Myths about Yumynudyr ("heavenly maiden") in Mari mythology and Ritual: an attempt at a source and structural analysis

Ilikaev Aleksandr ORCID: 0009-0003-6773-9053 PhD in Politics Associate Professor, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ufa University of Science and Technology Zaki Validi str., 32, Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, 450076, Russia jumo@bk.ru Other publications by this author

The article is a continuation of a previously published work that examined the reliability of information about this key image of Mari mythology, as well as the problem of its divine status ^{[8, pp. 1-11]}.

General information about the texts of myths involving Yumynudyr ("heavenly maiden") in Mari mythology. Historiography of the issue. According to Yu. A. Kaliev, the largest expert and researcher of the image of Yumynudyr in Mari mythology, the "ethnogenetic myth" associated with it has three main variants ^{[11, p. 148]}. The most complete and well-known is the story (legend) written by E. Chirikov in 1916 ^{[16, pp. 78-82]}. In general, but with great detail, he repeats the retelling of the legend, stated by S. A. Nurminsky in 1862 ^{[19, pp. 252-255]}. The main difference is that E. Chirikov's plot is dramatized by the appearance of Keremet, who is overcome by jealousy of his niece. Hence, the myth has a tragic ending ^{[16, pp. 79-82]}, bringing it closer to the corresponding Chuvash myth of Keremet ^{[5, p. 7]}. The legend of Yumynudyr, reported by P. V. Znamensky in 1876, is not a separate version of the myth, but rather a quotation from the text of S. A. Nurminsky. The author himself admits that he had never heard such a legend from Marie, and he simply cites the material of his predecessor ^{[7, p. 38]}. Finally, some details about the heavenly family of Humo are reported by S. K. Kuznetsov in an 1880 article in the preface to the exposition of the legend of Huminudyr ^{[11, p. 148]}, but they, in turn, are a borrowing of the description of the family and economy of the god Humo from the article by P. V. Znamensky.

Despite the fact that both texts on Yumynudyr are essentially a reprint of S. A. Nurminsky's text (with minor additions about the celestial economy of Yumo by P. V. Znamensky), at the turn of the XIX – XX centuries, the Finnish researcher H. Paasonen wrote down poetic texts about Yumynudyr, according to which the "heavenly maiden" dwells in the bright azure of heaven, sits in a golden or silver palace behind a transparent veil on the highest, seventh tier of heaven. At the same time, she herself wears silver or gold clothes (amazing outfits), she has a beautiful long braid ^{[37, p. 73]}. Unlike folk songs, there are not many descriptions in the prose version of the myth of Yumynudyr as presented by S. A. Nurminsky. The only poetic metaphor is felt (mar. portysh), which, opening the sky, lowers the Humour to the ground so that a daughter with a herd can walk along it. By "felt", obviously, we mean a rainbow or a dawn (as in E. Chirikov).

Already in the XX – XXI centuries, scientists (both domestic and foreign) recorded texts in the Mari language (fairy tales, legends), which somehow featured images close to Humorous. First of all, the deity (keremet) Piyambar is the daughter of Yumo (the legend of the same name), as well as Yymyn Ydyr (lit. "daughter of Yyma" (that is, Humo/heaven) from the fairy tale "Daughter of Heaven", Yuksoudyr Yuktalche (the fairy tale "Daughter of the Swan"), Shi Puyan Pampalche (the fairy tale "Silver-Toothed Pampalche"), Aktavi (the fairy tale "Silver-headed Pazi"), May (recorded by M. G. Galyamshin), Sulykai (recorded by Yu. Vasimova).

The heroine of the Mari fairy tale recorded by O. Beke, who flies through the air in a silver carriage, can also be counted among the heavenly maidens typologically close to Yumynudyr ^{[35, p. 429]}.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the entry about the lark trying to marry Yumynudyr. It seems to appear for the first time in O. Beke's dialectological dictionary of the Mari language (the material was collected during the First World War). Subsequently, this text, accompanied by a children's nickname recorded in the Medvedevsky district of Mari El: "The lark tour-tour, // The lark tour-tour, // The silver hatchet will jump out of your hands, // You will not be able to marry Yumynudyr!" was quoted by Yu.A. Kaliev ^{[11, p. 126]}. It is noteworthy that the Eastern Aryan versions contain various plots about the lark's competition with Humo himself, without mentioning his daughter ^{[33, p. 147]}.

T. E. Yefremov, Yu. A. Kaliev and other researchers managed to find a lot of information about Yumynudyr in folk songs and conspiracies ^{[20, p. 98; 475-476; 11, p. 213-215; 1, p. 41-42]}.

Among the new sources about Yumynudyr, which have not yet been analyzed by anyone, is the myth of May, the daughter of Shochyn Ava, recorded by M. G. Galyamshin in 2000 from the words of K. Ya. Akitova (published in 2019) ^{[4, pp. 13-15]}. Although some figures of the Mari traditional religion, to whom this text was shown, were inclined to consider it a "modern fairy tale" ^[22], the material of this record fits perfectly into the overall picture of information about Yumynudyr.

Some information and retellings of the legends about Pimabar (Sulykai), the youngest daughter of Yumo, the wife of Kuryk Kugu Yong, can be found in the works of G. E. Shkalina, Y. Vasimov. A relatively new study is an article by E. M. Kolcheva devoted to the image of the Yumynudyr in Mari mythology ^[12].

Nevertheless, the myth of Yumynudyr was not recorded or analyzed by foreign scientists as a separate legend, not to mention its sources. For example, the modern Finnish researcher L. Laulainen, who visited the sanctuary of the Eastern Mari Sultan-Keremet in the 1990s, wrote only that, according to the Mari legend, the daughter of God fell in love with a beautiful shepherd boy, and from this union Mari, the children of Earth and Heaven, were born ^{[36, p. 15]}.

In addition, as the author of the article sees it, it would be correct to include in the circle of myths about Yuminudyr some legends concerning images of elder goddesses close to this character. First of all, we are talking about Shochyn Ave. She, along with the deity Tun Yumo, is the main character of the myth explaining the appearance of humans ^{[28, pp. 26-27]}. Also, as will be shown below, the image of Kechavi Udyr, the Daughter of the sun goddess from the fairy tale of the same name, is undoubtedly connected with the image of Yumynudyr. Kechavi udyr (more precisely, Kechavi shuzhar or Kechavi aka, i.e. "sister of the sun") is also found in the retelling of the Mari legend recorded by K. A. Chetkarev ^{[9, p. 226]}. Finally, the heroines of the fairy tales "Son of Heaven" ^{[16, pp. 90-91]} and "Forty-one Foals" ^{[15, pp. 48-51]}, who become wives of the sons of Humour, are definitely close to Humour.

