roland, also dominates the number of “three”, but in the second version of Roland dominates the number of “two”. In the southern texts (Gilgamesh, Odyssey) is dominated by the number 7, 12. In economic texts from Ancient Egypt, dominated by the “five” and its derivatives, and the number “two” and “ten”. At the same time, in the North Eurasian texts, the “five” has either a low frequency or is absent. Extension of the accounting field in the Siberian texts is mainly reduplicatia, with the formation of mixed decimal numbers. This method of expanding the numerical field in Western (Roland, Syd) and southern (Gilgamesh, Odyssey) texts is unknown. The number of third or more discharges are generated by everywhere decaterina. In texts belonging to the classical group (Roland, Sid), the frequency of large (100 or more) numbers is very high. It is revealed, that some “strange” numbers (13 and 73, Geser) are related to the account and time accounting (calendar). The version of the calendar-numerical marking of the hero's image (Geser) is considered. According to preliminary data (Olonkho Kyys Debiliye), the numerical appearance of the “female” text differs by the dominant number “eight” from the “male” Olonkho, in which the “nine” dominates. Taking second place after the “Troika”, the numbers 9 and 8 change places. Numeric complex 6-7 the texts of Olonkho is almost there (1-2 times), in the ekhirit-bulagat version of Geser, he also appears a little (9%).

Manas has been orally transmitted in Kirghiz for more than a thousand years. There are hundreds of variants of Manas in which legendary and cultural traces are on full display. The connection between such legendary traces and the figures’ heroic feats are discussed in this paper, mainly limited to the version of Jüsüp Mamay. The tens of legendary and cultural sites and monuments described in Manas are scattered across a vast area which stretches from West Asia to Central Asia, north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, from southern Siberia through to Northeast China and provide spiritual meaning for later generations. These legendary traces, cultural sites and monuments are divided into two types in this paper. One is comcerned with a number of important places that are mentioned in the texts and have already become organic elements of the epic in the course of the manaschi’s performance, such as the mausoleum of the heroes. The other type comprises mainly man-made traces, including large-size groups of memorial buildings, sculptures of the epic personages and of well-known epic performers, and even the tombs of such performers. All of these legendary traces and cultural sites constitute the most precious treasure in the culture and knowledge system of the Kirghiz people. They come from different historical periods and never cease to bring to life the emotions, experiences, past events, destinies, weal and woes, happiness and sorrows (of the figures to this ethnic group0 of the characters of the Kirghiz epic. Furthermore, these cultural traces also continue to play an important role in modern Kirghiz society (social life). The following discussion is focused on a few typical examples that highlight their cultural significance. The main version discussed Jüsüp Mamay’s variant, one of the classical version recorded in China. Other versions, especially the versions from Kyrgyzstan, will also be referred to.

The proposed article is devoted to the relevant problem of the epic stage development. The question of the stages or phases of development of the Manas epic was solved by many scholars from different points of view. Until now, the debating point in Manas studies remains the question of the time when Manas epic appeared and its epic historicism. From the point of view of the author, the methodology of the historical study of Manas epic is not fully developed yet. Attempts are still being made to direct matching of some motifs of the epic to known facts and events of national history. But as V. Ya. Propp indicated, the epic did not reflect the single events of national history, but expressed the age-old ideals of the people, belonging not to one century, but to entire eras, to which certain themes and motifs of the epic can be attributed. Based on the experience of previous researchers, the author attempts to offer a theoretical concept about the period of origin and the main historical stages of development of the Kyrgyz heroic epic of Manas.

The main method of research was the historical-typological analysis of the Kyrgyz folk tradition, the interpretation of which allows us to more confidently present the chronology of the stages of the formation of such a monumental and polystadial epic, which is Manas. In connection with the progressive development of the Kyrgyz history, the old poetic tradition was constantly updated. The historical study of the Manas epic is performed by the author in close connection with the problems of the ethnogenesis of the Kyrgyz people in the context of its history, material and spiritual culture.

