СТАТЬИ

«Китаб-и дедем Коркут» («Книга моего деда Коркута», полное название - «Книга моего деда Коркута на языке племени огузов») является единственным сохранившемся памянтиком книжного эпоса у тюркских народов огузских народов, сложение сказаний которого возводят к X-XI вв.
Наиболее ярко в эпосе предстает идея «века огузов» (это отмечено многими исследователями «Книги моего деда Коркута») – времени, когда, с одной стороны, происходит действие сказаний эпоса в целом, а с другой – это время характеризуется как своего рода «идиллическое». Скорее всего, представление о «веке огузов» восходит к традиционным эпическим зачинам, свойственным тюркскому и монгольскому устному и книжному эпосам, традиционно отсылающим к космогонии, «доисторическому», начальному состоянию мира. Представление о «веке огузов» также соотносится в пространственном соотношении с представлением о «земле огузов», противопоставленной окружающему враждебному миру неверных.
В эпосе практически не отражена традиционная для образа жизни кочевников смена сезонов. Действие сказаний происходит «на зеленых лугах», в степях, вероятно, летом; зимнее время упоминается в эпосе лишь несколько раз. Наиболее четко выражена в эпосе дифференциация по времени суток. Утреннее время является временем, когда огузские богатыри отправляются на подвиги, в походы, когда принимаются важные решения.
Таким образом, в «Китаб-и дедем Коркут» нашли отражение представления о времени, бытовавшие у тюрков-огузов в течение долгого периода их продвижения на Запад через Закавказье, Иран и Малую Азию и циклизации сказаний данного книжного эпоса.

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Written epic of the Oghuz

The Turkic medieval written epic “The Book of Dede Korkut” (“Kitab-i dedem Korkut”) is undoubtedly the most important source on social and cultural life of the Oghuz Turks of the early Medieval Ages. Customarily the formation of stories of which “The Book of Dede Korkut” consists of refers to the 11^th century, but the stories were fixed in the written form later, approximately in the 15^th century.
“The Book of Dede Korkut” (according to the Dresden manuscript¹) consists of twelve songs-legends, which speak about the exploits of the Oghuz heroes. The main plot — the core of which is framed by these stories — is the struggle of the Oghuz tribes against the infidels, non-Muslims (kafir) in the lands of Asia Minor, as well as constant internecine strife among the Oghuz themselves. This text reflects both the events of early Turkic semi-legendary history (not only historical facts, but also a set of mythological beliefs) and later events connected with the spread of their power in Asia Minor and with their contacts with Byzantium. The stories that comprise “The Book of Dede Korkut” display a clear connection with both common Turkic literary and folk traditions as well as more recent strata.

“Kitab-i dedem Korkut” as a monument of a written epos is found on the border between oral and literary tradition and between folk narrative and historical chronicle.

II.1. “The days of the Oghuz”

Most clearly in this epic appears the idea of “the age of the Oghuz”, or “the days of the Oghuz [tribe]” (this was noticed by many researchers of the “Book of Dede Korkut” – see, for example, [Zhirmunski, 1962]) – a time when the action of all the tales of the epic takes place in general. This period is characterized as a kind of “idyllic time”:
Ol zamanda beğlerün alkışı, karkışı karkış idi. Dıaları müstecab olurıdı [Gökyay, 2000, p. 31] // “In those days the nobles’ blessings were blessings and their curses were curses, and their prayers used to be answered” [Lewis, 1974, p. 59]².

Oğuz zamanında Uşun Koca derler bir kişi varıdı [Gökyay, 2000, p. 125] // “In the days of the Oghuz there was a man called Ushun Koja…” [Lewis, 1974, p. 161].
Ol zamanda Oğuz beylerine ne kaza gelse uyhudan gelüridi [Gökyay, 2000, p. 92] // “In those days whatever disaster befell the Oghuz warriors befell them because of sleep” [Lewis, 1974, p. 127].
Probably the concept of “the days of the Oghuz” may be related to “the enhanced interest of the Ottomans in their historical past”, as Zhirmunski wrote [Zhirmunski, 1962]. However, most likely, this idea goes back to the traditional epic introduction, which is characteristic of the Turkic and Mongolian oral and written epics, referring to cosmogony, “prehistoric”, the initial state of the world (see, for example in the Buryat and Mongol “Geser” written epic: [Neklyudov, 2019, p. 131 and further])³.

