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The images of permafrost and cold can be depicted through a combination of myths and ethno-cultural representations designed for self-determination and self-presentation of Arctic territories. Related to a multiplicity of images and conceptions in the contemporary culture of the peoples of the North, the symbol of the mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) stands as a semantic nucleus in the Arctic zone. The fossilized animal of the Pleistocene period, through the discovery of remains in the permafrost, was introduced by...

The paper is dedicated to the topic of folk prose at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, in particular the issue of language and genre. Scientific interest in the folk literature launched on European soil since the mid-18th century. With a little delay the collection and study of folk culture gradually developed in our country, and the folk literature was at the forefront. Until then, the folk culture and art had remained beyond the official national culture. Within the national legitimacy and equality of Slova...

Frequent economical, political and cultural exchanges between German and Scandinavian people during the Middle Ages led to the large scale changes that affected many parts of people’s lives and resulted in the appearance of German-Scandinavian frontier culture with its specific features. This article, using the example of Middle German heroic epic “Das Nibelungenlied” and the corpus of adjoining texts that comprise “the legend of Nibelungs ” aims at describing how literature transgresses boundaries, how frontier l...

In this paper, we consider the cult of horse in religious beliefs of the Yakut people, its role in the myth and epic traditions and its place in the ritual culture. We’ve attempted to make a cultural analysis of an image Horse and horse cult in traditional ritual culture of Yakut people from symbolic, semiotic and sacral point of view, i.e. horse is worshipping and honorable animal, that has sacral nature. In former times, every family keep a horse. Its’ pattern as symbol of traditional culture exists almost in al...

Winter Romanian traditions have an outstanding complexity and include a variety of both melodic and choreographic species. Christmas ritually mask has a double significance: it unifies the earthly world with the one beyond – a Utopian agglutination between the living and the “departed”, and a second meaning which cares for the agrarian field. Tradition says that for 12 days the Romanian games, that include masks, have the special purpose to reorganize and renew the entire world. During Christmas Eve and Christmas ...

Ceremonies and algys devoted to the goddess Aiyysyt are considered in the article. The Yakut goddess-mother Aiyysyt in the functions and appointments corresponds to goddesses: Turkic Umay - Umay-ene (kumadin.), Ymay-ene (kachinsk.), Mau-ene (teleut.) and Old Indian Wuma, and also Old Iranian Arta (avestiysky - Asha). In Yakut mythology Akhtar Aiyysyt, either Nalygyr Aiyysyt, or Nelbey Aiyysyt is the goddess caring for reproduction of people. She together with Ieyekhsit asks Yuryung Aar Toyon to a soul (iye-kut) of...

Over the period of 2010-2017, field research has been conducted in the territories of the Siberian Arctic in Eastern Siberia. The field research was conducted in different northern settlements, including the rural settlement of Khatanga inhabited by the Dolgans. The Dolgans are a small-numbered, indigenous people of the North and Siberia. The settlement of Khatanga is situated in the Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky Municipal District of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, within Russian Arctic territory. During the study, the post-S...

The indigenous peoples of Eastern Siberia are being affected by a host of global changes. Their traditional culture is particularly vulnerable to global expansion, urbanization, and the influence of modern popular culture. These peoples' modern existence depends on political management undertaken by the federal and regional governments in the territories where the indigenous peoples are boxed in. In 2010-2016, field research was conducted in the regions of Eastern Siberia inhabited by the aboriginal peoples, inclu...

The article deals with the issues of revitalization of Olonkho in the dawn of the 21st century. The authors emphasize that the recognition of UNESCO's Olonkho as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Mankind was part of the process in the revival and popularization of Olonkho in contemporary cultural space. The authors believe that organizing folklore festivals dedicated to the Yakut epic of Olonkho, as well as the Yhyakh New Year holidays in the uluses, contributes to the revitalization of the epic...

The work compares chthonic images in three cultural epic and folklore traditions - Yakut, Russian, and English. Despite some specific instances of asymmetrical chthonic features, there are, however, general and universal ones. Chthonic creatures, which initially resembled the wild and natural strength of the earth, as well as the underworld, and other similar notions, serve as mediators between the world of the dead and the world of the living. These mediators have the ability to exist in two worlds simultaneously...

Based on field research over 2010-2016 with the use of J. Phinney's ethnic identity measurement methods, we have analyzed the modern ethnic identification and self-identification processes among the Evenks, Selkups, Kets, and Chulyms –indigenous peoples living on the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Krai (Eastern Siberia) with a population of less than 50,000 persons. The conducted research allows us to identify the following processes: total loss of the knowledge of the native languages among the Chulyms, Selkups, an...

This article observes the Udagan's culture of the Yakuts. The authors concentrate on the study of the Udagan’s culture based on materials of the Yakut epos – Olonkho. The authors associate this phenomenon of culture with early religious ideas of the Yakuts and believe that it presents an early layer of culture. The word “udagan” as a term is referred to the languages of the Turkic-Mongolian, Tungus-Manchu peoples. However, the authors state that the Ugadan culture as a layer of culture is typical for the Yakuts an...