Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (LEGENDS): Recent Episodes
Cambridge University
Legends are oral stories of a mythical or religious nature about the origin of astral objects, the earth, animals, plants, holidays, clans, people, etc. The foundation of any legend rests upon the idea of a miracle or miraculous occurrence believed to have happened in the past. Kalmyk legends, or domog, can be divided into a variety of themes, including cosmogonic, genealogical, historical, etiological, theological and other legends. The spread of Buddhism among the Kalmyks (16th-17th centuries) has had a longlasting influence on Kalmyk legends by offering explanations from the Buddhist point of view. One can see this especially in many cosmogonic legends, such as those about the origin of the Polar star, and the solar and lunar eclipses. Pre-Buddhist ideas can be found in many clan legends about totemic animals and birds. For example, according to a legend, the clan Chons (derived from the Kalmyk word chons 'wolves') had a canine ancestor. According to yet another legend, the clan’s ancestor was a human who was brought up by a female wolf. Many historical legends tell of events that are believed to have happened in the history of the Kalmyks. These legends often include the names of historical people and heroes, such as Chingis Khan, Mazan Batr, Amursanan and others. Because many Kalmyks are interested in their genealogies, genealogical legends and stories have always been popular in Kalmykia. Kalmyk legends are also abundant with accounts of various local malign spirits and beings, such as almas, mus, shulmus, chyotker and others.
One man comes to his zayachi (spiritual patron, creator) and says that he has become so wealthy that he does not know what to do with his wealth. After listening to the man, the zayachi says: ‘Before each meal hold your cooking pot with only one hand in a casual fashion, and after each meal toss the pot away with your other hand.’ The man followed his zayachi’s advice only to fall into poverty in no time. Since careless handling of pots is a sinful act, people who do so quickly lose their wealth.
Once upon a time, there lived a wealthy Russian man. One day he takes two bulls and a cow with him and asks his servant to follow him. On the steppe he tells his servant to kill the cow, fill its pelt with hay, and hide inside it. No sooner does the servant squeeze himself into the pelt than a huge birds grabs the pelt and flies to the top of a tall mountain. From there the servant tosses down precious pearls and corals for his old master.
Victoria talks about a monk from the Zyungar clan who was known as Kogshin bagshi, meaning ‘old master/teacher’. Kogshin bagshi was the abbot of the Zyungar Temple, which was the poorest temple in the vicinity, because he was against collecting money and accumulating wealth. After his death, his body, which defied decay and stayed in a lifelike state, was placed in a special room, turning into an object of veneration. Later the Bolsehviks removed the body and hid it somewhere.
Once upon a time, there lived a khan named Badamch who lost both his eyesight and his favorite horse. He sends his sons off to find his stolen horse. The youngest son who ventures the furthest comes across an old sage who teaches him how to find the horse and restore his father’s eyesight.
Dordzhi relays a story about how several monks helped a man find his soul. Among Avgnr people lived a man called Yokha. He had a son called Mandzhi who one day began to behave strangely. He stopped looking at people and talked to himself all the time. Thinking that Mandzhi must have lost his soul, the local monks gathered to perform a ritual in order to bring his soul back. One of the monks held a long stick with Mandzhi’s hat hanging on it. The monks went to the steppe, reading prayers and shouting: ‘Mandzhi come back! Beware of angry cows and biting dogs!’ While they were shouting, the hat fell off the stick by itself, which was interpreted by the monks that the soul must have returned to its owner. As soon as the hat was put on Mandzhi’s head, the poor man returned to his previous normal disposition.
After God created humans, monsters appeared from beneath the ground to feast on human flesh. Wishing to help God’s creations, one of heavenly beings descends on the earth in the form of a human boy. Being ‘caught’ by the monsters, the boy promises them to show the hideout where the humans were hiding. He leads the monsters into a desert where they tie him up to a pole. No later had the monsters begun to roast him, the boy turns into smoke and ascends to the sky to become into the Polar Star.
