Avatar / Sosruko
The film Avatar has earned $2.84 billion to date and is the highest-grossing film in the entire history of cinema. It is impossible to calculate how many viewers have seen this masterpiece, but apparently the number of viewers is commensurate with the revenue earned.
A gripping plot, a magnificent screenplay, visual effects, and new extraordinary imagery transport us into another fantastical world. And in this world, just as on our own Earth, the highest value is placed on Justice, Freedom, Courage, Love, Honour, and Friendship.
According to the film’s creator, director and screenwriter James Cameron (@James Cameron), he spent a considerable period of time studying the mythologies and epics of a wide variety of peoples across our planet. The film’s plot is based on a synthesis of many myths and epic narratives. At the same time, scholars of Caucasian mythology and the Nart epic (note: the Nart epic exists among many peoples of the Caucasus) have drawn attention to several significant elements of the Avatar plot that are, in essence, precisely the same significant elements found in the Nart epic and Caucasian mythology. This observation holds particularly true with regard to the Circassian version of the “Narts” (note: do not confuse Circassians with Chechens — these are two distinct Caucasian peoples) and Circassian mythology. It is precisely these that contain the greatest number of plot-forming components, moreover in exactly the same interrelation among these components as in the film Avatar.
To suggest that Circassian mythology and the epic served as one of the most fundamental foundations for the film’s plot may seem an excessively bold claim. However, it is based not on some vague intuitive vision but on a comparative analysis of ten plot-forming components in the film Avatar and ten identical components in the folklore, mythology, and epic of the Circassians.
Moreover, the connections between the components themselves, within the framework of the film’s plot, are analogous to the connections between their counterparts in Circassian folklore.
And so, the compared components — the more obvious and comprehensible ones — number ten on each side. Let us agree to call them motifs and first identify them within the film’s plot.
Motif 1. “Trouble with Legs”
The “hero” in Avatar has trouble with his legs. From the very beginning of the film, emphasis is placed on the fact that he is confined to a wheelchair due to leg injuries.
Having been transformed over the course of the film from a human into a hybrid being, the “hero” rejoices at the fact that he is once again able to run on his own legs.
Motif 2. “Maturation in a Special Chamber”
The hero, as though in an egg, matures in a special glass chamber where all biological processes of transformation occurring in the body are kept under control. The hero is born a second time and emerges from this chamber, having acquired new qualities and form.
Motif 3. “The Motif of the Non-Birth Mother”
A female scientist conducts continuous monitoring of all biological processes taking place with the “hero” in the chamber. She worries about him, constantly cares for and watches over him, and orients him in a world that is new to him. In essence, she is a mother to the hero, albeit not a biological one. This bond more closely resembles the bond between a mother and her son than that between a scientist and an experimental subject.
Motif 4. “The Sacred Tree”
The Tree — the goddess Eywa, also known as the Tree of Souls. This Tree in the film holds great significance: it is the mother of the indigenous Na’vi people. It is also the centre of a sacred place connected to the souls of the departed. The Tree of Eywa simultaneously constitutes religion, the afterworld, the cult of ancestors, and a connection with both the past and the future. It also provides, by the design of the screenplay, an energetic sustenance to the Na’vi people.
Another enormous tree in the film — Hometree, on which the clans of the tribe live — is part of their Homeland. They desperately defend their Hometree from the invader. To be precise, we are speaking of two trees. By the functions they perform, one tree is the centre of the sacral world, while the other is the centre of present, everyday life.
Motif 5. “Power”
The people of the planet Pandora have no tsars, kings, and the like. There is no one resembling a sovereign or a ruler. Society consists of more or less equal people. The supreme authority is a people’s assembly — a council. Its decisions are unswervingly carried out by all.
The art of oratory is highly valued, since at such assemblies, where everyone has the right to speak, a passionate speech influences the decision rendered by the assembly.
The elders enjoy great respect, but even they are not rulers or sovereigns.
Motif 6. “The Hero Wins His Dragon”
As is customary among the indigenous Na’vi tribe, every warrior must find “his own” dragon. They believe that the dragon, too, must choose its rider. “Winning one’s dragon” is one of the episodes in the film upon which the viewer’s attention is focused. For in the future, dragon and rider must become a single whole, transform into a unified organism, a fighting unit — not only by physically joining their nervous systems through the rider’s hair and special tendrils on the dragon’s head, but also by feeling a fraternal and emotional unity.
