When the Boar Teacher lights his fire under the ground...: one character of Buryat mythology

Abstract

This paper examines the image of Gakhai bagsha in fairy tales, heroic epic, shamanic invocations, and the folk calendar of the Buryats. The name of this character includes the gakhai ‘pig/boar’ component. At the same time, it is an anthropomorphic character with obvious mythological roots. Gakhai bagsha is a type of simpleton under the guise of a sage who emerges victorious from conflict situations thanks to his luck and coincidence. The epic Gakhai bagsha is rather close to the deity of the shamanic-buddhist character. An indispensable attribute of Gakhai bagsha in fairy tales and epics is a pig’s / boar’s head. The mythological basis of this outfit appears in the folk calendar. Gakhai bagsha making a fire under the ground is associated with the arrival of spring and the thawing of the earth. In shamanic invocations, he is called the owner of the earth. The image of Gakhai bagsha is rooted in ancient ideas about the owner of the earth embodying the idea of fertility and the heavenly deity controlling the rains and fertility. Not only did the ancient Mongols have such representations. They were also widespread in the world culture. Another aspect of this image is the reminiscence of the totemistic cult of the boar-first ancestor. Gakhai Bagsha is likely to have appeared in the folklore and mythological space of Buryats through the Khori-Buryat people. Due to historical reasons, Khori-Buryats were longer influenced by the Mongol world and preserved the ancient Mongolian mythological and totemistic representations.