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Яндекс.Метрика

DOI: 10.46698/r4368-5051-6329-l

OSSETIAN WATER MILL QADA KUYROJ AS ECONOMIC OBJECT AND LOCUS OF MAGIC ACTION

Kulumbegov, Robert P.
Izvestia SOIGSI. 2020. IIS 37 (76).
Abstract:
In Ossetia, as everywhere in the Caucasus, mills were divided into two main types – manual
and water. Mill mechanisms working through the efforts of domestic animals (donkeys, camels) or
on the strength of the wind in the region under consideration were not widespread and were a rare
exception. Hand mills are the most ancient mechanical device for grinding flour, and they have been
known in Ossetia since the Bronze Age. Water mills have become the next step in the development
of milling technology, greatly increasing productivity. For the work of the mill, it was necessary to
have a source of water, by which the pressure of the water flow was created, and which was used to
drive the mill wheel. In Ossetia a mill powered by water energy was called Qada Kuyroj. In addition
to economic functions, the mill, in the view of agriculturalists was associated with mythology. The
mountaineers believed that a mill mechanism that works without human involvement and only
on the power of water is a manifestation of supernatural powers. The transformation of grain into
flour, using water, the constant noise of the mill wheel, which doesn’t stop even at night, the isolation
of the building, oral traditions with magical insides – all this made them treat mill as a place with
dark substance. Therefore, the mill is a locus-place associated with mythopoetic idea of the world, its
borders, the spirits of place and water, zones of sacred space and behavioral norms. If Ossetian mill
qada kwyroj, as the element of mechanization of the work for agriculturalists, is described quite fully,
still the mythological ideas associated with it still need further research.
Keywords: mill, grain, flour, water, grinder, women, devils, werewolves
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