Motif 7. “The Hairstyle Motif”
[Photo: Avatar hairstyle]
The main “hero” and his comrades wear a distinctive hairstyle — something akin to the Mohawk of Native Americans, or more widely known as the oseledets of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. These are long locks of hair left on the crown of the head, while the hair on the sides is shaved off.
Warriors with such hairstyles in the film defend their Homeland from the invader; among them is the main hero of the film.
Motif 8. “The Hunting Motif”
The tribe has established, at the level of religious doctrine, a strictly observed rule of the hunt — to ask permission of a higher power for the right to hunt and to give thanks for the quarry provided. From this episode of the film, one truth emerges: “The life of every creature is sacred; the forest is sacred.”
Motif 9. “The Battle with the Supervillain”
The film concludes with an epic battle between the main hero and the supervillain, who has plotted to destroy the entire tribe in order to seize the wealth and resources of the indigenous homeland.
Motif 10. “The Declaration of Love”
When declaring their love, the inhabitants of the fantastical planet say “I see you” instead of the customary “I love you.”
In the same sequence and with the same numbering, the same ten motifs appear in the Circassian Nart epic and in Circassian mythology:
Motif 1. “Trouble with Legs”
The main hero of the Nart epic is the Nart Sosruko. From his very appearance in the world, he had trouble with his legs. When the Nart blacksmith Tlepsh was tempering his steel body by plunging it into cold water, he held him with tongs by the knees. As a result, the knees remained untempered, and because of this weakness in his legs, struck in the knees, Sosruko perishes and departs this world. According to the epic’s plot, he will one day return to this world.
Motif 2. “Maturation in a Special Chamber”
The Nart hero Sosruko comes into the world from a fertilised stone. As though in an egg, he matures within it for nine months.
Motif 3. “The Motif of the Non-Birth Mother”
Nine months before the hero’s birth, a powerful sorceress — Satanay-guasha (guashchè — Circassian for “lady,” “goddess”) — brings this stone to her home, places it in a warm spot, and keeps constant watch over the temperature of the stone. According to the plot, she knows that a hero is to be born from the stone, and she never forgets to “monitor” the changes occurring within it.
After nine months, Satanay-guasha, seeing the stone heating intensely, decides that the time has come for the hero to be born, and carries the stone to the blacksmith Tlepsh (also a mage and healer), so that he may break the stone and allow the hero to come into the world.
Satanay-guasha always watches over her hero-son, teaches him magic, military cunning, and constantly gives him counsel on how to act in any given life situation.
From the plots of the Circassian epic, it is impossible to determine precisely whether Satanay-guasha is Sosruko’s true biological mother or whether he is in fact her adopted son.
In all the plots of the epic, the bond between them is the bond of a beloved son and an adored mother.
Motif 4. “The Tree-Goddess”
The Tree-goddess is one of the most significant images in the Circassian Nart epic.
The majestic figure known as Zhyg-Guashchè (tree-goddess, tree-lady) touches the heavens with her hair and encompasses everything beneath the earth with her roots, and therefore knows all that transpires in the cosmos, on the earth, and beneath it.
She speaks to the Narts in their own language and possesses the ability to bear children.
The Sacred Tree has several additional functions in Circassian mythology and, in accordance with these functions, manifests in several aspects.
A) Sacred trees — specially chosen trees for prayer gatherings, beside which appeals to God, sacrifices, and other religious rites are performed.
B) The Tree — the centre of the afterworld, Hedrikhe.
An enormous tree, its branches connected to the sky, its roots to the underworld. Atop this tree lives an eagle, and below, among the roots, dwells a serpent.
The spirits of the dead reside in Hedrikhe, and therefore the cult of ancestors is directly linked to the cult of Hedrikhe and to this tree.
C) On the day of the winter solstice, the tree of Sozyresh is ceremonially brought out of storage — a small dried hawthorn tree with seven branches, upon each of which a candle is placed. This is a symbolic tree upon which, like an apple, the “new sun” is born and ripens. The birth of the sun on December 22 is a national festival with games, dances, and rituals. The solar calendar is thus linked to the “sacred tree.”
[Photo: Sozyresh tree with candles]
D) The Golden Tree of the Narts.
In the Nart epic, the fruits of this tree bestow renewed youth, new life, and promote the birth of healthy children. By virtue of its properties, the tree constitutes one of the principal treasures of the Land of the Narts.
E) The so-called “aerial burial” in Circassian tradition. Historical literature has described the practice of tree burial many times. In this rite, the body is not initially committed to the earth but is kept for half a year in a coffin suspended from a tree. The body is then buried by usual interment in the ground.
