OLONKHO
the Yakut Heroic Epos

(Detailed description as it was written in candidate application for the 3rd proclamation of masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of the humanity)

TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF OLONKHO PERFORMING

Olonkhohuts are talented and bright personalities, who performed certain public and cultural functions. Most of the Yakut Olonkho authors are of the poor origin. Hunting, cattle-breeding and farming were the main source of living for the most of Olonkho narrators. Olonkho circulates and is transmitted through narrators and folklore-keepers. The oral form of narrative predetermines vari ability of the folklore. The narrator's skills lie in realization of the epic knowl edge at the moment of performance. The epic knowledge is the knowledge of different plots, motives, epic formulas and typical places, system of depictive tools, i.e. the specific epic archaic language. Such Olonkhohuts may have a great success before the audience, each time varying their epic texts. Following the poetic inspiration, a narrator could add new episodes, explain the he ro's behavior in other ways and show other traits of hero's character.

Arrival of Olonkhohut in a settlement was a truly joyful event that was impatiently awaited. Especially in the long winter evenings, when people al most had no opportunity to communicate with each other, "listening to Olonkho was a true holiday in the yurta (Yakut nomad tent). In the depressing and monotonous environment, it was the best entertainment for people, who were under pressure of poverty and petty household chores". 1

Often Olonkho was performed in a small circle of a family and the nearest neighbors, but sometimes at various festivities. There were certain traditions of performance of the Yakut narratives. Olonkhohut performs Olonkho, usual ly sitting cross-legged and with his one hand on his ear or cheek. Descriptive and narrative extracts are recited at a quick pace, while speeches and dia logues are performed in the form of a song. In the pathetic places Olonkhohut gesticulates, sometimes half-rises and expresses the hero's feelings by his fa cial expression. 2 In the most emotional and dramatic moments, the audience supported the performer by exclamations of surprise or delight. Experts in Yakut folklore affirm the above-mentioned manner of performance. The re searcher of the Yakut musical folklore M.N. Zhirkov characterizes the "traditional pose" of narrators in the following way: "Olonkhohut sits cross-legged, his back is slightly bent, one arm, usually the right one, holds his head, in clined to the side". 3 The Siberian researcher R. A. Sherkhunayev describes the performing manner of P.P. Yadrikhinskyi, who performed Olonkhos, sitting slightly bent forward, with his right hand holding his cheek and the left hand lying on his knees. At times he stands up and continues his narration". He notes that the same traditional pose was characteristic of the ancient Egyptian singers. As the researcher of ancient Eastern musical culture K. Zaks writes, an ancient Egyptian singer always held his ear or cheek with his palm in order to make the voice vibrate. 5 The purpose of such a performing manner is renunciation from the surrounding world and falling into further unconscious ness. Such a performing manner is observed in the northern regions of Yakutia (Ust-Yanskyi, Abyiskyi, Allaikhovskyi regions and others). Nevertheless, the individual narration manner, gesticulation, facial expression, body movements, intonation and richness of timbre express the art of performing. These are the performing techniques that cannot be conveyed through written texts and tape recordings.

The Yakut epos makes a real impression on the listener, only if Olonkhohut brightly and synchronously portrays ancient images and describes plots. In this case, performance of the narrator flows "like an impetuous torrent of har monious eloquence and singing". The epic recitative, being a special manner of performing, that creates a bright and colorful picture of the ancient world, is characteristic only of a live performance. Thus, Olonkhohut is not only an actor, proficient in dramatic identification, not only a talented singer, whose voice creates lively images, but also a master of eloquence, perfect in poetical improvisation.

The classical description of the Olonkho was given by A.E. Kulakovskyi: "Look at a Yakut family listening to an Olonkho performer at long winter night. All the young and old gathered around the performer like hungry chil dren around their mother….. They listen to his singing from early evening till dawn, i.e. during 13-14 hours. (Sometimes the rich made performers tell fairy tales for three days with short breaks for sleep and meals). All are listening to the performer holding their breath, fascinated by the narration, trying not to utter a word, while generally the Yakut are rather apathetic. Everybody forgot about his or her concerns and troubles and flew to the enchanting beautiful world of dreams. And the narrator himself as a true poet is captivated most of all, his eyes are closed so as to get rid of the sinful world with its urgent problems and prose of life. He closed a hole of his ear with his finger so as his own singing could be heard more clearly, his body was swinging rhythmically to the sound of his voice. He forgot about his sleep and rest, about everything in the world….. In the eyes of his listeners the Olonkho performer has completely transformed: he is no longer their old acquaintance Uibaan, but a supernatural wonderful creature, surrounded by a mysterious aura.

Olonkho performer of the past had to learn huge epic texts and perfor mance techniques on his own. He grew up in epic surroundings and was genetically predisposed to oral traditions. His whole family tree, as a rule, was full of gifted singers, Olonkho performers and shamans. Such a child, being predisposed, wanted to join epic culture and did not miss a single performance. As time went by he learned ethnical singing toyuk, and then learned the Olonkho text using epic formulae, thus developing his memory. He had to memorize the plots of Olonkho performing among his age children. If a child showed some talented performance, adults asked him to perform Olonkho, encourag ing self-development and further activities. Of course, if adults liked his performance, their praises and approval made the young olonkhohut (Ololnkho performer) believe in his strength. In the end, only those with a good voice, memory, improvisation skills, and poetic language became Olonkho perform ers. In the past an olonkhohut never stayed at one spot. He tried to listen to other olonkhohuts and in order to do that he visited other villages and even other regions looking for a prominent and famous olonkhohut. It was also a habit to hold competitions of Olonkho performers, attended by all. In such a way he got to know his repertory and expand it. The competitions were some sort of an "Olonkho school" for forming epic standards and models. Epic schools existed until the very end of 1940s of the 20 th century. Some outstand ing performers became professional artists, singing only when invited. Their glory was far beyond regions; a famous olonkhohut was a hero, beloved and treated by all. Such performers could not care for a family, house, cattle. They never got rich and their relatives were just as poor as other people. They pol ished Olonkho and made it a fine art - all for a sake of Olonkho.

Back