Since the purpose of this article is to identify the most important structural elements of the myths about the Yuminudyr, it would be logical to try to build from all currently available texts a kind of holistic connected plot about the "heavenly maiden". At the same time, the author is aware that the resulting construct will have a hypothetical working character in a sense, without claiming to be the source text of the legend. As confirmation of the scientific prospects of this approach, we should refer to the opinion of the collector of the Karelo-Finnish epic, E. Lennroth, who at one time, although he published the Kalevala, considered the runes themselves recorded by the people as a diverse source and did not aim to "restore" some ancient original plot ^{[6, pp. 9-10]}.

Yumo's family: sons and daughters; circumstances of Yuminudyr's birth and growing up; relationship with Uncle Keremet; shepherding the flock; housework. According to the text by M. G. Galyamshin, once upon a time, so that no one knows when, people sacrificed birds and animals to the gods living in the sky: Yumo (Kugo Yumo, Tun Yumo), Ketche Yumo, Shochyn Ave, Mer Yumo, Kugu Treasurer Yumo and others ^{[4, p. 13]}. And that's what the myth tells us about where people came from, Shochyn Ava and Tun Yumo, having bathed in the river at noon, gave birth to the first human pairs ^{[28, pp. 26-27]}.

Most texts say nothing about the circumstances of Yumynudyr's birth. It is noted that she just grew into a beautiful girl. The text by M. G. Galyamshin talks about this in a little more detail. "One fine day in summer, Kugu Shochin ava gives birth to a daughter. She is given the name Maya. As the days go by, the daughter becomes like a flexible white birch... her face resembles a pink dawn, her voice is the murmur of a bright spring..." ^{[4, p. 13]}. It should be noted that, according to E. Chirikov's record, Yumo had many other children ^{[16, p. 79]}. The daughter of Shochin Ava and Tun Yumo has grown into a beautiful girl ^{[4, p. 13]}.

The presence of the "daughter of God" not only of a father, but also of a mother in the text of M. G. Galyamshin seems to have no analogues in the previous records of the myths about Yuminudyr. However, it is to her heavenly parents that Yymyn Ydyr calls out in the mountain Aryan fairy tale, when she wants them to lift her back up: "Father, mother! Give me a silk swing!" ^{[16, p. 78]}.

Further, various sources report that Humo had a beautiful house and huge herds of cattle in heaven. There was no end to them. So, when these herds went to drink from their premises, the front end of the long line was no longer visible for a long time, "and the back had not yet stretched out of the heavenly stables" ^{[7, p. 38]}. Yumo had a large family, he worked tirelessly, from dawn to dawn, demanded the same from his household. No wonder the heavenly god didn't pay attention to the people living below.

Yumo's daughter was tending the herd. Probably, in the beginning the herd had a place to graze, because it represented the constellations of the Moose, the Celestial Horse, and the Celestial Cow ^{[11, p. 89]}. At that time, there was a place in the sky for a Rowan bush, a River, a Lake, a Swan, a Cuckoo, etc. Besides, Yumynudyr did a lot of housework: she spun yarn (balls of comets), cooked food on a heavenly fire (fiery star: Mars? Antares?). It is possible that originally Yumynudyr, as the daughter of Shochyn (Yumyn) Ava– a duck that flew in from the Pleiades cluster (Duck's Nest), could have a bird's appearance, since the creators of the world themselves, Kugo-Yumo and Keremet (Yin), were represented by two drakes ^{[30, p. 92]}. The original ornithelike appearance of Yumynudyr, its close connection with the sky, is indicated by the idea of a world pillar, kavan meng, on top of which sits a cuckoo, identified with the goddess of life ^{[11, pp. 61-65]}. In a fairy tale written by O. Beke, the hero, in order to free his wife flying through the air in a silver cart from the captivity of a Magician, has not only to use the help of a multi-legged steed, but also to catch her soul in the form of a bird ^{[35, p. 429]}.

At that time, the sky was filled with a wide variety of animals, plants, and objects. Yumynudyr herself appeared astral, she had Yumyn ava – "heavenly mother", Yumyn avan ushkalzhe – "cow of the heavenly mother", yumyn kyutyu – "heavenly herd", yumyn kapka – "heavenly gate", yumyn sura – "heavenly courtyard", yumyn shopshar – "heavenly staircase", yumyn lenge – "heavenly swing", yumyn tul – "heavenly fire", yumyn sar – "heavenly light". As mentioned above, the connection of Yumynudyr with the Pleiades star cluster and the bird was indicated by such attributes as yumyn shuldyr – "heavenly wings" and yumyn er – "heavenly lake" ^{[10, pp. 21-22]}.

According to some informants, the heavenly herd of Yumynudyr grazed on earth from morning to evening, and at night it ascended back to heaven and turned into different constellations there ^[22].

Folk songs report that Yumynudyr sits under a spreading birch tree that grows on a hill ^{[11, p. 95]}. Birch in this case has some features of the World Tree. Spinning Yumynudyr yarn ensures the rotation of the starry sky around the world pole (Polar Star).

In pre-revolutionary texts in Russian about Yumynudyr, the daughter of Yumo appears to be almost an ordinary peasant girl. Nothing is said about Yumo's family, except that he had many children, but the most beloved daughter was the Heavenly Maiden. It is reported that the grass did not grow in the sky, so Humo had to lower the herd down the path of dawn to the ground every morning. E. Chirikov's explanation of Yuminudyr's love longing precedes this episode: a girl has grown up, but there are no suitors in heaven, only angels, there is no one to love. However, there was Keremet, Yumo's younger brother, but he was old and the girl did not like him ^{[16, p. 79]}.

