Abstract:
This monograph presents the results of research on archetypal symbols, images and motifs in the textual space of the Ossetian Nart sagas, as well as issues of mutual influence of the epic and ethnographic traditions of the Ossetians. This approach has expanded the possibilities of identifying religious and mythological representations that carry a special semantic load in kadags. The study of the conceptual content of the relict forms preserved in ritual culture and their reflection in the Ossetian Nart sagas facilitated the reconstruction of centuries-old layers and semantic transformations of a whole corpus of archaic folklore and ethnographic phenomena considered within the framework of family and calendar rituals. One of the key issues of the proposed monograph is the topic of a unique relic, the Tsykura Sun Bead, which belongs to the basic concepts of Ossetian traditional culture in its verbal, mythological and ideological expression. The book is addressed to folklore scholars, ethnologists, cultural historians, specialists in religious studies, teachers and students of philological faculties, and a wide range of readers interested in the mutual influence of the Nart sagas and the traditional culture of Ossetians.
Keywords: Narts, folklore genres, epic poetry, Busina Tsykura, religious and mythological beliefs of the Ossetians, initiation rites, archetypes, calendar rituals, the Heavenly Mirror, solar symbols, hierotopy, sacred spaces, gender studies