F) There also exists a multitude of historical descriptions of trees upon which trophy weapons were hung. It never occurred to anyone to take any of these weapons for themselves. It was strictly established that all of this was an offering, a sacrifice left to the “sacred tree.”
G) A modern memorial, erected in memory of the victims of the Russo-Circassian War of 1763–1864, takes the form of a “sacred tree.”
It is called “Pse Zhyg” in the Circassian language — the Tree of Souls.
[Photo: Pse Zhyg memorial — Tree of Souls]
[Photo: Pse Zhyg memorial — aerial view: Coordinates: (43.477520, 43.60500), Nalchik.]
On Google Maps it is designated as Circassian–Russian War Memorial (Tree of Life). The monument was erected long before the release of the film Avatar and received the name “Tree of Souls” — the very same name given to the tree-goddess in the film.
The monument symbolises an idea from Circassian mythology: “All souls return to the sacred primordial tree.” That is, to the tree under the designation B) in this list.
During this war, between Circassia and the Russian Empire, the sacred trees marking sites of religious rites were specifically defended to prevent the invader from reaching the sanctuary.
Such battles by defenders of the sacred tree against the enemy can be found in the literature on the Russo-Caucasian War.
All eight of these varieties of the tree within Circassian culture carry the status of “sacred tree.” It is possible that all of these sacred trees share a common prototype from which, over the course of the myth’s long existence, such variations developed.
Motif 5. “The Motif of Power”
In the Circassian archaic epic, you will find no tsars, khans, or kings. There are no sovereigns or rulers of any kind. The Narts are composed of more or less equal people. Special honour is accorded to the elders, known as “Nart thamada.” The council or assembly of the Narts decides all vital public matters. The decisions rendered at these assemblies, called “Khase,” are carried out by all the Narts. Even the great Nart heroes obey the decisions of the Nart Khase and set out on campaigns for plunder or to slay a malicious dragon only after such a decision has been adopted at the assembly.
Before the Russian conquest of the North Caucasus, in Circassian society — just as among the Narts — there were no tsars, khans, kings, or any sovereigns or supreme rulers. There were princes, called “pshi,” who bore no resemblance to the image of a sovereign seated on a throne. These “pshi” were military chieftains and commanders only of their own group of work-knights. The defence and protection of the homeland from the invader was the primary function of the knight detachments under the command of the pshi. The non-military population — women, children, the elderly — was always under the protection of the pshi. All vital questions were resolved not by princely decree but at assemblies called Khasè (as in the legendary land of the Narts). The decisions of the Khase were to be carried out unswervingly by all members of society. At such assemblies, every person had the right to vote. A prince-pshi or a knight-work had exactly the same single vote at the assembly as an ordinary free citizen-farmer. The art of oratory was highly valued; young people were specially trained in it, since a passionate, logically structured speech always sounds persuasive and influences the final decision. Presiding over the assemblies sat respected elders called thamadas. After the Russian conquest of Circassia, Circassian princes who were loyal to the new authorities were appointed by the Russian government as administrators of villages and settlements.
From that moment, in the popular consciousness they acquired the image of overlords, akin to Russian landowners.
Motif 6. “Winning the Dragon”
In the Nart epic, horses fly through the sky just as dragons do in the film. Nart heroes converse with their horses, and the horses answer in the same language. They consult with their horses and treat them not as domestic animals, not as livestock, but as equals. When Sosruko comes of age, he sets out to win his own horse. In the epic, it is customary among the Narts that each warrior must find his own horse.
A newborn foal itself chooses Sosruko as its companion, friend, and rider. In this legendary plot, the rider chooses a horse, but the horse too must find its rider. In the future, they will become a single whole; they will have to endure the hardships of military life together, face dangers together, and share bread and glory between them. At times, their very lives depend on the coordination and bond between horse and rider. There exists extensive literature on the Circassian breed of horses (in our time the breed is commonly called Kabardian), and in it — in the ethnographic accounts of both foreign and Russian authors — much has been written about the relationship between the Circassian horseman and his horse.
The horse is to be guided not by spurs or whip but solely by the voice. A small whip called shchIopshch is needed only to produce a whistling sound to which the horse is trained and by which it is guided. Spurs are entirely unknown among Circassians. Causing a horse pain is impermissible. It is an insult inflicted upon an equal. Horse and rider together form a single, harmonious organism. On a campaign, as equals, they share food and water, hardships and risks.
Fraternal relations are the only acceptable kind of relationship in the conditions of campaign life, for their very lives sometimes depend upon harmony and mutual understanding.