The texts by S. A. Nurminsky and P. V. Znamensky talk about angels in heaven, as well as the fact that since Yumo did not keep workers, he and his household worked themselves. E. Chirikov develops the topic of angels in more detail. The angels only praise the beauty of God's daughter, but they cannot offer their hearts to her, for they fear the wrath of Hume ^{[16, p. 79]}. On the one hand, in full agreement with the Christian faith, angels act as disembodied beings conveying the will of God, on the other hand, they reveal a certain desire. The Abrahamic tradition allows for a certain independence of angels, even to the point of breaking with God (fallen angels), their ability to enter human bodies and, uniting with the daughters of men, give birth to ferocious giants (nifilim) (Genesis 6:4). However, most likely, E. Chirikov does not mean the biblical "sons of God" and "daughters of men" (about the essence and origin of which there is no clear opinion), but the Mari deities from the so-called, in the words of Yu.A. Kaliev, "second, minor" pantheon.

The fact that Yumo really had a son besides his daughter is evidenced by the mountain Aryan tale of Yimyn Ergy ("heavenly son"). It is noteworthy that the shepherdess here turns out to be an earthly girl ^{[16, pp. 90-92]}. Yumyn Er, the son of Yumo, was also known as lugovoi Mari. In one of the myths, Humo sends his giant son to earth to see who is doing what on it ^{[16, p. 92]}. It is possible that one of Yumo's sons was a young man named Ulem from the fairy tale "Forty-one Foals". If this is the case, then in her, in the image of an earthly girl, one can find another hypostasis of Yuminudyr. She, like Yumynudyr, is associated with a herd of animals (mares, foals). However, he already uses a variety of means of transportation: a cart, a boat. The earth heroine's companion animals are a white hawk and a dog. The girl is armed with a whip (she even drives away her father, who is dressed in a bearskin) ^{[13, pp. 48-51]}.

Leaving the issue of the "sons of Humo" out of the scope of the article, let's focus on the daughters of the lord of the Mari heavenly pantheon. Researchers usually distinguish two images: Yumynudyr and Piambar. According to the Mari myth, "Piambar was the youngest daughter of Humo, very beautiful" ^{[16, p. 63]}. The myth of Piambar partly repeats the plot of the legend of Yumynudyr. Piambar, who has fallen in love with the leader of the Kuryk people, Kugu Yong, descends to the earth, where she marries a man. But Yumo does not bless this marriage, and Kuryk Kugu Yong and Piambar become keremets, lower deities. At the same time, Piambar is recognized as the patroness of women ^{[16, pp. 63-64]}.

The question of the origin of the theonym and the image of Piambar is material for a separate article. Therefore, for now we will limit ourselves to considering other characters close to Yuminudyr. First of all, this is Yuksoudyr Yuktalche ("The vociferous singing-nursing daughter of the swan"). In the Mari fairy tale, Kozhdemyr catches a swan in a field, scorches its wings. The swan becomes a girl. Kozhemyr marries her, but Yuksoudyr Yuktalche longs for his heavenly life. She goes to the swans that fly by and they drop her feathers. When enough feathers accumulate, the girl flies away ^{[13, pp. 82-85]}. Here, as in the tale of Yymyn Ydyr, a heavenly girl rushes to break off her marriage with an earthly youth. Most likely, judging by the sharp contrast of the characters, we are talking about Yumynudyr (in an ornithopodobnogo appearance). Indirectly, this idea is confirmed by Mari fairy tales and legends about Kechavi udyr, the daughter of Kechavi, the goddess of the sun. So, in the fairy tale "Daughter of the Goddess of the Sun" it is said that Kechavi had forty swan daughters, "one more beautiful than the other." The forty-first daughter of Kechavi, who also had the appearance of a toad in a swamp, and then a bear, a wolf, and a forest monster, becomes the wife of the successful hunter Koksha, the youngest son of King Kaluya ^{[15, pp. 179-187]}.

Yu.A. Kaliev is undoubtedly right when he says that some details of the myth of Yumynudyr were expressed early in the Mari rituals, for example, in the funeral rite when silk ribbons were placed in the coffin of the deceased ^{[10, p. 24]}. It was believed that using these ribbons or even swings, a girl or a woman would be able to ascend to heaven after death ^[24]. At the same time, the word aka(y) may indicate the seniority of Yuminudyr. In the Mari language, it means exactly the elder sister, unlike the word shuzhar. The Earth girl, the daughter of an old hunter, is named Shi Puyan Pampalche. She is married to the water lord, the son of Wud Ava, the goddess of water. To avoid an unwanted marriage, the heroine of the fairy tale flees. She gets to a high mountain on which a pine tree grows. Shi Puyan Pampalche climbs a tree and from the top of his head appeals to his older sister to lower a silk ladder to her. But the sister, who is busy with household chores, still cannot help the fugitive in any way. Finally, she manages to do it ^{[15, pp. 40-47]}.

The celestial maiden may sometimes be named Aktavi (or Aktavius, the brother of the "Silver-headed Pazi"). After finishing her household chores, she helps her younger sister Shiy Puan Pampalcha ascend to heaven by dropping a silk swing from the sky ^{[15, pp. 46-47]}.

It is quite possible that the image of Shi Puyan Pampalche also reflected the image of a celestial woman, but not of the second, but, perhaps, of the third plane – Piambar, the overthrown, "earthly goddess".

Thus, the material of Mari myths, legends and fairy tales does not contradict the statements of the informants that Kugo-Yumo had two daughters. Yumynudyr was considered the eldest daughter, and Piambar was the youngest. Yumynudyr belonged to kyushyl kashta ("upper branch"), and Piambar to ulyl kashata ("lower branch"), that is, it belonged to the Keremet family ^[23].

It would be appropriate to note here that the connection of Yumynudyr with a mountain (hill), meadows, flowers, and trees, repeatedly noted above, is not accidental. T. Muravyeva cites the real religious hymn Mlande Ave, recorded in the 19th century. It contains a request to the goddess regarding the deceased woman: "Lift her up to a high mountain, show her beautiful meadows, show her great waters."… In the place where the bee collects honey, let her take a walk, in the tree where the bee is resting, let her sit and rest..." ^{[17, p. 30]}. It is quite possible that Yumynudyr could not only refer to Shochyn (Yumyn) Ava, Kugo Ava, Kava ("mother of birth", "great mother", "mother of heaven"), but also to "mother of the earth", that is, with Mlande Ava.

The image of Uncle Keremet has already been mentioned above. Undoubtedly, in addition to sons and daughters, Mari Humo had brothers and sisters, gods and goddesses of the highest heavenly pantheon. Moreover, Yumo and Kugo Yumo could act as different gods. There is information that Kugo-Yumo has a cousin. According to V. P. Vishnevsky, the "mother of birth" and the "gods of thunder and sky" were also part of the Humo family ^{[9, p. 194]}. The fact that Humo was originally surrounded by non-Christian disembodied angels is evidenced by the materials of the Mari conspiracies involving Yumynudyr, Puirsho Udyr and Kyudurcho yumyn udyr ^{[11, pp. 213-214]}. The daughter of the god Puirsho and the daughter of the god of thunder are clearly cousins in them.

