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ISSN 2223-165X
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Izvestiya SOIGSI |
ContactsAddress: Pr. Mira, 10, Vladikavkaz,
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DOI: 10.46698/VNC.2026.98.59.009 THE SPATIAL MYTHOLOGISM OF THE OSSETIAN FAIRY TALE: “DONBETTYRY CHYZDZHY RÆSUG’D KH’UAZY ARG’AU” (“DONBETTYR’S DAUGHTER, THE BEAUTIFUL DOE”)
Sokaeva, Diana V.
Izvestia SOIGSI. 2026. Issue 59 (98). P.156-167.
Abstract:
The published text of the Ossetian folktale represents a transitional stage in the genre’s development from the mythological tale to the classical folktale proper, serving as a striking example of the role of folklore in the development of the Ossetian language and culture as a whole. Russian scholars who dedicated their lives to the study of the Ossetian language, history, and folklore (A.M. Sjogren, V.F. Miller, and others) and their students (G. Baev, A. Kaitmazov, and others) saw in the rich Ossetian folklore an inexhaustible resource, a national foundation for the development of the people. Both the archival and published texts employ the alphabet developed by Academician V.F. Miller in 1879; it represented an improvement on the system proposed by Sjogren. The text of the fairy tale “Donbettyr’s Daughter, the Beautiful Doe,” presented in Ossetian (Iron dialect), was published by G. Baev in a collection of folklore texts entitled “From Ossetian Folklore.” A separate version of the tale, entitled “Khuytsau Uarzon R.sug’d Khuaz” (“Khuytsau’s Beloved, the Beautiful Doe”), with G. Baev’s translation into Russian, is stored in the Scientific Archive of the State Institute of Geography and Sociology (SOIGSI) as part of G. Baev’s files. The sacred characters of Donbettyr and Galagon are missing from the archival version of the text. We have examined the structural features of the text, compiled notes, and explained the orthographic principles of its publication. The pragmatic significance of the published text in the context of Ossetian folklore culture is determined by its transitional nature. It represents a combination of the mythological and religious concepts of traditional Ossetian beliefs with the narrative model of the fairy tale, which, in turn, while preserving its original mythological function, explains the structure of the world.
Keywords: Ossetian folklore, mythological tale, fairy tale, G. Baev, Ossetian mythological and religious beliefs.
Language:: Russian
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 For citation:: Sokaeva, D.V. The spatial mythologism of the Ossetian fairy tale: “Donbettyry chyzdzhy ræsug’d kh’uazy arg’au” (“Donbettyr’s daughter, the Beautiful Doe”) // Izvestiya SOIGSI. 2026. Iss. 59 (98). Pp. 156-167. (in Russian). DOI 10.46698/VNC.2026.98.59.009 ← Contents of issue |
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