Author/Uploaded by Saglar Bougdaeva
Jangar The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Constance and William Withey Endowment Fund in History and Music. Jangar The Heroic Epic of the Kalmyk Nomads Translated by Saglar Bougdaeva UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of Cal...
Jangar The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Constance and William Withey Endowment Fund in History and Music. Jangar The Heroic Epic of the Kalmyk Nomads Translated by Saglar Bougdaeva UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of California Press Oakland, California © 2022 by Saglar Bougdaeva Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Bougdaeva, Saglar, 1972- translator. Title: Jangar : the heroic epic of the Kalmyk nomads / translated by Saglar Bougdaeva. Other titles: . English. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2022008255 (print) | LCCN 2022008256 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520344723 (paperback) | ISBN 9780520975651 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Epic poetry, Kalmyk. Classification: LCC PL430.9.D88 E5 2022 (print) | LCC PL430.9.D88 (ebook) | DDC 894/.2—dc23/eng/20220720 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022008255 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022008256 Manufactured in the United States of America 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To my father, Ilya, Bougda’s grandson, Erdni’s son, Hero Dogzma’s descendant, the Chair of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kalmykia According to the history Of the Tuoba Wei dynasty (386–534), The Xianbei Mongolian-speaking nomads Were led into China by a flying horse spirit That bellowed like an ox. The Kalmyks called the spirit Ki-Moren, the Wind-Horse, And kept the image on their banners. CONTENTS List of Illustrations Introduction JANGAR Prologue Cycle 1. How Shaman Golden Heart Joined Jangar’s Khanate Cycle 2. How Scarlet Lion Khongor Got Married Cycle 3. How Scarlet Lion Khongor Fought with Mighty Hero Jilgan Khan Cycle 4. How Scarlet Lion Khongor Defeated Khan Iron Head Mangna Cycle 5. How Alya Monkhlya Stole Great Khan Jangar’s Eighteen Thousand Golden Palominos Cycle 6. How Mingian, the Finest Man in the Universe, Stole Ten Thousand Pintos from Turk Khan Cycle 7. How Mingian, the Finest Man in the Universe, Captured Mighty Kurmen Khan Cycle 8. How Serious Sanal Defeated the Country of Half-Human Giants Cycle 9. How Savar Heavy Arm Defeated Kilgan Khan Cycle 10. How Three Sons Captured Mighty Badmin Ulan Glossary Notes LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS All illustrations by Delia Dunbar Jangar Khan Gerel, Khongor’s mother, cures wounded Jangar God Sky Tengri’s son Togya embraces Princess Zanda in the Garuda-Eagle Tower “If you, flying over my croup, fall on the ground, then blame yourself. You shall not be my rider” A hero drinks “from a yellow porcelain bowl, turning it over three times, seventy men hardly could raise it together” “If she looked to the left, the radiance on her left cheek made the little fish visible in the river on the left” Introduction This translation presents for the first time in English the epic treasure of the Kalmyk nomads, Jangar. As nomadic artists of the Great Eurasian Steppe, Kalmyks have witnessed, memorized, and orally transmitted some of the greatest transformations, both victorious and tragic, in the history of civilizations. The significance of their art for the world literary heritage can hardly be overstated. Kalmyk means “the remained”; they are the remaining Mongols of Genghis Khan’s empire in Europe. Today, Kalmyks still live in the territory that was once the Golden Horde, founded by Juchi, one of the sons of Genghis Khan, near the site of its capital, Sarai. Sarai, with its magnificent architecture, has long been covered by the sands of time inside the hills of the Great Steppe. But the Kalmyk nomads have managed to preserve the great treasure of their heritage, carefully transmitting their epic narrative across generations. The most vivid work of the Kalmyk people, the heroic model for life and death that has always inflamed hearts and incited tears, is the grand epic Jangar. Jangar belongs to a genre of oral literature about extraordinary deeds from the heroic age. The basis of its creation is the unification of individual songs that are not connected by an overall plot but rather evolve around a central axis, the Bumba union of seventy kingdoms. In every song, a hero begins and ends his adventure in the Bumba banquet hall with drinking, feasting, and merrymaking. This cyclization reflects the Kalmyk collective processes in which the epic becomes the cycle of life outside the perception of time, simultaneously the epic past, and a nonlinear projection into the future. Jangar sings a tribute to the heroic deeds of the protectors of the Bumba union. The Bumba world of nomadic heroes is a world of centaurs, not in their physical form, but in an imagined united identity. When a hero is born, his heroic horse is born too. Together they recover from misfortunes and triumph in adventures. All heroes, humans and horses, share a passionate dedication to the Bumba union, as reflected in their oath: We throw our lives to the edge of the spears, Devote our passion to the Bumba completely, Strip our torsos and rip out our hearts, To the people we give our blood to the end. (Lipkin 1940, chap. 11) As is typical of a heroic epic, in Jangar the days are compressed until the moment of heroic deed, when the hours become stretched. The heroes belong to a common treasury of culturally recognizable characters, each a model for a specific trait: Scarlet Lion Khongor for bravery, Shaman Golden Heart for wisdom, Handsome Mingian for sophistication, Serious Sanal for contemplation, Mediator Jilgan for diplomacy. Heroes’ names are determined by the moment of their heroic deed. For example, Scarlet Lion Khongor, outwardly shy, is the bravest man in the universe: a roaring lion sleeps in his rib cage. When the moment comes for him to protect the Bumba union, Khongor transforms into a fearless lion. Khongor is also associated with different shades of red; in his heroic moments, his lion spirit shines with ecstatic scarlet sunbeams. Even in everyday life, Khongor is recognized from afar by his radiant red hair,