Characteristics of the ‘Shepherd’ Image in the Abkhaz Nart Sagas, by Vladislav Ardzinba

Translator's Note

This article by the distinguished Abkhaz scholar, the first president of the Republic of Abkhazia, Vladislav Ardzinba (1945-2010) represents a seminal work in comparative Nart epic studies. Originally published in Russian in 1987, it demonstrates Ardzinba's innovative methodology of analysing Abkhaz folklore through cross-cultural mythological parallels. 

The Nart sagas are the ancient heroic epics of the peoples of the Caucasus, with the Abkhaz version preserving unique archaic features. This analysis of the 'shepherd' figure reveals deep connections between Abkhaz epic tradition and mythological patterns found across Eurasia, from Hittite Anatolia to ancient China.

Abkhaz language phrases are preserved in the original Cyrillic script with contextual explanations provided. Translated from Russian, 2025.

Characteristics of the ‘Shepherd’ Image in the Abkhaz Nart Sagas

Published in: Abkhaz Studies. Language. Folklore. Literature. Issue II. Sukhum – 2006. Pp. 128-137.

This article is dedicated to the analysis of certain characteristics of the ‘shepherd’ image from the plot concerning the birth of the hero from stone in the Abkhaz epic ‘Narta’. We will attempt to show that the features characteristic of this image are also inherent to some other personages of the Abkhaz Nart sagas; similar characteristics are also found in the personages of folklore and early written texts from the traditions of other peoples of the world. Such a comparison aims, in the most general terms, to uncover the semantics of the shepherd's traits, without addressing the problem of the specific origins of this image. For comparison, we have drawn upon only a few images from the folklore and early written texts of other cultures. This is due to the specific nature of the task at hand and the limited scope of the article. Evidently, the typological material could be substantially expanded. It should also be added that the problems discussed in the article have been researched by many authors drawing on material from a whole range of cultures(1). Some of the results they obtained are applied by us to analyse the images of the Nart sagas.

Let us briefly consider the content of the texts in which the image of the Nart shepherd is attested. In various recordings, the name of this shepherd varies(2): Zartyzhe, Yerchkh'ou, Iryza, etc. Sometimes, instead of a name, only his epithet ‘shepherd of the Narts’ is given (нарҭаа рыжәхьча; нарҭаа рыжәқәа ирыцыз ачныр). The descriptions of the shepherd's image also differ. In some texts, they are extremely simple. The shepherd wanders with his cattle along the riverbank. He notices on the opposite bank of the river the undying mother of the Narts, Satanay [Bzhania, 1973, p. 282, 286; Salakaya, 1976, p. 170].

In many other texts, a number of significant characteristics of the shepherd's image are listed. Satanay is spinning, bleaching linens in the river (or washing by the river, etc.); on the other, opposite bank of the river, she notices the shepherd. He is sleeping, curled up, (demyreakhә) among the herd of cattle in the shade of a tree (or trees). The shepherd has gigantic eyebrows, as long as his full height; they cover his eyes:

Иџьымшь ах'әы кыдссыла,
Дангылау асаара инаӡуа,
Ҟәбина аԥша анас'лагь,
Их'агәҭа инага иқәнажьуа,
Илакҭа х‘тны иаанарԥшуа [Shakryl, 1961, p.141.]

Satanay calls out to the shepherd and awakens him from his sleep. The shepherd can only look at her by parting his thick eyebrows (иџьымшьқәа дынрых’а-аарых’ан, дааԥшызар) [Ibid., p. 142]. His eyes are very large, protruding from their sockets (ила хпыжӡа) [Inal-ipa, Shakryl, Shinkuba, 1962, p. 26]. Characteristics similar to those typical of the shepherd's image are also inherent to other personages of the Nart sagas. Thus, according to a text about the birth of Sasrykwa, recorded by Sh. Kh. Salakaya in 1969, Sasrykwa [Sosruko] sets off in search of his father. On the way, the hero crosses a river and soon, following the signs indicated to him by his mother, finds the object of his search. The father, named in the text as Uarchkh'ou, was ploughing a field, driving powerful aurochs. Sasrykwa greeted him. In response, Uarchkh'ou ‘raised his eyebrows’ (itsy'imsh' dvakhan) and greeted him back. Then follows Uarchkh'ou’s instructive story about how in the country where he lives, everyone, including women, is stronger than Sasrykwa [Salakaya, 2003, pp. 24-27].

