Parallels in lunar myths of the Turks, Mongolian peoples
and Eastern Finno-Ugrians

It is believed that lunar myths, that is, legends in which one of the acting characters is the moon, go back to the Paleolithic. They are also part of solar, and in a broader sense, astral mythology ^{[15, p. 78]}. Traditionally, the moon is associated with the night, dark sphere of the universe, as well as evil spirits. On Siberian shamanic tambourines, the month is usually placed on a darker background to the left of the world tree. In Australian mythology, the moon may represent a zoomorphic totem of one of the phratries. At the same time, researchers note that the role of the moon is inferior to the role of the sun only in later mythological systems like the ancient Egyptian. In Quechua in ancient Peru, the deity of the month (or the son of the sun and the month) turns out to be a powerful character ^{[15, p. 79]}. Thus, one can immediately fix an important circumstance – lunar (more broadly astral) mythology is among the oldest and is associated with the ancestral primitive system. Hunters and gatherers were much less dependent on the sun than farmers. The night sky seemed to them to be the "true sky" when various animals came out of the "blue taiga of the daytime sky" to the peaks of the ridges. They were associated with various constellations ^{[1, pp. 11-12]}.

As the modern scientist V.V. Napolskikh rightly notes, A.N. Veselovsky became the first researcher to compare the Balto-Slavic, Finno-Ugric and Turkic myths about the creation of the world. And although the sample was far from complete, this allowed A.N. Veselovsky to move away from the opinion prevailing in the XIX century in science that the cosmogonic representations of the peoples of Northern Eurasia are borrowed from Eastern Europe plots formed under the Bogomil influence. The pre-revolutionary researcher sagaciously suggested that the origins of the latter should be sought in the Ural-Altai environment ^{[18, pp. 37-38]}. V.V. Napolskikh also records as an important stage in the historiography of the issue the conclusion of A.M. Zolotarev that, for example, the myth of the diving birds creating the world originally arose in the Asian environment, and from it It spread in Siberia and further in North America ^{[18, p. 42]}. Also V.V. Napolskikh belongs, in our opinion, a rather successful and capacious term "North Asian mythological union (SAMS)", defined in the Upper Paleolithic in the south of Central Siberia. It was there that the oldest contacts between the Proto-Uralians and the Proto-Altaians could take place, not necessarily explained by common origin, but by close proximity ^{[18, p. 119]}.

Devoting the main place to the motif of diving birds (for the Proto-Uralians) or the primordial earth (for the Proto-Altai) ^{[18, p. 112]}, V.V. Napolskikh mentions among the oldest North Asian images the image of the starry bird road (the Milky Way), the spinning of the firmament around the "heavenly nail" (the Polar Star), hunting for the heavenly moose (constellation The Big Dipper) ^{[18, p. 134]}. It seems that the presence of at least two astral motives in the composition of the basic motives is not accidental. As mentioned above, astral myths are among the oldest myths. Nevertheless, we believe that in order to find additional arguments in favor of the existence of SAMS, it would be logical to consider first of all the lunar myths. Firstly, they precede solar ones in any case. Their origins can be traced back to the VIII – VI thousand BC. Secondly, the Ural and Altai materials on the cult of the Moon are much richer than on the cult of the stars. Thus, the purpose of this article is to search for parallels in the lunar myths of the Turkic, Mongolian and Eastern Finno-Ugrians for localization of basic cosmogonic ideas within the boundaries of the North Asian community. 

According to V.V. Ivanov, it is hypothetically possible to imagine that the idea of the male deity of the moon in zoomorphic form is the most archaic ^{[15, p. 80]}. At the same time, it should be noted that in the Scandinavian (Mani – Month, brother of the Sol – Sun) and Balto-Slavic mythologies, the night luminary is a predominantly male character ^{[15, p. 105]}. According to Russian folklore, the Month is the younger brother of the Sun ^{[11, p. 88]}. Subsequently, the male image of the month in some peoples is replaced by the female image of the moon (e.g. Selena in ancient Greek mythology). Since that time, that is, with the extinction of matriarchy, and the strengthening and development of patriarchal relations in ancient societies, the sacred role of the Moon, which becomes, as it were, the female partner / spouse of the male deity – the Sun, gradually decreases in religious cults, but at the same time retains its predominant influence in the field of mantics (divination, magic, etc.) ^{[15, p. 80]}.

