myth

heroic epic

yukar

Eurasian folklore

欧文抄録:P.9

It seemingly general that the folklore of many natives in Eurasia has two categories:the one is prose and its utterances are similar to ordinary speech. Another is heroic epic and its utterance are principally sung with various ways. For examples, terms for prose are:uwepeker(Ainu), tylgund (Nivkh), tylgund (Uilta), telungu (Nanai), ulgur (Evenk), üliger (Alasha Mongol) etc. While terms for heroic epics are yukar(Ainu), nastund/nyzytynŋ (Nivkh), niŋmaa(Uilta), ninguman(Nanai), nimngakan/nimgakan (Evenk), tuuli (Alasha Mongol) etc. We know that myth/mythic tales often interwoven in the texts of heriic epics of the Eurasian natives. For the consideration on this point the Ainu yukar may suggest a significant hint. The yukar is classified into kamui yukar and yukar proper. In fact the text of kamui yukar is quite rich with varieties, the typical of which, as I believe, is mythic narratives. The yukar proper are heroic epics sung by little mainlander poiyaunpe, some of the texts of which find mythical story. The proper offers an approach to the folklore study basing on oral performances, not from the point of genres as it has been tried usually in publication.