As a result of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that in its development the Manas epic went through the following stages: the stage associated with the emergence of nomadic cattle breeding as a new way of life, the development of which led to fundamental changes in the economic and social life of the ancestors of the Kyrgyz and led to the emergence of the epic (the beginning of the 1st millennium BC – VI century AD). The second stage of development of the Manas epic is associated with the period of the formation of the early feudal state of the Kyrgyz on the Yenisei (VI-XIII centuries). The beginning of the next stage of development of the epic of Manas was followed by events related to the movement of the majority of Kyrgyz tribes from Siberia to Central Asia, caused by the Mongol invasion (XIII-XVI centuries). The final stage of the formation of Manas epic and its transfer into the national epic took place in the era of the Oirat-Dzungarian invasion (XVII-XVIII centuries).

The article deals with the issue of changing mythological motifs of transformation in the epic using the Buryat heroic epic “Abai Geser”. The purpose of the research is to reveal the mythological origins of the motif of transformation in the epic. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that the in-depth study of the epic is an important step in the national self-awareness of the people, as well as the insufficiency of studying the mythological origins of folklore works. We used comparative and reduction research methods. Among the other mythological motifs, the Buryat uliger “Abai Geser” reveals motifs of transformation that have their origin from the myths about the transition between worlds and the motifs of transformation. A typical example of traveling between worlds is the transformation of a girl into a bird: the girl Naran Gohon turns into a lark in order to be able to descend from heaven to earth. An example of a transformation that does not include a transition between worlds is the transformation of a bator into a bear. It has been established that part of the transformation motifs (“transformation of a Man into an Animal / Bird” and “transformation of a Man into a Plant”) is borrowed by the epic from myth in a practically unchanged form. At the same time, the text of the work identifies the motifs of transformation that have undergone demythologization: their mythological content is distorted and subordinated to the logic and tasks of the epic, however, the internal structure of such motifs remains unchanged compared to their functioning in the myth. Adaptation of the motif of the epic occurs to implement its compositional and poetic functions. Thus, in transforming a bator into a bear that saves Abai Geser, the image of a bear is intended to emphasize the strength necessary for the successful salvation of the hero. In the future, it is planned to deepen and expand the research on the material of the epic of the peoples of Siberia: the Buryat heroic epoic “Alamzhi Mergen young and his sister Aguy Gokhon”, the Yakut heroic epic “Mighty Er Sogotokh” and “Kys Debiliye” and the Khakass heroic epic “Ay-Huuchin”.

The main purpose of this analysis of the procreation motif in Kyrgyz legends, is to rationally and empirically clarify its ontological, axiological and socio-ethnic values in the context of nomadic existence.

The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that despite the linguistic, literary, ethnographic understanding of the main themes of the Kyrgyz epic, to this day the procreation motif is poorly studied in ideological, philosophical, epistemological terms, as a separate ontological-axiological segment. If we proceed from the philological, folkloristic, ethnographic traditions of the study, this problem is considered as “one of many”. Although we believe that having a large ideological and artistic, ideological and philosophical arsenal, it has long acquired its research “site”, and exists as a separate layer. We understand as a certain omission of many researchers involved in the study of Kyrgyz epics. Therefore, in our opinion, a separate consideration of the procreation motif allows not only to find out its fundamental and semantic specificity, but also expands the boundaries of mythological forms of understanding of the universe and man.

In this analysis, we proceeded from hermeneutic, comparative historical, structural and constructive methods of study, which allowed us to identify the main ideas underlying the studied problem. In understanding the main ideas of the topic, we put emphasis on the specifics of the nomadic perception of the world and the concept of being.

The study determined the following: The procreation motif in epics acts as the main onto-axiological problem, which actualizes the fundamental problem of the meaning of life of the Kyrgyz, because almost every legend begins with this theme. Thus, a huge number of epics orginaring from yhe the Kyrgyz people arise from this theme. Given that the oral environment persisted among the Kyrgyz for a long time, their creative was fixated on talented epic storytellers, who became the main source of numerous oral works. We believe that the main reason for their effective reproduction was the harsh geographical landscape in which the Kyrgyz had to live. And it was here that the mountains and valleys took the form of consciousness for them. The difficult conditions of nomadic, mountainous terrain were the truth of nomadic existence, in which the problem of survival of the people (preservation of the genus, hunger, need, external invasions) brought the motive for the continuation of offspring to the fore, embodied through the categories of rational and empirical. Therefore, in our opinion, this motif is the most important onto-axiological aspect of legends.

