Predictions and fortune-telling in the Kalmyk epic poem “Dzhangar”

The article examines the motifs of predictions and fortune-telling within the songs of the Kalmyk heroic epic “Dzhangar”. The aim of the research is to identify and study predictions and fortune-telling in different epic cycles. To achieve that, the author considers the predictions and fortune-telling discovered in the early cycles of the epic “Dzhangar” - Maloderbetovsky and Bagatsokhurovsky, as well as in songs from the epic repertoires of Jangarchi Eelian Ovl and Mukebyun Basangov. The theme of prediction appears when the storyteller has to move to the beginning of an epic narration. As a rule, it is either the message of the clairvoyant Altan Cheji about the threat looming over Bumba or the sadness of Khan Jangar caused by the impending war. Frequently, the prediction stimulates decisive actions of the hero going on a military campaign. In the epic “Dzhangar” predictions and fortune-telling are important components of the dynamically developing plot. They prove that among the Kalmyks there is magic of prediction and different methods of fortune-telling, such as using the bones ‘sha’, or a lamb shoulder (fire-burnt and a white shoulder blade). Depending on the result of the fortune-telling, the people interested in it could take the necessary measures. Thus, the study of the motifs of prediction and fortune-telling in the epic poem “Dzhangar” confirms that our ancestors, realizing the dependence of man on the forces of nature, revered the heavenly bodies and stars, worshiping the spirits of their native land and water, performed rituals and lived in harmony with nature.