Motif of the way in Kalmyk fairy tales of the plot type AT 508 “Grateful dead”

The article considers the motif of the way in Kalmyk fairy tales of the plot type AT 508 “Grateful Dead”. The analysis showed that the motif of the path is realized by representatives of two generations. At first, an elderly parent of mythological age (eight thousand / five hundred and fifty-five years old) goes to ask for an heir to his guardian genius. The length of the path is symbolized by iron shoes and a staff that the old man takes with him. The traditional formulas of the path also depict its longitude. The son, born after performing certain rituals prompted by the novice of the khurul (manjik), goes to trade. The test of an employee before setting off on a journey, in our opinion, is a rethought and transformed idea of food as having a “special meaning” for a person who has gone to another world. Along the way, the hero restores order by returning the debt of the deceased, returns the dead to the grave and gives peace to the soul, thus acquiring a grateful assistant. The path of the hero of the fairy tale is described by specific loci: a large mound, salt marshes, sands. These places are border zones where the hero is waiting for pests - a family of man-eating mus / mangas. The grateful dead gets the hero a bride (heavenly maiden / daughter of the khan), everyone returns home together. However, the hero undertakes another journey, already to the land of the dead. Having passed the trials of the Lord of death Erlik Nomin Khan with his assistant, the hero and the grateful dead return to the world of people. The Kalmyk’s ideas about this journey to the world of the dead were formed under the influence of Buddhist mythology.