Despite the motivation of this tale – Sasrykwa's search for his father – there is no doubt that it presents the well-known plot of Sasrykwa's search for a man stronger than himself(5).

In this latter plot, similar to the one mentioned above, Sasrykwa meets a mighty ploughman on his way: the clods of earth turned up by the ploughman's plough are the size of an entire house. Sasrykwa addresses him with a greeting, but he does not answer. Then Sasrykwa stabs him with his spear. In response, the ploughman grabs Sasrykwa together with his horse and shoves them under a clod of earth.

The appearance of the ploughman, whose strength Sasrykwa came to know, is highly unusual. He is missing half of his body: he lacks a leg, an arm, and an ear. If we proceed from the assumption that both the tale of Sasrykwa's search for his father and the text about the meeting with the ploughman present the same plot, then we can consider that the long, thick eyebrows and the half-body are characteristics of the same personage – the ploughman.

We can also draw upon some other Nart sagas which feature characters endowed with traits similar to those of the shepherd and the ploughman. Thus, according to the tale ‘Sasrykwa and the Woman-Omag’(6) [Inal-ipa, Shakryl, Shinkuba, 1962, p. 196 ff.], the Narts, during a campaign, enter a dense forest. There they meet a woman-cannibal: her thick eyebrows reach the ground, the heels of her feet are turned forward and her toes backward, her mouth is the size of an elbow and a span.

In another tale, which attests to the well-known plot of Sasrykwa's theft of fire from a giant, both the situation in which Sasrykwa finds the giant and the description of this being's image attract attention. The giant, like the shepherd, is in a state of sleep. Moreover, he sleeps curled up by the fire (ихи ищеапи eилаԥсаны; иҽакәыршаны) [Ibid., p. 180]. This manner of sleeping of the giant partly recalls the manner of sleeping of the shepherd (cf. деиҩырҿахә). The unusual manner of sleeping of the giant was explained through a comparison of Abkhaz and corresponding Adyghe sagas [Ardzinba, 1985, pp. 136-139 ff.]. In one variant of the latter sagas, the zoomorphic nature of the fire-owner is emphasised: he has seven heads and a tail like a snake.

Characteristic features also mark the Narts themselves in the sagas. In particular, the texts emphasise that one can distinguish a Nart from the beings he encounters in his wanderings by his eyes. Thus, the Nart Uakhsit, having lost his wife, set off to search for her at the giant's abode. On the way, he donned the garment (literally, ‘skin’) of a swineherd and acquired a new appearance. But his wife recognised him by his eyes [Inal-ipa, Shakryl, Shinkuba, 1962, p. 95].

When the Nart brothers were on a campaign, their evil wives threw the Narts' only sister, the beautiful Gundu, into an abyss. She was rescued from trouble by a youth, Alkhuzy, who took her to his parental home. The Narts, learning of their sister's disappearance, vowed not to return home until they found her. After long wanderings, one of the Narts arrived at the house of Alkhuzy. Time and suffering had changed his appearance. Only by his eyes did Gundu recognise her brother [Ibid., p. 104].

What exactly constitutes this distinction of Uakhsit's eyes, or the eyes of Gundu's brother, is not stated in the text. This can be established by drawing upon other folklore and ethnographic materials from the Abkhaz tradition.

Now we shall attempt to reveal the semantics of the characteristic features inherent both to the image of the shepherd and to some other personages of the epic. In this connection, it should be said that within the very structure of the Abkhaz Nart sagas, such personages as the shepherd, the ploughman, the giant from whom Sasrykwa steals fire, and some others, appear as beings of the ‘other’, ‘otherworldly’ world [Ardzinba, 1985, pp. 136-139 ff.].