Usually, the moon deity's family ties are not called, or they are obvious (when all other deities, including the moon deity, turn out to be children or brothers and sisters of the main pair of heavenly gods). Bashkir Aihylu (virgo-month) – sister of Humay/Umai, daughter of Samrau (heavenly king) and Koyash (sun) ^{[33, p. 80]}. Luna – Ai acts as the second wife of the god Samrau. Buryat fairy tales often mention the lunar khan ^{[31, p. 103]}. In Kalmyk mythology, the moon is created by Esrin Khan and Tengir Khan ^[32]. Among the Ob Ugrians, Etpos-Oika (the Old Man of the month) turns out to be the brother of Hotal-Ekva, Kaltash-Ekva and Numi-Torum, the grandson of Kors-Torum and the great-grandson of Kosyar-Torum ^{[20, p. 368]}.

As noted by U. Kharva, most of the Siberian Turks represented the sun as a woman (the Mother is the sun), and the moon as a man (the Father is the moon, the Lunar Elder). At the same time, according to Chinese chronicles, the Mongol and ancient Turkic rulers worshipped the sun in the morning and the moon in the evening. The new Moon was celebrated and celebrated with great joy among the Chuvash.  At this time, Uyah-Tura (the moon god) was asked for good luck in business and prosperity ^{[30, p. 242]}. Also, some Finno-Ugric peoples and representatives of the Russian ethnic group welcomed the onset of the new moon. Mordvins, for example, like the Russians in the new moon said: "Hello, new moon, give me health, and I'll give you a whole loaf" ^{[30, p. 134]}.

However, it should be noted that, for example, in Bashkirs and Mari, luna often also acted as a female character. On this occasion, U. Harva noticed that for what reason do the Eastern Cheremis (Eastern Mari) donate to the Tylza Ave (Mother Moon) animals are not entirely clear ^{[30, p. 134]}. It is possible that this is not a later innovation, given the matriarchal origins of any mythology in general, but rather an ancient tradition dating back to some primitive totemic myths. According to the memoirs of one of the authors of this article (I.A.), his grandmother went out on the balcony of the house late at night and stood there for a long time. When asked by the elders what she was doing, the author received the answer: "She prays to the Moon" (Tylze). Probably, in the past, Mari women had a common prayer to the night luminary ^[21]. It is known that Tylze-Ava, the "mother of the moon", patronized conception and childbirth. Sometimes a separate tree in the sacred grove was dedicated to her and a cow or sheep was sacrificed ^{[26, p. 123]}.

Among the Ural-Altai peoples, the moon deity stood at the beginning of the mythopoetic picture of the world. It is noted that the Turks kept a time report on the cycles of the sun and the phases of the moon ^{[30, p. 243]}. As researcher T.V. Muravyeva points out, Bashkirs believed that the most responsible things should be started during the growing moon, because only in this case people are lucky. Noticing the new moon, it was necessary to say: "I saw the Moon, being in good health. My soul and my mouth are full of prayers, my house is full of children, my stable is full of cattle" ^{[17, p. 227]}. On the waning moon, all sorts of ailments and misfortunes were banished, who were told: "And the Sun is gone, and the Moon is gone, and you too go away!" ^{[17, p. 227]}.

Since ancient times, Bashkirs have been widely used names originating from the root "ai" (moon): Aybulat, Ainur, Aikhylu, Aibika, etc. In the old days, there was a Bashkir belief that the moon patronizes people with similar names. If the owner of such a name died, they said about him: "The name turned out to be too heavy for him, he could not lift it" ^{[17, p. 228]}. It was believed that Aihylu, like Humay, could take the form of a bird, for example, a duck, and sometimes a fantastic bird. In the epic "Ural-Batyr", Aikhylyu is kidnapped by divas, after which she becomes the wife of Shulgen, the evil brother of the Urals. But Ural overcomes Shulgen, and Aikhylu returns to Mother Moon.

The moon deities have a pronounced chthonic character in Ural-Altaic mythology. The Buryats have the Sun and the Moon at the mercy of the Owner of the Earth, locked in a chest. As a result, the whole earth is plunged into darkness. The wise hedgehog, having come to the Owner of the Earth, asks that "a horse from the spring reflection and an arrow from the echo." The owner of the Earth has to release the luminaries ^{[31, p. 102]}. In the myth of the Ob Ugrians, an old woman hooks the sun and the moon and hides them in her chest ^{[20, p. 340]}.

According to the beliefs of the Sayano-Altai Turks, the sun and moon reside in the underworld. The ruler of the latter is Erlik, the god of death and the underworld ^{[16, pp. 538-539]}. According to the myth cited by A.V. Anokhin, Erlik was once deceived by the supreme deity, receiving instead of a whip "ai malta" (a moon-shaped axe) ^{[2, p. 19]}. In Kalmyk mythology, Okon-tengri (Virgin-sky), identified with Lhamo, the Tibetan goddess slayer of demons, has both chthonic and lunar features. The appearance of the Tengri Windows, despite its female gender, resembles the appearance of an Erlik: a mule as a mount, a skull bowl filled with blood, etc. At night, the beauty of the Tengri Windows illuminates the earth, the Tsagan Sar (White Month) holiday was also dedicated to the goddess ^{[17, pp. 254-257]}.

