E-mail: zarina_plaeva@mail.ru Tel.: +7 (8672) 53-69-61
10, Prospect Mira, Vladikavkaz, 362040, Russian Federation
Researcher, V. I. Abaev North-Ossetian Institute for Humanitarian and Social Studies, Vladikavkaz Scientific Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences
This article is the first to consider in detail the mythological aspect of the Nart Atsamaz’s music and its effect on those around him in the Ossetian epic Nartiada. The author also examines other national versions of the Nartiada as well as the folklore of the Persians, Kurds and Tats of Dagestan. Images of bustards and saigas that appear in monuments of Scythian art testify to the presence of the ancient steppe legend about the Ossetian hero Atsamaz (Acæmæz). Parallels in Kurdish, Tat and Persian folklore may date back to the period of common Iranian unity. In the Nartiada, Atsamaz plays a pipe in order to win the heart of the unapproachable Agunda. He inherited the pipe — a gift from the forest deity Afsati (Æfsati) — from his father Aca. Atsamaz’s music creates positive energy, enhances joy, expels diseases, and helps to express one’s thoughts and feelings. It awakens nature from hibernation; sets mountains in motion; and revives even dried-up trees. Forest animals gather and dance near Atsamaz, birds sing along with him, people forget about their quarrels and listen to him together. The sounds of his charming melody even touch proud Agunda’s heart. The daughter of the powerful Sajnæg-ældar admires the music and falls in love with the hero but she does not immediately confess her feelings. The conflict between two heroes generated by the wonderful music generates the plot.
Abaev V. I. (1990) Izbrannye trudy: Religiya. Fol’klor. Literatura [Selected Works: Religion. Folklore. Literature]. Vol. 1. Vladikavkaz: Ir. In Russian.
Anfimov N. V. (1987) Drevnee zoloto Kubani [The Kuban’s Ancient Gold]. Krasnodar: Krasnodarskoe knizhnoe izdatel’stvo. In Russian.
Chernenko E. V. (1975) Oruzhie iz Tolstoi Mogily [Weapons from Tovsta Mohyla]. In: Skifskii mir [Scythian World]. Ed. by A. I. Terenozhkin. Kyiv: Naukova dumka. Pp. 152–173. In Russian.
Dzitstsoiti Yu. A. (1992) Narty i ikh sosedi: Geograficheskie i etnicheskie nazvaniya v nartovskom epose [Narts and Their Neighbours: Geographical and Ethnic Names in Nart Epic]. Vladikavkaz: Alaniya. In Russian.
Gagloiti Yu. (1977) Nekotorye voprosy istoriografii nartskogo eposa [Some Questions of Nart Epic’s Historiography]. Tskhinvali: Iryston. In Russian.
Korolkova E. F. (2006) Zverinyi stil’ Evrazii. Iskusstvo plemen Nizhnego Povolzh’ya i Yuzhnogo Priural’ya v skifskuyu epokhu (VII–IV vv. do n. e.): Problemy stilya i etnokul’turnoi prinadlezhnosti [The Animal Style of Eurasia. The Art of the Tribes of the Lower Volga and Southern Urals in the Scythian Era (Seventh-Fourth Centuries BC): Problems of Style and Ethnocultural Affiliation]. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie. In Russian.
Okorokov K. S., Perevodchikova E. V. (2020) Nakhodki 2013 g. v kontekste zverinogo stilya kurgana 1 kurgannogo mogil’nika Filippovka 1 [The 2013 Finds in the Context of the Animal Style of Kurgan 1 of the Necropolis Filippovka 1]. Nizhnevolzhskii arkheologicheskii vestnik [Lower Volga Archaeological Bulletin]. 2020. Vol. 19. No. 1. Pp. 28–45. In Russian.
Plaeva Z. K. (2016a) Muzykal’nye instrumenty v nartovskom epose osetin: svirel’ Atsamaza [Musical Instruments in the Ossetian Nart Epos: Atsamaz’ Pipe]. Traditsionnaya kul’tura [Traditional Culture]. 2016. No. 4. Pp. 67–78. In Russian.
Plaeva Z. K. (2016b) Nebozhitel’ Afsati — pervonachal’nyi vladelets svireli Atsamaza [Celestial Afsati as the Original Owner of Atsamaz’ Pipe]. In: V Vseros. Millerovskie chteniya [The 5th All-Russian Conference “Miller’s Readings”]: Mater. of the Schol. Conf. (Vladikavkaz, October 20–22, 2016). Vladikavkaz: SOIGSI VNTs RAN. Pp. 47–57. In Russian.
Pogrebova M. N., Raevskii D. S. (1992) Rannie skify i drevnii Vostok: K istorii stanovleniya skifskoi kul’tury [The Early Scythians and the Ancient East: Probing the Origins of Scythian Culture]. Moscow: Nauka. In Russian.
Qeshaty V. (2010) Iron cuanӕtty ӕg’dӕuttӕ ӕmӕ ӕvzhag: Etnografion ocherk [Ossetian Hunters’ Language and Customs: An Ethnographic Essay]. Vladikavkaz: Ir. In Ossetian.
Silantyeva P. F. (1974) Terrakoty Pantikapeya [Terracotta of Pantikapaion]. In: Terrakotovye statuetki [Terracotta Figurines]. Moscow: Nauka. Pp. 5–37. In Russian.
Yatsenko I. V. (1971) Iskusstvo skifskikh plemen Severnogo Prichernomor’ya [The Art of the Scythian Tribes of the Northern Black Sea Region]. In: Istoriya iskusstva narodov SSSR. T. 1. Iskusstvo pervobytnogo obshchestva i drevneishikh gosudarstv na territorii SSSR [The Art History of the Peoples of the USSR. Vol. 1. The Art of Primitive Society and the Most Ancient Kingdoms on the Territory of the USSR]. Moscow: Izobrazitel’noe iskusstvo. Pp. 116–138. In Russian.
Yatsenko S. A. (1992) Antropomorfnye izobrazheniya Sarmatii [Anthropomorphic Images of Sarmatia]. In: Alany i Kavkaz: Alanica-II [Alans and the Caucasus. Alanica-II]. Vladikavkaz; Tskhinval: SOIGSI. Pp. 189–214. In Russian.
Plaeva Z. K. The Mythological Context of the Motif of Atsamaz Playing the Pipe in the Ossetian Nartiada. Traditional Culture. 2022. Vol. 23. No. 4. Pp. 21–28. In Russian.