Indeed, the Circassian attitude toward the horse is an extraordinary phenomenon, a relic that has survived to our day from the most ancient past. It is so extraordinary that people of other cultures can scarcely believe that it is not a myth or the overactive imagination of admirers of the Kabardian horse breed. In this regard, one important thought still shines through: in antiquity, the choice of a horse was the most important act. In choosing a horse, you choose your fate, your possibilities, the fulfilment of knightly ambitions. The names of the great Nart heroes and the names of their celebrated horses have been preserved in entirely equal measure — the horses are almost as much heroes as their riders.
Motif 7. “The Hairstyle Motif”
In Circassian society there was a class called “work”; it was mentioned in Motif 5 — “Power.”
In the literature, this term is usually translated as “knight,” “noble,” or “gentleman.” This is the warrior class from which the detachments under the command of the princes-pshi are composed.
The direct duty of people of this class is the defence of their territory, their Homeland, and the non-military population of the country. The preservation of order and justice in society is also within their sphere of responsibility. The principal motto of the works is “Khekure Khabzere” — Homeland and Justice (order; law; truth).
The works distinguished themselves from others by means of special markers. The first marker was a long tuft of hair left on the crown of the head, called “ak1e.” It is grown upon admission into the semi-closed society of the “work” and shaved off upon “retirement” in old age. The second important marker was the wearing of red elements in clothing and horse equipment: the colour of the military estate is red. The third important marker was a special language, a jargon used in their circle and unintelligible to people of other social classes. Furthermore, others were forbidden from using the first two markers: the hairstyle and red in their attire. Work/workhood is a semi-closed society into which new members are admitted exclusively on the basis of personal qualities: intellect, courage, and reputation. The swearing of an oath and several guarantors from among those already admitted are mandatory requirements.
There were also hereditary works — those born into the “work” status.
From the plots of the Circassian Nart epic, it is evident that the hero-Nart Sosruko belongs precisely to the warrior class — the defenders of the Homeland. He takes interest only in military matters: weapons, horses, campaigns, plunder, hunting. He acquires cultural treasures for the Narts, defends his Homeland, and performs a multitude of heroic deeds.
But nowhere does one see the Nart Sosruko ploughing the land, or herding cattle, or gathering the harvest, or making pots.
Modern artists in their illustrations of the ancient epic frequently depict Sosruko with a lock of hair on his head, underscoring his belonging to the warrior class — people who have chosen the path of glory.
[Photo: Karmokov A.M. painting “Sosruko”]
Motif 8. “The Hunting Motif”
In Circassian tradition, the forest is sacred. All animals and plants are sacred; they are bearers of “pse” — the eternal soul or life. Having come to the forest to hunt, even before beginning, it is customary to ask the spirit of the forest — or, in other words, the hunting deity — to provide quarry. It is also customary to leave a small gift in order to receive permission to hunt.
In the literature on mythology, another principle is also described — leaving a portion of the quarry for the master of the forest. This offering has its own name — “hekhuzh.” The forest in general, including its hunting traditions, is the principal culture-forming factor among Circassians (Dmitriev V. A. “The Forest as a Culture-Forming Factor among Circassians”).
Motif 9. “The Battle with the Supervillain”
The Nart Sosruko battles the supervillain Yemynezh, who has plotted to swallow the sun and bring life in the land of the Narts to an end forever. Sosruko defends the Homeland against the ultimate evil and prevails in this struggle, even though the adversary is manifestly more powerful than he.
Motif 10. “The Declaration of Love”
In order to declare one’s love in the Circassian language, one must say: “Se we f1ywe uzolagu” — “I see you with delight” (with joy; with kindness; with goodness).
The comparisons of the ten motifs presented above, in such a totality and in such logical interrelation, can be found only in Circassian culture. Indeed, the majority of these motifs are mythological universals, widely distributed and encountered among the most diverse peoples in different regions of the Earth. Several of the ten motifs — for example, 1, 2, and 3 — can be found not only in the Circassian Nart epic but also in other national versions of the “Narts.” The fourth motif, “Tree-goddess” — an image uniting a beautiful woman with an arboreal form, a goddess who knows all that transpires in the world — is characteristic only of Circassian mythology. The tree as the centre of the world, the axis of the world, the tree of good and evil, of knowledge, and so forth, can be found in the mythologies of various regions of the planet (the most popular example being the Tree of Paradise from the Bible, which bears the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil). But the Circassian tree-goddess stands in utter isolation
The number of modifications of the sacred tree in Circassian folklore, and their mythological functions, are likewise impressive. It is worth noting that such a quantity of variants of the sacred tree does not exist within the framework of any other national culture.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead of Ani contains remarkable words about the sacred tree of the afterworld: “Homage to thee, O Governor of the Tree of the Narts. The boat of Seker rests upon its sledge” (E. A. Wallis Budge. The Book of the Dead of Ani).