The concept of the “age of the Oghuz Turks” is also correlated in spatial relation to the representation of “the land of the Oghuz” (tur. Oğuz eli), which is antagonistic to the surrounding hostile world of the infidels. The dwelling place of the ruler of Trapezund in “The Book of Dede Korkut”, despite being described in geographically precise terms, is presented as a kind of otherworldly space, one of several “evil places” (tur. yavuz yerler). For example, Kanlı-koja tells his son Kan-Turali, who is going on a journey: “Thereupon Kanli Koja declaimed; let us see, my Khan, what he declaimed
‘Son, in the place where you would go,
Twisted and tortuous will the roads be;
Swamps there will be, where the horseman will sink and never emerge;
Forests there will be, where the red serpent can find no path;
Fortresses there will be, that rub shoulders with the sky;
A beautiful one there will be who puts out eyes and snatches souls; …To a terrible place have you set your foot; Stay!” [Lewis, 1974, p. 119] (“Kanlı Koca burada soylamış, görelüm Hanum ne soylamış, aydur: Oğul, sen varacak yerün Dolamaç dolamaç yolları olur Atlu batup çıkamaz Anun balçığı olur Ala yılan sökemez Anun ormanı olur Gökile pehlu uran Anun kalası olur Göz kakuban gönül alan Anun görklüsü olur Hay demedin baş getüren Anun celladı olur... Yavuz yerlere yeltendün” [Gökyay, 2000, p. 85]) (for more details see: [Anikeeva, 2019]).

II.2. Seasons in “The Book of Dede Korkut”

It should be noted that the traditional nomadic way of life of the Oghuz Turkic tribes and the change of seasons connected with that (for example, cattle overtaking to summer / winter pastures) are practically not reflected in the epic. The action of the stories takes place “on the green meadows”, in the steppes, probably, in the summer or spring; winter season is mentioned in the epic several times only. Particularly interesting is the fragment in the beginning of the epics where it is mentioned among other proverbs and didactic maxims:
Yapa yapa karlar yağsa yağsa kalmaz; yapağılu gökçe çemen güze kalmaz [Gökyay, 2000, p. 1] / “No matter how thick the snow fell, it won’t stay until spring; blooming green meadow won’t remain until autumn”.
It is possible to suggest that the idea of the juxtaposition of winter and summer in this proverb may be the echoe of the “Dispute of Summer and Winter” reflected in the Turkic literature tradition of the 11^th century: We can find it in “Compendium of Turkic dialects” (“Dīwān Luɣāt at-Turk”) by Mahmud Kashgari⁴ and also in “Kutadgu Bilig” by Yusuf Balasaguni⁵.

There are many Turkic verses with the explanations of Kashgari in the text of the “Compendium” and among them we can find these ones:
“öl qar qamuɣ qˉišin enǟr
ašliq tariɣ anin önǟr
jawlaq yaɣi mändä tinār
sän kälibän täbräšǖr
Describing the debate of Summer and Winter; Winter says to Summer: ‘Snow and damp descend in winter; because of it the grain grows in summer; in me the hostile foe rests (from his raids); when you come (O Summer, then in you) he moves’” (MK 369 in: [Dankov, Kelly, 1984, p. 64].
There are also the verses⁶ that describe a spring and the spring awakening of nature in the didactical poem “Kutadgu Bilig” dated back by the same 11^th c. and among them one can see that spring season is counterposed to a winter:

“togardin ese keldi ongdun yili
ajun itgüke açtı ustmah yolı
yagız yir yipar toldı kafur kitip
bezenmek tiler dünya körkin itip
irinçig kısıg sürdi yazkı esin
yaruk yaz yana kurdı devlet yasın… ” (QB 63–65, see at: [Arat, 1947, p. 23–24]⁷ / “The spring wind blew from the East and opened the Paradise way; The brown earth was filled with musk, and the camphor was gone, the world wants to be adorned by itself; the spring wind drove the tormented winter and took it away; the bright summer again set up a bow of bliss”.