E. Chirikov describes the girlhood of Yumynudyr with peculiar poetic details. The father wakes his daughter up early, but she does not want to get up and drive out the herd, because girls see such sweet dreams at dawn. But Yumynudyr, like an exemplary daughter, obeys the heavenly lord. He takes the dawn road, a pink felt embroidered with patterns, and lowers it to the ground. After all, Yumynudyr resorts to a little trick. She asks her father if he has opened the gates of heaven, if he has lowered the dawn road. But the kind Humo understands everything and tells his daughter that she will be able to sleep, watch her love dreams on the ground, in the green grass, among flowers ^{[16, pp. 79-80]}.

Thus, one cannot agree with the opinion of E. M. Kolchina that there is no information about the origin of Yumynudyr, as well as that only one of her father is mentioned in myths (although the researcher stipulates that Mari associated heaven with the maternal principle) ^{[12, p. 89]}. For details about the origin of the Yumynudyr, only the retelling of S. A. Nurminsky is stingy, in the detailed narrative of E. Chirikov, as shown above, they are available.

The herding scene occupies a central position in the myths of Yumynudyr. The goddess calls the animals with special words. They are present in both Russian and Mari records of tradition. So, in V. A. Aktsorin's recording, Yymyn Ydyr calls the animals as follows: "Come on! – he calls the horses. // Prune! "calling the cows." // Stab! "calling the sheep." // Hello! "calling the pigs." // Child! – calls geese" (cf. S. A. Nurminsky: Doh-doh – horses, Truna-truna– cows, Hundred-hundred – sheep). ^{[16, p. 76; 18, p. 252-255]}.

The plot of the tale of Yymyn Ydyr is complicated by the motive of the heavenly flock of God's daughter destroying the field, the unsuccessful attempts of two brothers of the "dissolute son" to ambush the shepherdess. Yymyn Ydyr even sings a joking song, making fun of Sonya ^{[16, p. 76]}. But even if forced, by agreeing to marry an earthly man, Yymyn Ydyr discovers a greater connection with his flock than with people: "The bride did not go anywhere. She loved only animals" ^{[16, p. 78]}.

M. G. Galyamshin's version is interesting because in it, other gods besides Osh Poro Kugu Yumo are not only mentioned, listed, but even directly involved in the life of Mai (Yumynudyr). So, when Osh Poro Kugu Yumo feels love for May, he sends Mer Yumo as a matchmaker to Shochyn Ave ^{[4, p. 13]}. The Mari wedding ceremony is reflected here.

In E. Chirikov's recording (or rather literary processing), Keremet, unlike the silent, barely mentioned angels from S. A. Nurminsky's version, is not just Uncle Yumynudyr. He is a lustful incestuous man who wants to possess his niece. Every day, Yumo's daughter weaves beautiful wreaths of flowers on the ground. Keremet, in love, as if he had stepped out of the pages of the ancient novel "Daphnis and Chloe", begs the shepherdess to give him at least one wreath. But Yuminudyr, mocking his uncle, hangs him on the horns of his beloved cow. The niece also rejects the uncle's request to bring him a flower from earth to heaven ^{[16, p. 80]}.

In E. Chirikov's version, Keremet does not appear to be an abstract villain. Rejected by his niece, he hides all day, crying and angry ^{[16, p. 80]}.

Analyzing the image of dawn, embroidered with felt patterns, the motives of Yuminudyr's love longing, and the scenes with Keremet in love with her, it would be easiest to consider them the fruit of the Russian writer's writing in the spirit of the aesthetics of the Silver Age, stylized under the pastorals of the XVIII century. However, all of them, perhaps with the exception of the scenes with the dreams of Yuminudyr, probably inspired by the writer's myth of Cupid and Psyche, somehow find their source in Mari folk songs (cf., for example: "The daughter of God embroiders patterns, // The daughter of the prophet teaches" ^{[20, p. 476]}, "When I was walking along the Shady river, // I saw that the daughter of God was picking strawberries" ^{[1, p. 42]}, etc. The only problem remains the very image of Keremet as an active character.

However, even after returning home with the herd, the work of the Yumynudyr does not stop. The daughter of God takes care of a field sown with spelt, spinning and sewing the heavenly canopy, going for spring water, baking bread and even brewing beer with foam "like hemp oil" ^{[11, p. 111-112, 136, 117, 123, 137]}.

Marriage Yumynudyr: marital ordeal; grieving God; sacred marriage of heaven and earth; sacrificial death of the spouse of the "heavenly virgin". According to the text by M. G. Galyamshin, one day he saw Maya Kuga Yumo (in this case, not Yumo's father, but Tun Yumo – another god, lit. "the main god") and he liked her very much. He asked Maya's mother to bring the girl to him. Shochin Ava agreed to marry her daughter to Kuga Yumo. After that, Kugo Yumo and Mai got married ^{[4, pp. 13-14]}.

This episode related to Yumynudyr is found only in the myth published by M. G. Galyamshin about the origin of the name of the month of May. He makes up for the lack of information about the mother of Yumynudyr, although back in the XVIII century I. G. Georgi noted that all the Cheremis gods, except for Whom Yuma and Yumyn Aby, should be considered their children. At the same time, Shochektsho-Ava (Shochyn Ava) is considered the mother of Puembara, that is, Piambar ^{[9, p. 194]}.

Nevertheless, in the main texts about Yuminudyr, her chosen one is not the highest heavenly deity, but an earthly youth. There are no details in the recording, or rather, the retelling of S. Nurminsky's myth. It just talks about the "well done" that the "daughter of Yuma" found. She told the groom that God would not give her up for him, and ordered him to fake his abduction. The guy took the girl away with his friends, and Yumynudyr hung her headscarf on a stake. Yumo thought his daughter was dead. Two years later, the young people returned and told Humo the whole truth. He forgave them. He made a big feast about it, and gave his daughter a large dowry. After that, Yumo found out about people. This is where, strictly speaking, after the conclusion of the sacred marriage between heaven and earth, S. A. Nurminsky's version ends ^{[7, p. 39]}. As Yu. A. Kaliev rightly pointed out, there is no question that the Yuminudyr and the earthly man became the ancestors of the people.