Once upon a time there was a woman whose husband died. Gossip and rumors about her made the rounds, which made her sad. She did not know what to do. Once, on a fasting day she went to the barrows in the steppe where she prayed, talked to her husband, and told him about what torments her heart. Suddenly, the sky lightened and it rained. A flower grew from the ground. The girl bowed to the ground and plucked the flower. This flower protected her in difficult times. Seeing her suffering, nature took pity on her and blessed her with a flower.
Rimma recounts a legend about a girl called Tsagan who was abducted by a monkey while she was collecting dung for fuel on the steppe. The monkey hides the girl in its dugout and looks after her. One day the girl manages to run away, but as soon as she reaches her house she falls ill. The reason for her illness is the death of the monkey who dies of sadness, looking for her.
Ivan relays two legends, (1) a legend about how Mazan Baatr defeated a Bashkir warrior, and (2) a legend about how Mazan Baatr’s uncle found himself a wife.
Dordzhi relays a story about a man called Bek Tuka from Dundu Khurul who was left destitute after losing his livestock.
This story happened in the olden times when the wheat had grains growing all along its stalk. One day a hungry woman pops into one house asking for food. The people inside – a mother and her small daughter – give the woman a bundle. Once outside the woman opens the bundle to find a small girl wrapped in dough. The woman curses the wheat.
Once upon a time there lived a powerful khan. In order to defeat his arch- enemy, the khan ordered his subjects to create a bloodthirsty, giant bird out of metal and the blood of innocent boys and girls. After destroying the enemy’s land, the bird that fed on human flesh set its sights on the land and the people who created it.
Story One. About the real Kalmyk man. A man tells a story to his grandson. In the chest of every Kalmyk man burns, he says, a fire on which is boiling a (metaphorical) kettle with water. If you decrease the fire, the boiling water will cool down. A real Kalmyk man always has his ‘kettle’ with water boiling, and he is always ready for action. Such men fall seven times, but stand up eight times to carry on with life.
Legend One. In the past an astrologist calculated the time and place where a boy with the head of a wolf would be born. Upon hearing this terrible news, some worried people went to the prophesized place only to find a woman who was in labor. As soon as the woman gave birth, the newborn who had a wolf’s head set about running around the tent trying to escape from the crowd. The people caught the baby and when they were about to kill him, the baby said, ‘If only had I sucked the milk of my mother, then you would never be able to defeat me!’
Anna’s mother was born in the village of Khar-Tolga in Yashkul’skiy rayon. There, lightning, thunder and dust storms were frequent occurrences. Anna heard from her mother that she should not be afraid of lightning. According to a legend, once upon a time a god descended on earth but could not ascent back to the skies. He was helped by a pair of helping hands from Anna’s maternal clan. Since then lightning never harms people from this clan. One day when Anna lived in the village of Chilgir lightning was blasting through the skies. It damaged the electric counter in the house, but did not injure her son who was sleeping underneath it. Anna interpreted this as proof that her mother’s words were true.
A legend about a Tibetan monk from the dark side. It is said that in Tibet a fight between light and darkness, between good and evil has been raging for a long time. In the 18th century a monk from the dark side descended from mountainous Tibet and set off in the direction of Kalmykia. Requests from as far as Buryatia reached Kalmykia pleading to stop the dark monk. When the monk entered the territory of Kalmykia, one of the Kalmyk lords sent a cavalry to stop him. The cavalry found the monk, surrounded him, and what happened later was shrouded in mystery. The Kalmyk lord again sent a cavalry, but with the same outcome. Frustrated and frightened, the lord ordered that no one should try to stop the invincible monk who carried on his journey through Kalmykia. A legend about how a Kalmyk hero escaped from the Astrakhan Kremlin. Once upon a time there lived a Kalmyk man who robbed the rich and helped the poor. He was as powerful as he was elusive. The only way to catch him was through his sister. The murza of Astrakhan ordered that a handsome man be sent to the Kalmyk hero’s sister to seduce her. When the sister fell in love, the seducer promised to marry her on condition that she gave away her brother. The Kalmyk hero was soon caught and imprisoned in the Kremlin. Since his last wish was to see his horse, the prison guards brought him the horse. The hero mounted on his horse and galloped for a while before jumping over the walls of the Kremlin. While jumping, the horse touched with his hoof a part of the wall which fell off. It is said that since then that particular part in the wall always falls off no matter how builders fix it.
