ზებუნებრივ არსებასთან ქორწინების უძველესი მოტივი ზღაპარში

აბსტრაქტი

სტატიიდან აღებული ავტორის ინგლისურენოვანი რეზიუმე:

Key words: Caucasian folklore, mythical motif, marriage.

The article considers characteristics of mythological plots in Caucasian folklore on the example of the folktale type ATU 400-425: Supernatural or enchanted husband / wife. The marriage of the hero with a supernatural being is one of the most popular fairytale motifs in the world. The supernatural spouse in Caucasian folktales are presented in zoomorphic forms: snake, frog or dragon („gveleshapi“ in Georgian folktales). The „gveleshapi“ can either be an enemy of the hero or a friend. In the fairytale of the tale of ATU 400-425 type, it is a su- pernatural spouse. The dynamics of symbolism in the structure of the magic tale represents archaic plots.

On top of their mythical foundations, many characteristics common to mythical thought structures appear in magic fairytales. These tales often include elements of the nature-based religions of the ancients. Beliefs about supernatural beings exist in all cultures in the world, therefore the motif of taboo marriage reveals in folktales. Caucasian fairytales about hero’s marriage with a supernatu- ral creature show not only authentic but structural correlation to the mythological tales. The Georgian fairytale „The Frog’s skin“ is one of the examples of the fairytale type „enchanted wife“. There were once three brothers who wished to marry. They said: „Let us each shoot an arrow, and each shall take his wife from the place where the arrow falls“.

They shot their arrows; those of the two elder brothers fell on noblemen’s houses, while the youngest brother’s arrow fell in a lake. The two elder brothers led home their noble wives, and the youngest went to the shore of the lake. He saw a frog creep out of the lake and sit down upon a stone. He took it up and carried it back to the house. All the brothers came home with what fate had given them; the elder brothers with the noble maidens, and the youngest with a frog. The youngest brother was out all day working, and when he came home he always found everything prepared for him. Once he said to himself: „I will see for once who is this unseen benefactor, who comes to do good to me and look after me“.

That day he stayed at home. He seated himself on the roof of the house and watched. In a short time the frog leaped out of the fireplace, jumped over to the doors, and all round the room; seeing no one there, it went back and took off the frog’s skin, put it near the fire, and came forth a beautiful maiden. The lord of the country heard of this, and wished to take her from him. He called the beautiful woman’s husband to him and gave three challenges. The most difficult job was to go to the underworld. The lord said: „My mother, who died in this village, took with her a ring. If you go to the other world and bring that ring to me, it is well; if not, I shall take away thy wife“.

The hero went home and complained to his wife. She reproached him, and then said: „Go to the lake and ask for the ram“. The husband went to the lake and called out: „Mother and Father! give me your ram to-day, I pray you.“ From the lake there came forth a ram with twisted horns; from its mouth issued a flame of fire. The man sat down, and, quick as lightning, the ram descended towards the lower regions. It went on and shot like an arrow through the earth. At last the man came up on earth, victorious over his enemy. The journey of the hero which happen in this fairytale is significant because of its extraor- dinary character. The hero makes a long journey through the underworld in the kingdom of deaths and returns successfully.

His transport is a magic ram which can move in all terrains, including hell. On the way the hero meets some strange characters like a man and woman on a bullock’s skin, which is too small for the both; a man and woman sitting on an axe-handle, not afraid of falling; a priest feeding cattle, whose beard spread over the ground; and the cattle, instead of eat- ing grass, fed on the priest’s beard. When the hero asks these people what is the meaning of this, they just reply „I have seen many pass by like thee, but none has returned. When you come back I shall answer thy question“. This fairytale grabs attention with the ancient motifs which are both pagan and Christian.

The magic ram with twisted horns issuing a flame of fire, seems like very pre-Christian symbol. We really do not know, how this tale was told in the ancient times. It is difficult to give an answer to this question. Instead, we possess many motifs and mythologems, which make the ‘building material’ for the folktales. Some of them can be older than the written documents of the folk tales. The object of the article is Georgian traditional prose, specifically the magic folktale, based upon rich mythological foundations. The goal of the article is to demonstrate the mythological aspects of magic fairytales. In Caucasian folk literature there exist numerous examples which demonstrate that the plot of the magic tale is based upon the myths.

გამოქვეყნებულია ჟურნალში „სჯანი“, ტ. 12 (2011), გვ. 209–217. ნაშრომის გახსნა