In E. Chirikov's fairy tale, the second half of the legend is described in much more detail. "Well done" is a man who lived in a forest dugout. It is to him, in a ravine in the birch forest, where a spring flows, that the shepherdess Yumynudyr comes from the meadows to drink water ^{[16, pp. 80-81]}.

According to E. M. Kolcheva, the fact that Yuminudyr does not become Keremet's wife excludes her parallel with the Greek Cora Persephone, who is known to be forced to spend six months in the gloomy kingdom of Hades ^{[12, p. 90]}. However, it seems that such a parallel suggests itself with her ambivalent hypostasis – her younger sister Piambar. It is Piambar Yumo who casts down from heaven for his association with the earthly deity Kuryk Kugu Yong.

The choice of an earthly husband (in some sources, simply Mari, that is, a Man) is of fundamental importance for the future fate of Yumynudyr. The girl knows that her father will not accept her son-in-law, and therefore suggests that the young man gather his comrades and take her away by hanging a girl's handkerchief on a tree. This causes not only Humo's sadness, but also Keremet's anger ^{[16, p. 82]}.

In our opinion, the motive of the marriage test can be seen in this plot. Although the initiative belongs to Yumynudyr, it is the groom who takes her away with his friends to the dense forests on "dashing horses" ^{[16, p. 81]}. In an even more obvious form, marriage trials are present in the Kalevala myths about the matchmaking of Vainamainen and Ilmarinen to the daughter of the witch Louhi, the mistress of the North. In L.I. Braev's fantasy based on the Mari myth of Yumynudyr, the heavenly maiden becomes the bride of the Volga after he steals the clothes of a girl who went swimming ^{[2, p. 90]} (probably, the influence of the tale of the daughter of the white swan is revealed here).

As E. S. Kiuru rightly points out, the theme of "getting a wife in another world" occupies a significant place in the Kalevala ^{[25, p. 288]}. It is extremely characteristic of myths. The above-mentioned Mari tale, recorded by O. Beke, tells how the hero found his bride in the land of plenty lying in the west (although the country itself gives the impression of a dangerous otherworld for a living person) ^{[35, p. 429]}. In L. I. Braev's text, Yumynudyr first gives the groom a winged Volga horse so that he can go to heaven (cf. the image of Argamak's probably winged silver horse in the tale of Kechavi udyr). Kugo-Yumo, before giving his daughter to an earthly guy, gives him a number of tasks: to cut down a giant oak tree, destroy evil wolves, and recognize his betrothed among the girls turned into pigeons. Volga, with the help of Yumynudyr herself, copes with the tasks and becomes the son-in-law of the heavenly god. After death, Volgo turns into the lightning god Volgenche ^{[2, pp. 91-106]}.

Even if the motif of marital trials in L. I. Braev's text is a literary embellishment, an addition to the myth, this does not mean that such plots were not characteristic of Mari folklore. So, in the tale of Kechavi Udyr, the hero Koksha has to go through a series of marriage tests (more precisely, tests that must confirm the status of his wife): to get furs, catch, as mentioned above, the miracle horse Argamak (cf. catching Hiisi in "Kalevala"), make gifts for the feast. There is also a classic groom's test in this tale. To get his wife back, Koksha must not only find Kechavi udyr in heaven, but also defeat her in the form of a bear, a wolf, and a forest monster ^{[15, pp. 179-187]}.

An interesting motif in E. Chirikov's version is the motif of Humo's grief for the missing and, as he thinks, the deceased daughter. This episode is reminiscent of the myth of Demeter, the mother of the earth, longing for her daughter Cora-Persephone. However, here crop failure, famine and death among people are caused by the fact that Hume did not look joyfully at the earth ^{[16, p. 82]}. It seems that this motif, however, was not borrowed by E. Chirikov from ancient mythology or prompted by the simple logic of an artistic work. Yu.A. Kaliev, referring to sources recorded in the first half of the 19th century, mentions Mari's belief in "yumyn tul" (heavenly fire), which was associated with the idea of Shosho Yumo, the spring god. When the "fiery star" lit up on the starry sphere in the spring (Sirius, Antares?), the Mari believed that after that the snow would melt for days and nights ^{[10, p. 22]}.

The author of this article also found mention of such an episode related to Yumynudyr (unfortunately, the source of the information has not yet been found): Allegedly, when a young man abducted Yumo's daughter and the young men put a pole on the girl's imaginary grave, a cuckoo landed on the pole. Yumo struck a cuckoo with lightning, and it stiffened. Since then, Marie has been putting poles with carved images of cuckoos on graves.

However, for the past two years, while Yumynudyr and her earthly husband have been hiding from Yumo, Keremet did not believe in the disappearance of his niece. Every night, he quietly crept across the firmament, looking out for what was happening on earth ^{[16, p. 82]}.

When the young couple, having obeyed, returned with the child, Yumo was angry at first. However, when he saw his grandson, whom his daughter was breastfeeding, he relented and forgave the perpetrators. After that, a feast was celebrated. Humo gave the young people the whole land as a dowry, and called his son-in-law a son. Since there is no participation of Keremet in the text of S. A. Nurminsky, there is no reason for further tragic events. Yumo gets in touch with people through his daughter. At the same time, there is no mention that the child born to the couple became the ancestor of the Mari people, as Yu.A. Kaliev correctly notes ^{[16, p. 148]}.

In E. Chirikov's version, Keremet gets drunk at a feast and throws his son-in-law out of the sky. His body breaks, but beautiful birches and oaks grow out of the broken pieces ^{[16, p. 82]}.

Yumynudyr grieves for her dead husband, tears flow from her eyes, generating a warm summer rain. Subsequently, Yumynudyr's son became the progenitor of the Mari people. His mother, raising him, instructs him: "Be like Yumo!" ^{[31, p. 85]}. It should be noted that in the text of E. Chirikov there is no indication of Marie's relationship with God. But this is the meaning of the ethnogenetic tradition itself, since even the self-name of the people means "people, men." Additionally, the informants point out that the idea has been preserved that dew is tears of humor shed for her husband who fell to his death. But these tears are extraordinary, they give life to everything on earth. When warm dew begins to fall in the morning in spring, the earth turns green, the grasses grow, and the trees spread their leaves ^[22].