The Khanty and Mansi say that initially the moon stayed with Kul-Otyr, the lord of the underworld, and only then it was stolen by Ekva-Pyrishch, the son of Numi-Torum [20 p. 339]. Mari Tylchak is the son of the moon, probably the brother of Kechamysh, a friend of Vultak (the Son of the White Mare). Tylchak and Kechamysh, who have found wives in a forest house, die at the hands of an evil underground dwarf demon Kynergut-Tale (his soul is in a black duck). Tylchak's death happens at the top of the mountain. But with the stomping-blowing of the White Mare, the Tylchak returns to life ^{[16, p. 559; 12, p. 84, 86-87]}. The month (Tylze) appears in the Mari myth of Azren (Arabic-tat. Azrael). When the cunning old man tricked the demon of death into drowning in the lake, the people who went in search of him asked the moon if she had seen Azren? Tylze replied that he had not seen ^{[14, p. 100]}. In another version of the Mari myth about the cunning carpenter, on the contrary, the Moon reveals the location of death ^{[15, p. 51]}.

The identification of the moon with death, the afterlife, the original residence of the Month on earth, the motif of the creation of the moon by the devil from a piece of the sun, is also present in Slavic mythology ^{[28, pp. 143-144]}. There is a certain connection between Veles, the stars and, possibly, the moon ^{[29, pp. 210-211]}. Nevertheless, Slavic and even Baltic materials do not give the impression of being integral. Veles (Velnas, Vels), unlike Perkunas, does not participate in lunar myths and, moreover, does not replace the figures of the supreme creator, as, for example, in Scandinavian mythology ^{[15, pp. 228-229; 16, p. 105]}. On the contrary, the Ainu Chuf-Kamui, the "god of all luminaries", lives on the moon ^{[15, p. 54]}. Thus, among the Turks, Mongolian peoples, and Eastern Finno-Ugrians, the moon deity turns out to be the most important male chthonic deity, and is closely related, or even identified with the underworld, with the figure of the god of death or a similar character (the Master of the Earth, Okon-Tengri, Erlik, Kul-Otyr, Azren).

As a rule, the etymologies of lunar deities in the religions of the peoples of the world are quite transparent and go back to the meanings of "light, shine" ^{[39, p. 360]}. A similar etymology probably has the ancient Turkic ai (in the archaic meaning of "light"), although in general the origin of this word is debatable ^{[37, p. 80]}. The word tylze (tilche, t?l?z?) in the Mari language is considered a loan from the Permian languages (cf. udm. tolez) and may be related to the word tul (fire) – cf. with Udm. rear ^{[6, p. 559]}.

Light can also act as an attribute of the lunar deity. At the same time, it (at least so bright) was not always inherent in the night luminary. A peculiar expression of this idea can be considered the myths of some peoples of Northern Eurasia about another, more ancient moon preceding the current one. The Slavs believed that the moon could have shone earlier and warmed more, because it was closer to the earth ^{[28, p. 145]}. So according to the Bashkir myth, the moon was formed from the half of the sun, shot down by the arrow of the Urals. The people at the same time exclaimed: "Ah!" ^{[3, p. 31]}. In one version of the Mari myth, edited by V. Yuksern, the cunning old man Kanai, who drowned Death in the lake in the dead of night, praises the Moon, asking not to betray him, and flatters, calling the night luminary wiser and sweeter than the Sun and softer than swan's down. When the truth is revealed, the Sun orders the Wind to grab the moon. The moon gets scared, turns pale and runs away to the other side of the sky ^{[36, pp. 18-19]}. In this case, the memory of the former brightness and strength of the moon is preserved, but it is already served as something left in the distant past.

Among some Turks and eastern Finno-Ugrians, as a rule, the deity of the moon (Ai, Uyah-Tura, Tylze-Yumo) appears subordinate to the main god (Uyah-Tura – Sulti-Ture among the Chuvash, Tylze-Yumo –Kugo-Yumo among Mari), and also having a female counterpart or a couple ^{[16, p. 538]} (cf. Scandinavian Mani and Salt, Slavic Month and Sun). Bashkir Aikhylyu, like her sister Humay, who appears in bird form, becomes first the wife of Shulgen, and then the Ural Batyr. In the Bashkir epic "Akbuzat" Nerkes is the daughter of the underwater king Shulgen in the guise of a golden duck, swimming in a lake with reed banks. At the same time, she becomes a girl only on a cloudless moonlit night ^{[4, pp. 136-146, 143]}.