The Kalmyk word for wormwood is burulda or shar sharljn. This is a legend about how two Polovets khans were driven into the mountain by Vladimir Monomakh in 1111. The Polovets and the Rusich (ancestors of the Russians) were fighting at the Don river. Two Polovets khans, Syrchan and Atrak, who were brothers, escaped to the mountains. When Monomakh returned to Kiev, Syrchan also came down to his pastureland at the lower Don. After some time Syrchan sent a messenger to his brother Atrak, who had stayed in the mountains, asking him to return home. Atrak did not reply. After some time Syrchan again sent a messenger to his brother with the same request, but again did not receive any reply from his brother. The third time Syrchan gave some wormwood to the messenger and asked him to deliver the herb to Atrak and say nothing. Atrak breathed the smell of the wormwood, cried and returned home. This legend may be based on a true story, because during the Civil War following the Bolshevik Revolution Cossack Kalmyks from Don fled to Europe, and some of them requested that wormwood be sent to them. In the 1990s when émigré Kalmyks visited Kalmykia, some of them also took wormwood with them back home.
There is one single poplar tree 20 kilometers west of Elista. The tree is unusual. When you cut its branch, you can see a 5-pointed star shape across the cut. The tree was planted by the lama Purdash who brought its seed from Tibet. The seed was planted in 1846. Near the tree there is a hill from which one can see Elbrus Mountain on a clear day. The distance between the Mountain and the tree is about 240 kilometers. There are many stories related to that tree. According to one story, in the past, not far from the tree lived a woman who came to Kalmykia from the Caucasus as a bride. Whenever she felt homesick, she climbed up the tree to look at where her homeland was. According to one legend, a gigantic snake and an eagle fought over the sacred spring that flows not far from that tree.
In the past there was a nomadic camp on the shores of Manych Lake. One morning in the spring seven young girls from the camp went out to collect dung for fuel. With leather bags on their shoulders, the girls collected fuel along the shores of the lake and decided to have a rest in the shade. When they sat down, all of a sudden, mice and snakes appeared in great numbers out of nowhere. After a thud the earth trembled and the water splashed out of the lake. It was an earthquake in the Caucasus. The girls were buried alive under the mud which was sliding from the mountains. When people in the camp learned about what had happened, the elders decided not to touch the place and leave it as it was. This place is now called ‘the place of 7 girls’. Every summer 7 silver colored seagulls fly over this place and cry as if they are mourning the girls. At the end of the summer the birds disappear. Grigoriy heard this story from old men who live on the shores of the Chograisky water basin which is part of Manych Lake. This place is mysterious and people often get lost there.
Grigoriy is a poet and writer who was born in Kalmykia. According to him, legends are jigsaws and mysteries. Legends are like sisters of history. He recounts two legends, one about the Lake Manych Gudilo and the other about the Lake Manych.
The lake Tsagan Nur (lit. White Lake) is also locally referred to as Bain Nur (lit. Wealthy Lake). The lake provides the people in the vicinity with everything from fish to cane. Cane is used as fodder and fuel. According to a local belief, breastfeeding mothers who do not have milk bath in the lake to fill their breasts with milk. Tsagan Nur is not only a wealth giving lake but it is also a sacred one.
In Tsagan Nur lived two strong wrestlers. One day a powerful wrestler from a distant land came to Tsagan Nur to compete with them. On the edge of the village lived a widow who had sheep. Three days prior to the competition the two wrestlers decided to steal a sheep from the widow and eat it to boost their strength. At night when they sneaked into her house, the widow caught both thieves with her bare hands and banged their heads against each other’s leaving them unconscious. The next morning, recovered, the wrestlers ran to their trainer to report on what had happened to them. ‘We cannot beat the foreign wrestler, but that woman can’, they pleaded with him. The three men spent a long time convincing the widow that she should wrestle instead. Finally, the widow agreed. To hide her gender, the widow had her hair cut and covered her breasts with a piece of pelt. During the competition the widow lifted the foreign wrestler and smashed him to the ground. Two of the man’s broken ribs were left bleeding in her hand.