The overthrow of the deity. The motif of the overthrow of the heavenly goddess is missing in the texts of S. A. Nurminsky and E. Chirikov, having been replaced by the motif of the overthrow of Keremet. The actual overthrow of the goddess Piambar is found only in the Mari text of the legend ^{[16, p. 63]}. The ending of the Chuvash myth of Keremet (according to V. A. Glitch) resembles the legend in E. Chirikov's version. However, there is no overthrow of the deity here either, since Keremet is originally a kind, beneficent deity. After envious people burn the body of Tura's murdered son and scatter his ashes in the air, trees grow out of that ashes. The son of God is no longer reborn in one person, but in a multitude of Keremet spirits hostile to man, who cannot live together with the good heavenly gods ^{[5, p. 7]}. Based on Chuvash legends about the evil deity of misfortune and war Sekhmet, as well as "Tankara herne", "yuratna herne" ("God's daughter", "beloved daughter") ^{[29, p. 275]}, the writer M. Yukhma reconstructed and literarily processed the plot that after the death of his brother Keremet Sekhmet turned into She turned into a bloodthirsty half-wolf and went to earth to destroy people ^{[34, p. 27]}. Although M. Yukhma was obviously partly inspired by the ancient Egyptian myth of Sekhmet, the goddess of war, the scorching sun and fierce revenge, the patron goddess of Memphis and the wife of Ptah, it is clear that there were some analogues of such representations in Chuvash mythology.

Adultery. M. G. Galyamshin's account contains a completely different reason for the overthrow of Yumynudyr to earth. It follows that just a month after her marriage, Maya meets Ketche Yumo and falls in love with his handsome face. Maya and Ketche Yumo begin dating secretly. Kugu Tunya Yumo (one of the higher gods) finds out about this. Soon, the gods arrange a kind of trial of the traitor and even draw up a decision on paper, according to which the good name of Osh Poro Kugo Yumo should remain unblemished. Shochyn Ava agrees with this resolution, which is put in a closed box just in case. The message is given to the Treasurer for safekeeping, so that he keeps it in a special box (in the original: "Kugu Treasurer tudym seifyshte aralash shudat") ^{[4, p. 14]}. And although Kugo Yumo is very upset, Maya is sent to earth to the most remote and inhospitable place as punishment. But from the beauty of the heavenly goddess, everything on earth blooms, birds begin to sing, and spring is coming. Since then, people have been calling the month of nature's awakening by the name of Mai ^{[4, p. 14]}.

This episode echoes one fragment in the myth of Yumynudyr as presented by S. A. Nurminsky. However, it is given not as an integral part or conclusion of the legend of the "heavenly daughter", but in the form of an author's commentary. According to the researcher, Yumynudyr was like a sunbeam, which, having fallen to the earth, awakened warmth in it and, thereby, caused fertility in it ^{[19, pp. 255-256]}. It is possible that S. A. Nurminsky drew his "reasoning" from some unspecified Mari tradition, which was apparently one of the parts of the myth of Yumynudyr. Of course, there is a possibility that M. G. Galyamshin could have read S. A. Nurminsky's article first, and then somehow used its fragment in his notes. However, a scan of the Russian researcher's work is still not freely available on the Internet and the entire article can only be viewed in special library departments. Thus, most likely, these facts only confirm the authenticity of M. G. Galyamshin's record.

As for the motive of adultery, it is generally alien to Mari mythology, and this seems to indicate some kind of literary hoax. However, there is an Eastern Aryan legend about the rivalry between Mlande-Ava, the wife of Kugo-Yumo, and Ovda, a proud earthly beauty in the past (like the Greek Arachne) ^{[26, pp. 43-44]}. In addition, adultery is found in the Komi myths about Ene and Omol, as well as in the myths of the Ob Ugrians about Kaltas-Ekva ^{[21, pp. 370-371]}.

The flight of the goddess. The motive of the goddess's flight from her husband is completely uncharacteristic of the pre-revolutionary texts about Yuminudyr, the whole pathos of which, on the contrary, is aimed at conveying the idea of the union of heaven and earth. The only exception is the heroine of the fairy tale "The Swan's Daughter", recorded by V. M. Vasiliev in the Middle Urals and published in 1902. In it, Yuksoudyr Yuktalche flies away from Kozhdemyr, the son of Kozhan, after attaching swan feathers back to his skin ^{[14, pp. 159-160]}. The mountain Aryan tale of Yymyn Ydyr has a similar plot. And in this case, the marriage of a heavenly girl with an earthly boy turns out to be forced. A man grabs a celestial woman by the scythe and puts a knife to her throat, forcing her to marry him. At the first opportunity, she uses a trick and escapes with her herd back to heaven ^{[16, pp. 77-78]}.

Matchmaking lark. The myth of Yumynudyr is not limited to the texts of S. A. Nurminsky, E. Chirikov and M. G. Galyamshin. A short legend has been preserved (rather in the form of an etiological myth), probably of Eastern Aryan origin, about the matchmaking of a lark to Yumynudyr. It tells us that the lark was once a beautiful bird. I flew very high. Becoming proud, he decided to woo Yuminudyr. However, the celestial maiden rejected the lark's claims. Then the lark, grabbing a silver hatchet, flew to the place near the sun in the sky where Yumynudyr lived (apparently to punch a hole in the "heavenly crust"). However, he had just managed to fly up to the goddess's house when she grabbed a blackened frying pan and hit a lark with it. The unlucky groom flew down, dropping the hatchet. Since then, the lark has been black. He sometimes soars high into the sky, then seems to fall from it and flies low over the ground, looking for his hatchet ^{[11, p. 126; 2, p. 88; 33, p. 147]}. Obviously, the myth is intended to explain the color of the bird, as well as its unusual manner of flight: flying high, and then falling sharply and then circling above the ground.

Yumynudyr as the patroness of Mari women and girls, as well as epic heroes. In the context of the above, it is interesting to compare the image of Yumynudyr with the images of female characters in Kalevala and Kalevipoeg. In the first case, Ilmatar, who initially acts as Vainamainen's mother, is then mentioned without any connection with the eternal elder, as if she were no longer his mother. In the second, the dead Linda offers her son Kalevipoeg to stay in the other world, but the son refuses ^{[9, p. 169]}. Mari goddess Yumyn (Shochyn) Ava, as recorded by M. M. Ivanov, turns into the star Venus after the birth of Yumo and Yin and the creation of the earth ^{[9, p. 258]}. The mother duck Chozh in the cosmogonic myth Komi breaks on the water and from her body En and Omol create the earth. According to Yu.A. Kaliev, the Yumynudyr even turns into the underwater spirit of the Vichudyr ^{[11, p. 387]}.