The article examines the image of the hero in the Slavic and Turkic epics in the structural and typological aspect. For a comparative study of samples of the epic the materials of Oghuz and Slavic written epic monuments from the 11^th-16^th centuries are investigated.

The investigation has been carried out on the rich epic material. From the Turkic epic material in the study were used The Book of Dede Gorgud, Oghuz Kagan, different texts from the cycle Oghuzname, Collection of Chronicles and etc, as well as from the Slavic epic material Tale of Bygone Years, The Lay of Igor’s Raid, Zadonshina, etc. The individual images have been analyzed, such as Igor Sviatoslavovich in The Lay of Igor’s Raid, knyazh Yury Ingvarevich in The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu, knyazh Dmitry Ivanovich in Zadonshina, Oghuz Khan in Collection of Chronicles, Bayundyr, Gazan, Beyrek, Aruz in The Book of Dede Gorgud.

As a result of analyzing the structure of the epic at the level of the image of the Slavic and Turkic epics the common parallels and similarities have been identified: idealization of the heroic feats of the heroes, similar plot motifs of the hero’s miraculous birth, matchmaking and marriage of the hero, as well as getting helpers, fighting for the liberation of the people from enemies. The study also revealed the distinctive features of the Slavic and Oghuz heroes. They are related to the fact that the studied epics were created in different ethnic environments that have their own historically, geographically and psychologically established features of thinking.

The main idea of ​​the study is the revival of moral values, the bright bearers of which are epic heroes – the embodiment of the historical view of the people, certain facets of national character and people’s experience. High humanistic, moral, and patriotic ideals of the people transmitted from generation to generation and becoming an important means of education, are embodied in the images of heroes.

The topicality of problem caused bythe increased interest in the person and creative legacy of Platon Oyunsky in the modern time. The study of his works contains open questions. In particular, his evolution as a thinker and writer is often forgotten, which leads to an ideological approach to him as merely an ardent fighter and “messenger” of the revolution. Early Oyunsky represented the “agenda-driven” type of a writer. His poetry was connected with social and political activity. Establishing Soviet power in Yakutia, taking part in civil war, creating “The Song of Freedom” and “The Eagle’s Will”, he truly believed in ideals of social justice and internationalism. Meanwhile, he avoided individualism, ideas of autocracy and tribune. In his early works, there were concepts of “people”, “workers”, “poor people”, his lyrical hero had collective, generalized character. There are ideas of opposition towards totalitarianism in P. Oyunsky`s later works “Kudangsa, the Great” and “Alexander, the Great”.

Another thing is there remains an obsolete tradition to limit the studies of his heritage within Yakut literature only. So far, the aim of our article is to study P. Oyunsky`s works against the wider background of world literature. Re-created by him monumental epic olonkho “Nurgun Bootur, the Swift” has typological similarities not only with epic poems of the Turk people, but also with such ancient manuscripts as Celtic sagas or Skandinavian“Senior Edda”. At the dramatic poem “Red Shaman” and the legend story “Kudangsa, the Great” traditions of Shakespeare’s tragedies “Hamlet” and “Macbeth” are felt. Besides, P. Oyunsky is one of founders of Yakut school of literary translation. All these arguments confirm the relevance of the topic “P. Oyunsky and world literature”.

This article analyzes the stylistic particularities of P.P. Yadrinkhskii (Beldeele)’s Olonkho “The Girl-Warrior Dzhyryybyna Dzhyrylyatta” as part of the central (Namtsi) local tradition by identifying and describing the olonkho’s foundational artistic devices. The relevancy of this research lies in its analysis of the memory and reproduction mechanisms of epic texts, the investigation of which is still in its early stages.

This analysis identified and described 14 foundational stylistic devices characters to the local Namtsi epic tradition, where the primary organizational principle of epics texts is rhythmic-syntactic parallelism that governs the majority of analyzed speech units. Thus, the language of the epic is primarily characterized by the syncretism through which dissimilar artistic devices combine into an indivisible unified whole, thus complicating the classification of varieties of stylistic devices. Similarly, in the language of this olonkho, the connotation of lexical units, acting as organizing elements in stable structures differs from their use in literary language and therefore they take on a non-communicative function.