The connection of these personages with ‘that’ world is also manifested in their characteristic features, mentioned above.

The reliability of such an interpretation of the distinctive traits of the shepherd (as well as the ploughman, the giant, etc.) is evidenced by folklore and early written texts from other cultures. We shall limit ourselves to two or three pieces of evidence.

In particular, the sleep and awakening of the shepherd, discussed in the Abkhaz tales, can be compared with descriptions of the state in which a deity resides, for example, in the Hittite myth of the disappearing god. According to the most well-known version of the myth (which displays similarity to a whole series of similar texts widespread in the cultures of the peoples of the Mediterranean), the vegetation god Telepinu disappears from the country in anger. Difficult times befall the country: ‘Barley (and) spelt do not ripen. Cattle, both large and small, and people do not conceive (offspring), and those who have conceived do not give birth. Famine set in within the country; people and gods began to perish from hunger.’ In the end, the god is found in the other world by a bee; stinging Telepinu, she awakens him from sleep. The god's return is associated with the return of fertility.

This myth, apparently, was part of a spring ritual associated with the invocation of fertility at the beginning of the spring cycle. The invocation (including calling out, hoo-calling) of spring and the deity associated with it is attested in many other cultures.

For the interpretation of the characteristics inherent to the personages of the Nart sagas, we can draw upon, for example, descriptions of certain symbols from Chinese mythology. In particular, a zoomorphic deity named ‘Illuminating the Darkness’ or ‘Dragon-Lamp’ (the first name is the designation of the deity by its function, the second – by its appearance) [Yanshina, 1977, p. 188] attracts attention. This god, according to Chinese sources, has a human face and the body of a dragon, but no legs (though in commentaries to one of the sources – ‘Huainanzi’ – it is noted that ‘Illuminating the Darkness’ was one-legged)(7).

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The functions of this deity are described as follows: ‘When he closes his eyes, darkness falls; when he opens them, light appears. He does not eat, does not sleep, does not breathe. He grants wind and rain. He illuminates the Great Darkness.’(8) [Ibid., pp. 125-126].

One of the characteristics of this god is also inherent to some other personages of Chinese mythology. The deity of thunder, Kui, was represented in the image of a one-legged bull or a one-legged dragon [Ibid., pp. 109, 114, 178, 198, 204]. ‘When [it] enters the water or emerges from it, then wind immediately rises and rain pours down. It shines like the sun and the moon, and thunders like thunder.’

Many shapeshifters were depicted as beings with human faces, bodies of animals, and one leg and one arm [Ibid., pp. 47-48].

Similar characteristics are typical for demonic personages in tales about serpent-fighting on a bridge in the Belarusian and Ukrainian traditions: ‘with one side, one eye, one hand and half a head, half a beard’ [Barag, 1981, p. 177].

It should also be noted that one-leggedness could be reproduced in ritual. Thus, among the magical actions of the sacred symbol of the collective – the king – in ancient India, standing on one leg is encountered [Vasilkov, 1972, p. 79].

One of the interesting parallels to the image of the shepherd could be Gogol's Viy [Ivanov, 1971, pp. 133-142], probably borrowed by the writer from a Ukrainian folk legend. This is an underground being, whose characteristic feature was long eyelids, lowered to the ground. The gaze of this terrible being is deadly. The very name Viy may be connected with the Ukrainian common noun meaning ‘eyelash’.

Close parallels to Viy have been identified in Celtic epic, and in Russian and Belarusian fairy tales. In particular, according to one Russian fairy tale, an old man – the husband of a witch – lies on an iron bed. He asks the heroes to lift his eyebrows and eyelashes with iron pitchforks so that he can see.

A similar image is also present in Yakut folklore. This is Kydai-Bakhsy – the ancestor of blacksmiths. He lives in the underworld. The eyelids of his eyes are always lowered, and when he needs to see something, ‘eight people above and below open his eyes with iron hooks’ [Alekseev, 1975, p. 104; Kornilov, 1908, p. 85].

