Türk Destanlarında “Ant İçme” Ritüeli Üzerine Bazı Tespitler
Some Determinations on “Take an Oath” Ritual in Turkic Epic

Summary/Abstract: In this article, a research has been conducted on “take an oath” ceremonies in Turkic epics. Therefore, firstly, the meaning of the oath is emphasized and this term is defined. Then, brief information was given about the historical process of the oath institution in the Turks and with examples are explained that goes how old of “the oath”. In this context, it was seen that oath is not only a historical and cultural phenomenon, but also reflected in Turkish literature. So, until this part, the story of the oath ceremony has been told from the historical depth to the present in brief. After this basic information, the place of “take an oath” ritual in Turkic epics is examined. For this reason, twenty epics from the Turkic world were investigated and the examples in these epics were analyzed under related headings. Accordingly, the tradition of “taken an oath” in Turkic epics has basically two functions, however, these can be classified under various subheadings. The first function of “take an oath” ritual reflected in the Turkic epics is based solely on words, and so it is not very effective on the society in the epic. In this first type of “oath” the person does not bear a heavy responsibility for the promise. The other function of the oath is binding because it is both a traditional and effective and complex ritual. So, this kind of “oath” cannot be easily ignored. In short, the reflection formats of the “take an oath” ritual to the Turkic epics is discussed in this research.

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