Interesting information about Yumynudyr is present in the work of L. S. Toydybekova. The researcher somewhat complements the main myth of the celestial maiden. So, she reports that after the death of her husband, Yumynudyr returned to earth and began to raise her son. After a long time, people began to pray to Osh Poro Kugo Yumo in kuseto, the sacred groves. But Keremet did not calm down. He transferred his hatred to the descendants of the daughter of God: he sent illnesses, pestilence, failure in hunting and fishing, so he had to be constantly appeased. Yumynudyr herself became the patroness of women. She taught Mariek how to live in friendship with the world, raise children, weave, embroider, spin and knit, and many other things ^{[27, p. 284]}

G. E. Shkalina somewhat complements the list of gifts of Yumynudyr, who also instructed women to "love their husbands, shoot arrows, play musical instruments and seven dozen other arts" ^{[32, p. 284]}. The researcher also notes that Yumynudyr raised her heir on Earth, instructing "Yumo guy liyash (to become like Yumo)" ^{[32, p. 85]}.

As already mentioned, Mari's deity was Piambar, who was close to Yuminudyr. The myth indicates that Piambar belonged to the category of Keremets, but this keremet is only feminine. Therefore, Piambar sacrificed exclusively items of women's wardrobe: tuvyr ("dress"), shover ("cape"), shimaksh ("headdress"), saw shovych ("embroidered linen shawl"), osh myzher ("white caftan"), ushto ("belt"), shyrkama ("breast decoration"), logar pidshymash ("neck decoration made of silver coins"), kid sholymash ("bracelets"), arshash ("decoration made of two ribbons worn criss-cross over the shoulders"), sherga onchilsakyshymash ("front decoration"), ytyr ("onuchi") ^{[16, p. 62]}.

It would not be superfluous to pay attention to the fact that in the legend of E. Chirikov much attention is paid to how Yumynudyr dresses up before descending to earth: he puts on new birch bark bast shoes, puts on a birch bark hat ^{[16, p. 80]}.

Piambar allegedly used to be the youngest, beloved daughter of Humo. One day, the heavenly god let his daughter go for a walk on earth. Here she saw Kurik Kugu Yong (the Great Mountain Man) walking around in luxurious clothes. Yumo disliked the latter for his pride and did not give him the title of deity, leaving him in Keremeti. Piambar fell in love with Kuryk Kugu Yea and married him. For this, Yumo threw his daughter to the ground. Thus, Piambar became the patroness of women, a kind of intermediary deity ^{[16, 63-64, 102]}.

G. E. Shkalina claims that according to legend, Piambar was the eldest daughter of Humo. According to her version, Piambar married an earthly deity secretly, without informing her father. Yumo, angry at this, sent his daughter to live on earth. Subsequently, their son (grandson) Yilanda was declared the leader of the Mari people ^{[16, p. 51]}. It is possible that Piambar in some cases could replace Yumynudyr among those Mari tribes who worshipped Kuryk Kugu En (Kugurak) instead of Yumo.

According to Yu. Vasimov, the oriental Mari Piambar has a wife named Chumbylata. According to legend, before her marriage, she was the daughter of one of the Udmurt princes. Over time, she also became a celestial goddess of the Upper Vyatka Mari people. It became customary for mothers to turn to her spirit, asking for help in raising children. Piambara was asked for healing from diseases ^{[3, p. 199]}.

Also, according to Yu. According to Vasimov, the eastern Mari associate the legend of the origin of the names of the days of the week with the image of Yumynudyr. Here she is named Sulykai. When the Mari awakened their ancient heroes Kanykia and Yanykia with the help of living water from the lake, it turned out that the armor people had was too small for the heroes. Sulykai, who was watching what was happening from heaven, presented the heroes with two white winged horses with silver saddles, as well as combat armor and weapons ^{[3, pp. 220-221]}.

Rightly pointing out that it is more correct to associate Yumynudyr with the image of Ilmatar, the Kalevala "daughter of the air" and the Mari Yumyn ava (Heavenly Mother), rather than with a number of numerous "maidens of forests, fields and waters" ^{[10, p. 23]}, Yu.A. Kaliev nevertheless does not abandon the peculiar opposition of the spirit underwater world of the Vichudyr celestial Yuminudyr. Moreover, he considers the former to be a reduced image of the same Yuminudyr ^{[11, p. 387]}. It is also worth noting the information of L. S. Toydybekova, according to which Wood udyr, the daughter of the goddess of waters Wood Ava, at the insistence of her mother, married the Mari hero ^{[27, p. 81]}.

The cult of the "heavenly virgin". According to the informants, Yumynudyr was closely associated with the moon and the sun. Especially with the Kugo Ketche holiday. It was on this day that there was a tradition of swinging on a swing with a Yuminudyr. Allegedly, Yumo's daughter, in order not to return to heaven, released the silk thread of the swing into the sky. It was said that Yumynudyr descended to earth on the waxing moon, thus beginning a new cycle of awakening the fertility of the earth. In turn, Yumynudyr ascended to heaven on the waning moon at the end of the year, when all prayers were completed before December 19th and no holidays were celebrated until the winter solstice, that is, Shoryk keche ("Sheep's Foot Day"). That is, as if the earthly nature finally fell asleep before spring, before the return of the "heavenly virgin" to earth with the first warm rays of the sun, awakening all living things ^[22]. The ambivalent dual nature of the Yumynudyr cult is also indicated by its above-mentioned attitude to the cult of the dead: patronage of deceased girls and women, connection with the cult of Mlande Ava, undoubtedly bearing, among other things, a chthonic, funerary character.

The informants highlight a special holiday Yumynudyr – Yumynudyr keche, which in 2024 fell on May 17. In the national calendar, it corresponded to the day of the beginning of summer (Kenezh viyim nalash tunalme keche), as well as the day of the crows (Korakige keche) ^[21].

According to the observations of Yu.A. Kaliev, Yumynudyr was celebrated on the Semyk holiday (cf. Semik), apparently originated on the basis of the ancient day of the summer solstice. On this day, young people played in the meadows and mountains, lit bonfires at night, and rolled down fire wheels. In the morning, young people picked flowers (before that, there was a ban on their collection), and tore up fresh brooms. The flowers were placed in water, in which they washed in a bathhouse flooded the day before by the elders. Ablution with floral infusion was considered an introduction to the purity and fertility of the Yuminudyr, who allegedly dipped her noble feet in this water, and then walked through the grain fields ^{[11, p. 130]}.

