Motif of the Underworld in the Kalmyk Fairy Tales

The motif of the underworld in Kalmyk fairy tales is associated with archaic ideas about the three worlds. The motif of the hero’s journey to the lower world in Kalmyk folk tales is plot-forming. Sometimes the hero himself goes to the lower world, climbing down a rope with the help of his twin brothers, or entering a huge pit. Trapped in the underworld due to the evil intentions of his older brothers, the hero is maimed and healed thanks to the magic leaves. The lower world (dord orn) in the fairy-tale tradition of the people appears as a habitat of Chthonic creatures. Representatives of the lower world are the guardians of fi re, they have the magical ability to restore lost organs and limbs when absorbed. The inhabitants of the lower world appear to be hostile to humans. When they meet a man, they are not averse to feast on his blood and meat. A copper-billed old shulmus with legs like sheep, who lives in a crevice in the earth, feeds on lice and nits, and drinks blood by sticking her beak into the back of the head. In Kalmyk fairy tales, shulmuses can take on human form and harm people by taking food from them. The mus monster is depicted as huge: it plows the sky with one of its fangs, explodes the earth with the other fang and roars, feeds on human fl esh. The snake is characterized as venomous, strong and angry. He swallows people by the hundreds and thousands, but the hero overpowers him. The Kalmyk fairy tale shows the hero’s struggle with two snakes: one devours people, the other is forever at war with the Khan Garuda bird, eating its chicks. The hero saves the off spring of a mythical bird and ascends it to the middle world. At the same time, the lower world is inhabited not only by chthonic creatures, but also by humans. In the Kalmyk fairy tale, the underworld appears to be similar to the ordinary world. It can be noted here that the underworld is a copy of the “matrix”, which is the middle world of people.