투르크 구전서사시의 샤머니즘적 모티프 연구

A Study on the Shamanism Motifs in Turkic Oral Epics

In this study, we found out the motifs in the oral tradition of Turks, especially in their heroic epic poems, are related to Shamanism. The motifs originated from Shamanism and are focused on the worship of Heaven. It shows that the hero came to this world to realize the vision and hope of their people through the will of God. At the same time, these Shamanistic motifs reveal their world view and thought about the universe. The worship of Heaven has been handed down to cults for the sacred mountains and spirit of the holy trees. This sacred tree exists as the shaman’s intermediary medium in the Weltanschauung of the Heaven, Earth and Underground. The shaman, who can freely travel between these three spheres, appears in various forms in Turkic oral epics. Moreover, he performs function to confirm that among lots of heroes, he is the true posterity of the Heaven. As Turks accepted Islam, the shamans’ influences gradually weakened in their way of spiritual life or changed into other forms. However, it is hard to assume that the prototype of Shamanism has completely disappeared.