The high status of the lunar deities, their connection with the element of water, it seems, are not accidental. The sun and moon were often the main characters of the earliest cosmogonic myths. Thus, according to the ideas of the peoples of the Altai language family, in ancient times there was neither sun nor moon, and people flew through the air, sprinkling sparks and not needing solar heat ^{[31, p. 101]}. A similar picture can be found in the "Edda", where sparks from Niflheim were freely carried around Ginnungagap before the world order of the Aces, until they were turned into stars ^{[8, p. 33]}. When one person got sick, God sent a spirit to him. The divine messenger began to search at the bottom of the ocean with a cane and frightened two goddesses, who immediately rose into the sky. Then the messenger found two round metal mirrors and placed them there. Since then, the Earth has been illuminated by light. According to the beliefs of the Kalmyks, neither the sun nor the moon existed in paradise. The luminaries were created only when people, having tasted the forbidden fruit, became sinful and the original light of the world (without the sun and moon) faded ^{[31, p. 101]}. According to E.K. Lidzhiev's record, in the Kalmyk cosmogonic myth Esrin Khan and Tengir Khan "found" the moon in the primary ocean. In another version of the Kalmyk myth, recorded at the end of the XIX century, the moon seems to fly out of the sea when the gods begin to pump water out of it ^[32].

Siberian shamans, including Khanty shamans, watching the sun and moon, could learn everything necessary about a person far away from them. According to U. Kharva, it is possible that the custom of hanging pendants with the image of the sun and moon to shamanic robes could be connected with these ideas ^{[30, p. 241]}. In the Buryat myth, which is a variant of the above about the wise hedgehog and the Master of the Earth, Lusata, the son of the lord of the sea, receives the Moon as a dowry to the daughter of the Khan-Churmasan. As a result, there is darkness in the world. Then, on the advice of a wise hedgehog, Khan-Churmasan asks Lusata for a return gift of "forest noise and a backwater". Since the lord of the sea is unable to fulfill this request, he returns the Moon, and the wedding of his son and daughter Khan-Churmasan is upset ^{[31, p. 102]}.

In general, the myths of the peoples of Northern Eurasia were characterized by the idea that the sun and moon existed at a time when the whole world was flooded with water. In the Mongolian fairy tale, the Sun and the Moon act as sisters. The sun suggested that the Moon walk during the day, but she was ashamed of the large number of people below, who apparently lived right on the water ^{[30, p. 241]}. As noted by P.S. Pallas, the Kalmyks revered the Moon less than the Sun, believing that it is made up of glass and water. But according to P.I. Nebolsin, the Kalmyks revered the Moon along with the Sun for its special mercy to people ^{[17, p. 250]}.  In the Udmurt myth, the god Inmar sent two people during the flood to find the earth and scatter it on the surface of the primeval ocean. The first messenger went on a search during the day and therefore made the earth smooth, and the second, going out at night, arranged mountains and lowlands ^{[21, pp. 241-242]}. The cult of the Moon occupied an important place in the Komi mythology. According to one of the cosmogonic myths, the moon was created by Omol, the brother of the supreme heavenly god Ena, from an egg laid by a duck mother. According to another version, the month appeared much later than the Sun, formed from a piece of the daylight stolen by Omol. There is also such a variant of the Komi myth, according to which when the moon was first created by Omol, its heat was not enough for the earth: bread froze. Thus, in most variants of cosmogonic myths, the Komi month was created by the dark demiurge (Omol, Kul). Only in one case did En create both the sun and the moon ^{[34, pp. 356-357]}.

In the lunar mythology of the Eurasian peoples, the night luminary was primarily associated with the water element. According to the ideas of the Altaians, when the hero of Ochirvani placed fire on his sword and threw it into the sky, the Sun was formed, and when he struck the water with his sword, the Moon appeared. Since the Moon emerged from the water, its radiance is cold ^{[30, p. 242]}. Nevertheless, if the moonlight is definitely considered dangerous and harmful for the Slavs ^{[28, p. 145]}, then the Ural-Altai peoples, as shown above, do not have such an idea, which, apparently, is explained by more persistent remnants of animistic and totemic beliefs.

The motif of the "cold moon" is not typical for the southern peoples, while for the North Eurasians it is common. The Sami and Germans had the coldest months of the year associated with the moon – January and February. At the same time, the "big horn" (January) said to the "little horn" (February): "If I had the same strength as you, I would freeze a calf in the womb of a cow" ^{[30, p. 136]}. The Sami had rituals that allowed them to catch the moonlight in rings, so that the moon would not take its radiance back during the polar night ^{[30, p. 136]}. The eastern Finno-Ugrians may have had similar rites in the past. For example, the Mari people specially made a semicircular cutout above the door so that the sun shone into it in the morning ^{[24, p. 136]}.