As G. E. Shkalina notes, the myth of Yumynudyr was refracted during the Kugogeche festival in a peculiar way. On this day, it was customary to swing on a large swing. It was believed that the holiday was called "the great one" because on this day there was a meeting between Yuminudyr and the earthly man Mari. The dance with a bucket became the highlight of the celebration. The ritual feast ended with the man approaching the woman he loved with a beer. They drank a drink from a ladle together, and then performed a dance of love, in which Yumynudyr herself was invisibly present. However, they might not be married. It was forbidden to be jealous of someone at this moment, because it was believed that love in real life often does not accompany the family ^{[31, p. 116]}.

The actual holiday of Yumynudyr was Udyryuysh ("Maiden's feast"). Apparently, he also coincided in Kuwan Ketch ("Indian Day"), when, according to legend, Humo gave women rest for their labors. Even Finnish researchers at the end of the 19th century, such as V. Porkka, noted the archaic nature of the songs performed during this holiday. The goddesses Yumynudyr, Piambar udyr, Wood Ava, and Mlande Ava were mostly famous in them ^{[17, p. 276]}. During the holiday, the girls prepared food, cooked treats together, drank beer, and competed in various women's skills. It is believed that during Udyryuysh girls acquired the status of adult women, housewives ^{[17, p. 335]}.

The informants also celebrate a special holiday for the deity Piambar as an intermediary between Yumo and people. In 2024, it fell on December 9 and was associated with the establishment of real snowy weather, monitoring the water in order to find out what the next winter would be ^[22].

Yumynudyr patronized wedding ceremonies. As noted by Yu. A. Kaliev, the matchmakers tied the corners of two shawls, threw them around their necks and held their ends under their arms. This acted as an imitation of the "silver wings", allegedly worn by them to woo Yumynudyr ^{[11, p. 150]}.

The role of Yuminudyr in incantatory magic is significant. For example, it follows from the conspiracy against the evil spirit of the snake that only then will he be able to overcome a person if he is able to climb backwards to heaven, and then with his evil tongue open the seventy-seven locks in the silver palace of Yumynudyr and cut off a lock of her hair ^{[11, p. 128]}. It is also likely that the clothes and hair of the cursed person could somehow be used in malicious rituals addressed to keremet Piambar, when one sorcerer stuffed clothes and hair into the mud of the spring, and another with various kinds of curses and wishes of diseases addressed to the name went down the spruce ^{[11, p. 128]}. Thus, the reverse process was carried out, as described in the tale of Shi Puan Pampalcha. At the same time, for Yumynudyr, as confirmed by the statements of the informants, the descent to earth was a blissful event. For Piambar, it turns out, on the contrary, it is negative. This revealed the dualism of the images of Yuminudyr and Piambar. The spring-summer and autumn cycle of holidays was associated with Yumynudyr, and the beginning of winter was associated with Piambar.

As we already noted in the previous article about Yumynudyr, there was no separate cult of the "heavenly maiden" as the supreme goddess, there was only a local cult of Keremet Pimabr, the wife of Kugyrak. As V. Vasimov notes, back in the middle of the twentieth century, residents of the village of Starootkustino (Bashkiria), in the case when an adult or an elderly person fell ill, "sacraments" were arranged in front of the hearth, that is, prayers were said, sacrifices were made to the souls of Kugyrak and his wife Piambar. The Eastern Mari believed that this was their ancient prince (Kugyrak) He came to take this man to himself. And people begged Kugirak and Piambar not to do this, to heal the sick, because it was not yet time for a person to go to the gods. At the same time, sacred trees were present in the sacred grove-onapu Mlanda Ava, Keche (Kave?), Mardej Ava and Mer Kugu Yena. The Onapu dedicated to Piambar was not or has not been preserved ^{[8, pp. 1-11]}.

Conclusion. After analyzing the composition and structure of the myths about Yuminudyr, we were able to find out the following.

Based on the enumeration and brief description of all the identified sources of myths about Yumynudyr, it was shown that since the recording of the legend by S. A. Nurminsky in 1862, the number of materials about the "heavenly maiden" has grown, including a wide variety of sources recorded by both foreign and mainly domestic researchers. Moreover, the collection of information about Yumynudyr continues to the present. One of the last known legends about the "daughter of God" was recorded in 2000. References to Yumynudyr include all genres of folklore: from myths, legends, to spells, songs, fairy tales, sayings, signs.

Having analyzed the main nodal links of the hypothetical meta-plot about the Yuminudyr, including relying on the analysis of the image of the heavenly virgin by her first special researcher Yu.A. Kaliev, the author of the article identified at least seven main plot motifs about one of the key images of Mari mythology.:

1. The Yumo family: sons and daughters; the circumstances of Yumynudyr's birth and adulthood; relationship with Uncle Keremet; cattle grazing; housework.

2. The marriage of Yumynudyr: the marriage ordeal; the grieving God; the sacred marriage of heaven and earth; the sacrificial death of the spouse of the "heavenly virgin".

3. The overthrow of the deity.

4. Adultery.

5. The flight of the goddess.

6. Matchmaking lark.

7. Yumynudyr as the patroness of Mari women and girls, as well as epic heroes.

The article also discussed the cult of the "heavenly virgin". It was shown that the worship of Yuminudyr was primarily associated with lunar-solar representations. The ascent of the "daughter of God" to heaven meant the end of the year, the descent – the beginning, the awakening of nature after a winter sleep. Piambar was the antithesis of her older sister here. Judging by the witchcraft rituals, her descent to earth had the exact opposite meaning.

Yumynudyr was revered during the holidays of Semyk, Kugogeche, Udyryuysh, Kuvan keche, Shoryk yol. The cult of Yumynudyr has found its embodiment in funeral and wedding ceremonies. As a local deity, Keremet Piambar– the younger sister of Yumynudyr, was revered by separate Mari groups. In this case, pray to her with a request to send down recovery. The prayer took place at home, because the Piambar tree was missing (or not preserved) in the sacred grove.

There was a definite connection between Yumynudyr and the snake cult (the role of a defender from the evil spirit of the snake), and Keremeta Piabar with harmful magical rituals.