II.3. Time of the day

The differentiation by time of day seems to be the most clearly expressed in “The Book of Dede Korkut”. Morning time is the time when the Oghuz heroes go to feats, to campaigns, and when important decisions are made (and at the same time night (evening) is not only time for sleep but also the time to attack enemies (infidels)); it is emphasized by the special formula phrase⁸ Alar sabah kalkubanı yerinden uru-durup // “at break of the day rose up from his place”. For example:

Salkım salkum tan yelleri esdüğünde,
Sakallu bozaç turgay sayradukda[…]
Aklı karalı seçilen çağda,
Gögsü-güzel kaba dağlara gün degende… Alar sabah Dirse Han kalkubanı yerinden uru-durup [...] Bayındır Hanun sohbetine gelüridi [Gökyay, 2000, s. 4, 8 and fwd.] // “When the winds of dawn blow cold,
When the bearded grey lark is singing…
When white begins to be distinguishable from black, When the sun touches the great mountains with their lovely folds… at break of day Dirse Khan rose up from his place” [Lewis, 1974, p. 27, 32–33].
The same idea about morning as the start for any military campaign can be seen at the Turkic folk verses included in Mahmud Kashgari’s “Compendium of the Turkic Dialects” (mentioned above):
“… Verse:
taɳ ata yortalim
buḏrač qanin irtälim
basmil begin örtälim
amdi yigit yewilsǖn
‘We’ll set out at the break of dawn, and seek the blood (and the blood-price) of Buḏrač (a man from Yabaqu), and burn the emir of Basmil; now let the young men gather in their squadrons’” (MK 600, in: [Dankov, Kelly, 1984, p. 330]. It should be noticed that the early morning in “The Book of Dede Korkut” is also once named by the same word kuşluk (“kuşluk uyhudan uyanur kalkar...” [Gökyay, 2000, p. 3]: “[she] gets up early in morning”]), which is mentioned in Mahmud Kashgari’s treatise (quşluq) as “forenoon (Oɣuz dialect)” (MK 238, in: [Dankov, Kelly, 1982, p. 354]).
Both the importance of military campaign and the time of performance in it are emphasized by the following saying at the epic:
“Kanlı Koca aydur: Oğul, sabah varup öylen gelmek olmaz; öylen varup ahiam gelmek olmaz” [Gökyay, 2000, p. 83] // “Said Kanli Koja, ‘My son, it’s no use leaving in the morning and coming home at noon; it’s no use leaving at noon and coming home in evening…” [Lewis, 1974, p. 117].

III. Conclusion

There are many archaic elements of traditional Turkic world outlook that can be found in the epic folklore of the Oghuz Turks (such as “Kitab-i dedem Korkut”). Those elements were not introduced into Kitab-i Korkut in Asia Minor proper, where the completion of its stories took place, but had been existing in Turkic literary traditions even before part of the Oghuz tribes came to Asia Minor; they had been undergoing a fairly long evolution during the whole period of migration of part of the Oghuz tribes to the West, ca. in the 8^th–13^th centuries.
Perception of time in different aspects (time of a day, season of the year, the idea of the “the age of the Oghuz”) in the tales of “The Book of Korkut” is obviously connected both with the oral Turkic epic and early medieval literary Turkic tradition which is represented by the monument of 11^th century — “Dīwān Luɣāt at-Turk” (and in lesser degree “Kutadgu Bilig”).
“Kitab-i dedem Korkut” reflected the ideas of time that existed among the Oghuz Turks for a long period of their migration to the West through the Transcaucasia, Iran and Asia Minor, and the cyclization of the legends of this written epic. Undoubtedly “The Book of Dede Korkut” as a monument of Turkish folklore and literature requires further research of various area — historical, anthropological, and linguistic.