The Altaians have preserved the myth of the Lunar Elder, who in ancient times lived on Earth and killed people. Wishing to save the human race, the heavenly gods gathered for a council. The sun, taking the floor, declared: "I would descend to earth, but people will burn from my heat." Hearing this, Luna noticed: "Man tolerates my cold well." And she went to earth, where she found a murderer devouring cherry berries. The moon immediately grabbed the elder along with the bush and ascended to heaven with the prey: since then, both the killer and the bird cherry can be seen there ^{[30, p. 243]}. The belief in a cold moon and a hot sun was reflected in the Teleut legend. Khan asks his future son–in-law to get him from the sky and put the Moon near his door, and the Mother Sun under the window. When the son-in-law was carrying the Moon, a pot of boiling water froze in the khan's hearth, and when the Mother-sun appeared, this pot boiled to the bottom ^{[31, p. 103]}.

The Finno-Ugric motif of the "cold moon" was not so common, except for numerous signs and proverbs. One can only mention the Komi-Permian myth about how a girl personifying the Moon was placed on a cold star, and a young man personifying the Sun on a hot one. The girl was very cold at night, and then a certain sorcerer swapped the lovers. So the male Moon began to shine at night, and the female Sun began to shine during the day ^{[34, pp. 357-358]}.

As we see it, such myths could reflect, among other things, the weather realities of Northern Eurasia, which are still popularly known as "bird cherry cold". They are associated with inflows of Arctic air in spring and even in summer. Of course, nothing like this could have happened in the more southern and western regions.

The story about the connection of the lunar deity with snakes and dragons seems to be very important. It is obvious that there is also a connection between the Moon and the element of wind, and the latter can be either favorable or hostile to the night luminary (as in the Mari myth about an old man who tried to cheat death).

The myth of the Altaians has been preserved that the hero of Ochirvani, having conceived to grant immortality to people and animals, ordered the Sun and Moon to boil living water in a bowl, but the Araho (an ancient terrestrial beast) drank it and then urinated on the bowl. Having found out where the villain dwells, God overtook him and cut him in half. However, since then, the front part of the Araho (cf. Rahu among the Indians), having gained immortality, pursues the Moon. People consider moon spots to be the body of this monster. Eclipses of the Moon can also be explained by the tricks of the ogre living in the star ^{[30, p. 244]}. V.G. Kotov points to the mythological motif of the ogre/ ogre associated with the cosmogonic myth of the origin of the Moon (spots on the Moon) in the Bashkir epic. He correlates this lunar myth with the lunar mythology of the Western Siberian peoples (Kets and Selkups)  ^{[10, p. 17]}

The Mongols preserved this myth in a more dramatic form (with a noticeable Buddhist influence). In it, the appearance of the Moon is attributed to the deva gods and the asura demons. After the luminaries were installed in the sky from the primary Milk Sea, the Asuras took a certain drink for themselves (cf. honey of poetry in Scandinavian mythology). Hormusta, having gathered the devas, ordered to steal the drink so that the Asuras would not become stronger. The sun, taking the form of a beautiful girl, was able to steal their treasure from the Asuras by deception. Then, in turn, the Asuras sent the demon Rahu in the form of the Moon to the devas. However, when the real Moon discovered that Rahu was trying to deceive the gods and informed one of the devas about it, he cut Rahu in half ^{[31, pp. 105-106]}. 

In the Mari fairy tale "The Magic Sword", the hunter hero Yuanai (buv. "divine") fights with the three-headed monster Turni living in the swamp, who appeared every new moon, tore off ears of corn in the fields, devoured fish, shot down hunters' arrows in the forests with gusts of wind, kidnapped girls ^{[13, p. 3]}. It is significant that in the text of the Teleut shamanic prayer to the "spirit of the earthly path", instead of the usual Milk Sea for the Altai peoples, it is said about the Lunar Sea ^{[22, p. 50]}.

In one Kalmyk version of the cosmogonic myth, Burkhan Vajrapani deals with the demon Arakha. The moon stretches out its thin finger, pointing to the place where the thief of the wonderful drink hid. Vajrapani chains Araha to the far side of the moon. Sometimes a monster swallows the moon. But since before that Vajrapani managed to cut off the lower half of the Arahu with his staff, lunar eclipses do not differ in duration ^{[17, p. 247]}.