This study reveals that, on the one hand, the analyzed stylistic devices of epic language are necessarily elements and comprise a complex, highly organized, coordinated system which act as markers allowing the olonkhosut to hold large epic texts in his memory. On the other hand, it is precisely on the basis of these stylistic devices that a cultural exchange materializes, an exchange of so-called aesthetic information between epic storytellers and their audience of listeners. Of course, during the creation and reproduction of an olonkho text, the storyteller uses these devise unconsciously, using them simply because his predecessor did and because they are demanded by his audience.

The statements above testify that P. P. Yadrinkhskii was one of the outstanding performers of his time, a master of creative speech, and perfected the art of Sakha storytelling. As storyteller/improviser, he successfully varied in his use of stable intertextual constructions and created new, idio-stylistic constructions which enrich the stylistics of his epic compositions.

Acknowledgements: This research has been conducted as part of the scientific-research project NEFU “Heroic Eposes of the Turko-Mongolian peoples of Eurasia: Problems and Perspectives of Comparative Study”.

This article discusses the heroic epic of the Yakut and Shor peoples. Our goal is to study the plot-compositional structure of the olonkho texts of the northeastern tradition of the Yakuts and Shor epics in a comparative aspect. We studied 14 texts and plots of olonkhos of the Northeast Yakut tradition and 3 texts of the Shor epic from the repertoire of the narrator V. E. Tannagashev. The plot-compositional structure of the Turkic epics mainly consists of the introduction, outpouring, development of the action, climax, denouement, and the final part. The plot of the Yakut olonkho and the Shor epic are divided into three parts: introductory, main and final. In the introductory part of the Yakut and Shor epics, the cosmogonic beginning is not characteristic, which is a feature of archaic texts. The introductory part of the Shor epics is notable for its brevity of descriptions. These texts only mention nature, people and the golden palace where the main character lives. In contrast to the Shor epic, in the introductory part of the olonkho of the northeastern tradition, the dwelling of the protagonist, courtyard buildings, his wealth, nature and the sacred tree Aal Luuk, by weight, are described in detail. The main part of the olonkho of the northeastern tradition consists of a simple, complex and complete plot-compositional structure. In the Shor epic, only a simple and complex plot structure is characteristic. In the final part of the Shor epic, a tragic ending is common. In these plots, the main characters die at the end of the story. In the texts of the olonkho of the northeastern tradition there is a plot where the main character dies. According to olonkhosut, this text is unfinished, therefore this plot has a tragic denouement with an unfinished ending. A comparative analysis of the plot structure allows us to draw the following conclusions: the plots and motifs of the epics of the Yakuts and the Shors are close to each other, but have their own characteristics. These peoples have family ties. It is likely that the epics of kindred peoples arose at the junction of historical and spiritual contacts.

Acknowledgements: This research has been conducted as part of the scientific-research project NEFU “Heroic Eposes of the Turko-Mongolian peoples of Eurasia: Problems and Perspectives of Comparative Study”.

Miao, who mainly dwells in the southwest part of China, is a large ethnic group that maintains broad diversity in dialects and cultures. Miao’s dialects could be divided into three dialect areas with great differences in language and culture among each other, and this difference is also well manifested in their epics. This paper, based on the Miao epics that the author has collected during his fieldwork among Miao groups, employs the comparative method and makes a thorough introduction of the Miao epics according to their different dialect areas. This introduction comprises both the forms and the contents of the Miao epics. As to the forms, the epics from the eastern and western dialect areas are usually performed by one singer at a time with antithesis verses. As to the contents, the epics from eastern and central dialect areas are mainly creation epics while those from western dialect area are mainly heroic epics. Though there are no heroic epics in the eastern dialect area depicting wars, there are migration epics depicting the migrations caused by wars, especially those migrations along the river. By exploring and navigating Miao’s history, this paper maintains that the relation between the dialect areas, the epic forms, and contents might be caused by migration and wars. For instance, the Miao in the western dialect area had more wars and migrations, and thus they have more heroic epics. While in the eastern dialect area and central dialect area where they enjoyed a long-term peaceful life, their epics are mainly creation epics.