One of the earliest written parallels to the characteristic feature of the ‘shepherd’ from the Nart epic is found in the Hurrian epic ‘Song of Ullikummi’. In this text [Guterbock, 1951, vol.5, No.4; 1952, vol.6, No.1; Ivanov, 1977, p. 125 ff.], preserved in a translation into the Hittite language (approximately 14th century BC), it is said that the eyes of the giant of the underworld – Upelluri, who, like the Greek Atlas, holds up the sky and the earth, are usually closed: ‘When the god Ea finished speaking, he went to Upelluri. And Upelluri opened (literally, ‘raised’) (his) eyes and saw the god Ea.’ This same trait is characteristic of the ruler of the underworld, Enlil. Similar to Upelluri, the stone being Ullikummi is endowed with a similar trait.

The goddess Ishtar (in Hurrian, Shawushka) unsuccessfully tried to enchant Ullikummi with singing and music. Finally, a Huge Wave rose from the sea depths and said to Ishtar: ‘This man is deaf, and he hears (nothing). His eyes are blind, and he sees (nothing).’ However, it is probable that Ullikummi's blindness is a non-permanent state, as in one of the lines of the Hurrian epic it is said that ‘the Sun God looked down from the heavens and sees Ullikummi. And Ullikummi sees the heavenly Sun God.’

The analogy of blindness could also be recreated in ritual. Thus, among some peoples, shamans and persons performing their functions during a séance would cover their faces with a cloth [Revunenkova, 1980, p. 144]. Keeping the eyes closed was also prescribed in the rituals of a number of Jewish tribes of North America [Ivanov, Toporov 1974, p. 128].

Thus, the image of the shepherd in the Abkhaz Nart sagas is endowed with characteristics connected, in particular, with the motif of the opening-closing of the eyes. Similar characteristics are inherent to some other personages of the sagas. The descriptions of sleep – awakening, the manner of sleep of both the giant-fire-keeper and the shepherd, may also have a specific meaning.

The close similarity of the shepherd's characteristics with the traits endowed upon personages from other traditions allows for the interpretation of the shepherd's image as a being of the ‘other’, ‘otherworldly’ world.

Such features as blindness, deafness, sleep, one-leggedness or the absence of these features can be used in folklore and related texts as distinguishing markers of beings from opposite worlds. The analysis of these and other similar markers is undoubtedly important for the reconstruction of the semantics of a specific personage, text, and for the study of culture as a whole.

* This article is reproduced from "The Proceedings of the A. M. Gorky Abkhaz State University" (Vol.V. 1987. Pp. 131-135) with some textological clarifications (Editorial Board).

Notes

1. Cf., in particular, interesting conclusions and literature: [Ivanov, Toporov, 1974, pp. 125-130].
2. Cf. the list of names for this personage: [Inal-ipa, 1977, pp. 14, 66].
3. Cf. also: [Salakaya, 1976, p. 171]
4. Cf. also: [Dzhapua, 2003, p. 171]
5. Cf. in particular [Salakaya 1976, p. 211 ff.].
6. The epithet of the woman – omaga – is a borrowing into Abkhaz. It apparently entered, likely through the mediation of some (Turkic?) language of the North Caucasus, from emege (‘grandmother’, ‘great-grandmother’) – a personage in the mythology of the Mongolian and some other peoples. Possibly, the word ҭаҳәҭеи arrived by the same route. In Abkhaz it has the meaning ‘rifle case’; it is attested in the same meaning in Kabardian. This word derives from the Mongolian tokhtui or dokhtui – ‘bow case’ (a leather case, made in the shape of a bow, for protecting the bow from dampness and for carrying it on the shoulder). It is also borrowed into Russian: Russian tokhtui ‘case for a bow’ (on the term tokhtui and its borrowing into Russian, see: [Banzarov, 1955, p. 163]).
7. We were kindly informed about this commentary by E. M. Yanshina.
8. The functions and appearance of this deity most of all recall the descriptions of the image of the giant-keeper of fire in the Abkhaz epic [Yanshina, 1977, p. 99].

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