The connection of the moon with the aquatic environment can be hypothetically traced in Slavic mythology. The Serbs have samovila (i.e. natural spirit) Vela (possibly the female hypostasis of Veles) is the mistress of rivers, springs and wells. It can "lock up" them, forcing people to suffer from thirst ^{[29, p. 210]}. So the Russians knew the myth that after the flood God commanded the sun and the month to warm the earth, the month disobeyed and hid behind a cloud. For this, God ordered him to appear only at night, hide and run away from the sun ^{[28, p. 145]}. The motif of the dragon (monster) attacking the moon is also known to the peoples of Africa. In Babylonia, the winds were considered demons attacking the moon during an eclipse ^[5]. But outside of the Ural-Altai representations, the proximity of such characters of lunar myths to the water element is poorly traced and is rather secondary or accidental. It is also interesting to observe that the image of a wolf chasing a month is found primarily in the Caucasus among Ossetians and Scandinavians ^{[25, pp. 79-80; 5]} and here we see an analogy with ancient Germanic mythology ^{[8, p. 35]}. Thus, from the above examples, it can be concluded that the connection of the moon with the water element as a universal cosmogonic principle is most characteristic of the Ural-Altai myths. The motif of the "cold moon" seems to be rather exclusively North Eurasian in general.

Another lunar motif that finds especially many parallels among the Turks and Eastern Finno-Ugrians (it is also extremely popular in Europe, Asia, Oceania, America, but it seems not so common in Africa and Australia) is a man/animal on the moon ^[5]. It is known that Lithuanians have seen bulls at night. Bashkirs have an original myth about how roe deer tied with their backs (in fact, an eight-legged animal similar to the Scandinavian Sleipnir and the six-legged moose Sharabha of the Ob Ugrians) were thrown by an old man to the moon. They are still running away from the wolf chasing them there ^[5]. In the latter case, we can note a roll call with an eddic plot about the pursuit of a monstrous wolf for the moon. The Buryats observed on the moon a girl with a yoke and buckets, as well as a willow bush, for which a water carrier tried to grab ^[31].

The motif of the "girl on the moon" is more widespread among the Turks, Mongolian peoples and eastern Finno-Ugric peoples.

The plot of the myth, as a rule, is basically the same for all the peoples of Northern Eurasia. A girl being chased on earth with a rocker and two buckets ends up on the moon. It can still be seen there. In other versions, the character, through his own fault, finds himself on the night light (violation of the prohibition to point a finger at the moon, ridicule of the moon, unwillingness to work, etc.). So in the myth of the Eastern Mari people, a lazy girl becomes the reason that the moon not only takes her to the sky with buckets, but also moves away a lot from the ground, as a result of which it becomes dark at night (it used to be as light as day) ^{[35, p. 143]}. In the third case, the initiator of the "ascent" to the sky turns out to be the month itself. In Komi, after the moon takes the water-carrier girl to herself, En recognizes the moon as his creation in gratitude. At the same time, it is characteristic that myths imply not just the relocation of a girl to the moon, but often marriage with her. This, as the researchers point out, once again emphasizes the role of the moon as a male character in the representations of the peoples of Northern Eurasia ^{[34, p. 357]}. For example, the moon in Komi was associated with marriage. As soon as the moon began to arrive, the girls took a piece of earth from under their feet. They put it under the pillow, imagining that they would dream of the future groom. Kudym-Osh, the cultural hero of the Komi-Permyaks, waited until the new month was born before marrying Hoste, the daughter of King Asyka. It was believed that if a baby was born during a waning moon, he would not live long. The researchers believe that these ideas had an obvious relation to the terms of pregnancy, obeying the lunar, not the solar months. Hence the magical rites for prosperity (carried out with the rise of the moon) and for deliverance (carried out with the waning) ^{[34, p. 358]}. The plot about the water carrier, one of the variants of which is present in the Younger Edda, is extremely widespread in Asia and Europe ^{[30, p. 243]}: Mani/ Month not only rules the lunar chariot, but also controls the course of the stars and the New Moon and Full Moon are subordinate to him. In order not to be sad at night, Mani takes the children of Bill and Hyuki from Mitgard, who were carrying a yoke with a bucket ^{[8, p. 35]}.

The mythologies of the North Eurasian peoples were characterized by an interest in the marital life of the lunar deity. Ob Ugrians explained the appearance of the month by the fact that the husband-moon was once torn apart by rival wives ^{[20, pp. 340-341]}. In the Bashkir myth, a girl admires the radiance of the Month, considers it glorious, kind, cheerful. In the spring, the girl sees a giant bone sticking out from under the sand and washed by rains. Then she looks at the moon again and promises the night luminary to give birth to a real hero if the Month takes her to wife ^{[3, p. 35]}. The motive of the possible appearance of the giant son here can be interpreted as a reflection of the high divine status of the night luminary and, at the same time, another emphasis on his connection with water, the earthly world.

Perhaps the plot of animals on the moon is a vestige of former totemic beliefs. It is not surprising that he formed the basis of some of the most archaic myths. So the peoples of the Altai language family saw a hare on the moon. In particular, the Yakuts believed that the waning of the Moon's disk was explained by its being eaten by wolves and bears. Every month the night star is restored, but the animals devour it again ^{[30, p. 244]}. The Komi-Zyryan fairy tale knows the "bull of the Month" ^{[34, p. 358]}. Also, a fox and a bear may be associated with the moon in the eastern Finno-Ugric peoples. In particular, in the Mari fairy tale, the fox advises the bear to climb a tall spruce tree in order to get fire from the moon from its top ^{[13, p. 302]}. In the mythology of the Mordvins, there are also references to the silver and gold horns of the lunar deity (according to X. Paasonen) ^{[30, p. 134]}. The original Mari myth has been preserved about how a stepdaughter, a water carrier, met a wolf on the way to the spring. The girl said to the beast: "If only the Moon would take me to her, even if you take me. Because there is no one even to pity me" ^{[14, p. 85]}. The motif of the wolf chasing the Moon (as well as the Sun) is clearly traced in the "Edda". The wolf is chasing the Sun as much (Deception), and the Moon is being chased by Hati (Hater), who wants to grab and devour the month ^{[8, p. 35]}.

The connection of the moon with birds, traced on the Ural-Altai material, is interesting. So Marie has a myth about the struggle of the heavenly Goose and Sickle in ancient times. In the end, the Sickle defeats the Goose by cutting it into pieces ^{[14, p. 60]}. V.A. Aktsorin explains this plot as a reflection of the victory of agricultural tribes over hunting ones ^{[14, p. 267]}. However, the sickle, which appeared in the Neolithic era, was originally used for cutting wild cereals and could not necessarily be associated with agriculture. Much more likely is the explanation that the Sickle here should be understood metaphorically as a lunar sickle, especially since the Mari word sorla (sickle) is not necessarily Chuvashism, and maybe an old Finno-Ugric word (cf. Sam. redit "mowing lake grass from ice") ^{[6, p. 489]}. Thus, we have a hunting myth explaining the occurrence of the lunar phases. In addition, in some mythologies, the full Moon and the crescent moon can be represented by different characters ^[5].

In the myths of the peoples of Northern Eurasia, primarily among the Turks, Mongolian peoples and eastern Finno-Ugrians, stories about the migration of people and animals to heaven are extremely common. Apparently, they all had a common totemic source. Among the Indo-Europeans, the ancient hunting basis of lunar myths has been preserved somewhat worse. So among the Slavs, the month, first of all, was compared with horned domestic animals: cows, oxen, goats, rams ^{[28, p. 146]}. The Ural-Altaians and even the Caucasian peoples had a much richer "set" of animals. First of all, these are wild animals: bear, wolf, elk, roe deer, fox, hare. Sometimes – a bird of prey. Thus, the Abkhazian monster Atiyu attacking the moon is not a dragon, but a giant owl ^{[25, p. 79]}. At the same time, according to V.V. Ivanov, Indo-European mythologies are more characterized by the connection of the bull with the god of thunderstorms, that is, the "pure" sky ^{[15, p. 203]}. In this regard, the Ural-Altai parallels are indicative. Thus, the mount of the Turkic Erlik, the god of death, armed with a moon-shaped axe, was a black bull ^{[16, p. 668]}. The idea of underground bulls carrying entire lakes became especially popular in Udmurt mythology ^{[7, p. 127]}. The goddess of waters Vd-Ava in Mari mythology is compared with a black cow that came out of the river ^{[19, p. 79]}.

The consideration of the mythologeme of the moon boat deserves attention. Among the Slavs, only the sun moves in a boat ^[5]. The Nenets (the closest relatives of the Finno-Ugrians in the Uralic language family) compared the moon with a sliver floating on the sea. The Egyptian sun god Ra moved in a day and night boat ^{[16, p. 359]}. Mention of the carriage of the moon is present, for example, among the Kalmyks and eastern Finno-Ugrians. For example, in the Mari myth, an orphan girl sings. Her song is heard by the god Yumo himself, who came to visit Tylza on the moon. Touched by the song, Yumo directs his servant Tylze to the girl so that he takes the girl to heaven. The servant of Yumo descends to the girl in a cart "with a beautiful roof", which is being driven by the winged fiery horse Yumo ^{[14, p. 84]}. In the Kalmyk myth, the moon appeared out of the water in a silver chariot when Esrin Khan and Tengir Khan descended to Earth and realized that darkness reigned around and there was no life. In order to catch something for the Earth, the gods began to rummage around the ocean. After that, the moon appeared. Tengir Khan declared that from now on the moonlight will be able to dispel the darkness of the night. The gods sent the Moon to go around the Earth in a chariot drawn by a white horse and not to stray from the indicated path ^{[32; 17, p. 246]}.

Considering that the first wheeled carts are discovered relatively late, not earlier than the middle of the IV millennium BC in the North Caucasus region (Maikop culture) ^{[38, p. 416]}, their absence in many myths is not surprising. This is also explained by the fact that in the south the soil was dry and rocky, and in the north, in Siberia, in the Far East, even in historical times, various versions of travois were actively used, which were ancestral forms of various types of transport, including boats. It is not for nothing that the Buryat word ongon, which is the key concept of shamanism, is etymologically compared with the Tungus-Manchurian name ongso travois ^{[23, pp. 42-43]}. Among the Scandinavians, rather, Mani moves on foot, although in popular images it can also be depicted on a chariot, as well as Salt. Apparently, the images of the Mari and Kalmyk lunar crews originated outside the supposed Ural-Altai area. That is, although the comparison of the moon with a boat (barge) floating in the sky is found in many mythologies of the world, the image of a solar boat is more popular, moreover, among the Indians of South America, for example, there is a mention of a lunar boat ^[5].

The image of the moon as a shepherd of the starry herds among the Slavs is rare in folklore (only in riddles). At the same time, the stars are considered the souls of people, the children of the month ^{[27, p. 291]}. Among the Serbs, the moon acts as the husband of Danica (Venus) ^{[28, p. 144]}.

A slightly different picture can be observed in the Ural-Altai mythology. Here the pastoral character of the lunar deity (among the Turks), his proximity to wild animals (especially among the Finno-Ugrians) stands out quite clearly. So, according to T.V. Muravyova, it is possible that Aihylu symbolized the morning star Venus. In addition, Aikhylu, like Humay, acted as the owner of the heavenly horses Akbuzat and Harysai ^{[17, pp. 228-229]}. The Bashkir designation of Venus – Sulpan yondo?o clearly corresponds to the Turkic-Mongolian Chulpan / Solbon. In the beliefs of the Turks and Mongols, as well as the beliefs of the Babylonians (Ishtar looked after the "heavenly sheep") Venus is, first of all, a shepherd's star. Solbon and her assistant Toklock donated a special horse in the spring. The Buryats also had a special horse, which they did not ride, dedicated to Solbon. Among the Kyrgyz, Urker (Pleiades) was considered the son of the moon, and zarnitsa was her daughter. Urker is not observed in summer. He is on earth. If it gets into a place with water, then the winter will be cold, and if it is dry, it will be warm ^{[30, pp. 248-249; 31, p. 110]}.

Among the Mari, Shochyn-Ava, the goddess of birth, is identified with both moose and Venus ^[9]. Among the Udmurts, the star may bear the name Val mir kizili (lit. "The Horse's Blood Star") ^{[7, p. 72]}.

For the Slavs, the connection of the moon and stars with the weather was undeniable ^{[27, pp. 293-294; 28, pp. 146-147]}. The same is true for the Turks, the Mongolian peoples and the eastern Finno-Ugric peoples. Altaians believed that the moon is the cause of night frosts and dampness ^{[30, p. 103]}. Among the Kalmyks, Okon-tengri symbolized the end of wintering and, possibly, the beginning of spring ^{[17, pp. 256-257]}. Komi-Permians designated the halo with the expression "a month in gloves". Such a sign indicated an impending cold snap or prolonged rain. In Mansi, a false luminary (the moon visible during the day) was also called a "gauntlet" and promised changes in the weather ^{[34, p. 357]}. Ob Ugrians "knew that if, after warm weather, the moon builds itself a plague, that is, to find itself in a rainbow circle, it means to be cold, and in summer it implies rain ^{[30, p. 243]}.

Thus, the number of parallels in the lunar myths of the Turks, Mongolian peoples, and Eastern Finno-Ugric peoples is quite significant. Judging by the prevalence of motives, the idea of a male lunar deity, his connection with the world of the dead, a dragon (monster), various animals, a boat (in rare cases with a cart) should be recognized as more or less universal. The image of the shepherd moon also seems to be a common place. The presence of the wolf image in the lunar myths of the Turks, Eastern Finno-Ugrians and some Indo-European ethnic groups (Ossetians, Scandinavians) deserves special attention. At the same time, there are significant parallels in the lunar myths of the Ural-Altai peoples, which are absent, for example, in the Caucasus. First of all, this concerns myths about the seniority of the moon (when the night luminary sometimes even acts as the main character), the origin of the moon from water, its initial stay underground (on earth), a particularly strong connection of the night luminary not just with the world of the dead, but with a specific demonic deity of death, "water" bulls, dragons, chthonic sphere, various wild animals. The existing differences (for example, the mythologeme of the "cold moon" was not characteristic of the southern peoples) are explained by the northern conditions. In general, all this gives additional arguments to the hypothesis of V.V. Napolskikh that some basic, most archaic cosmogonic ideas, in this case lunar myths, were formed among the Ural-Altaians even within the framework of the North Asian Mythological Union (SAMS).