Cameron named the sacred Tree of Souls “Eywa” — precisely the same name given to the sacred tree in the land of Hatti. (The Hattic language shows signs of kinship with Circassian, and its mythology exhibits numerous parallels.)
The antiquity of the cult of the tree with seven branches among the distant ancestors of the Circassians is attested by an artefact. A silver vessel bearing a depiction of a “mountain landscape” from the Maykop kurgan dates to the second half of the fourth millennium BCE — that is, this vase is over five thousand years old. At that time, Egypt still had no pharaohs, no pyramids, and none of what creates the image of Ancient Egypt. In the depiction, the tree with seven branches is situated between Mount Elbrus and Mount Kazbek. It is worth noting that it is positioned considerably closer to Elbrus.
Another tree is depicted — a smaller one, to the left of the large tree — but apparently this smaller tree serves to indicate precisely where the principal tree is located. The vase cannot depict an ordinary tree: this is a mythological tree, which in its significance, grandeur, and scale is in no way inferior to Elbrus itself — the principal mountain of the Caucasus.
[Photo: Silver vessel from Maykop kurgan]
The special regard for the horse as a friend in Motif 6 — “Winning the Dragon” — is a specifically Circassian motif. Both in the film and in the Nart epic, it is firmly linked to Motifs 1, 2, 3, 7, and 9. In other words, the hero who has trouble with his legs, who matured inside a bio-chamber, watched over by a mother who did not give birth to him, wearing a distinctive hairstyle, wins himself a horse. He is also the one who enters into battle with the greatest villain.
The tenth motif — “I see you” — is likewise absolutely and specifically Circassian.
The seventh motif, the hairstyle, though directly associated with the hero of the Nart epic, is nonetheless a universal.
A lock of hair left on the crown of the head or above the ear as a mark distinguishing membership in the warrior class has been known since the most ancient times.
The earliest depictions of such hairstyles date to the middle of the fourth millennium BCE (David Rohl, A Test of Time: The Bible from Myth to History, @David Rohl).
With the invention of hieroglyphic writing in Egypt, the word “warrior” came to be depicted as a small figure with a protruding lock of hair on its head, holding a bow and arrow.
From all that has been said here, one might draw the conclusion that James Cameron (@James Cameron) acquainted himself quite thoroughly with Circassian mythology and the epic.
It is perfectly understandable that a random coincidence across ten plot-forming points has an extremely low probability. Nevertheless, without Cameron’s own words, it would not be entirely correct to draw such a conclusion.
One more analogy deserves attention.
The overarching narrative of the film is this: a cruel, rapacious, and cynical aggressor, acknowledging no human values, armed to the teeth with the most sophisticated weapons, seeks to conquer Pandora and seize its resources. Opposing him stands the noble Na’vi people, whose entire arsenal consists of bows and arrows.
The people of the tribe are brave, strong, noble, believe in justice, and defend their Homeland and their freedom uncompromisingly and desperately.
All of this vividly recalls the chronicles of the Russo-Caucasian War, in which Caucasian highlanders — noble, courageous, deeply valuing freedom and their Homeland — stood against the military machine of the Russian Empire. They had no cannons, no regular army, yet they refused to submit to the Russian tsar. And in this cruel war, the Circassians stand out through their uncompromising spirit and the duration of their resistance. For 101 years (1763–1864) they defended their freedom and honour against an aggressor who had plotted to take their homeland from them.
Unfortunately, unlike the ending of Avatar, the Circassians suffered defeat in an unequal struggle and were subjected to extermination. The survivors were expelled from the Caucasus region to Turkey (the Ottoman Empire). By the end of the nineteenth century, by averaged estimates, approximately 10% of Circassia’s pre-war population remained in the Caucasus. The Circassians did not acknowledge defeat by the Russian Empire: no act of capitulation or similar document was signed. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, several state acts were adopted recognising the genocide of the Circassians.
It should be particularly noted that the motif of the defence of the Homeland is one of the most important in the Nart epic. The Nart heroes Sosruko, Badynoko, Wozhermes, Baterez, and others belong to the category of warrior-defenders of the Nart land of Nartkheku.
Frequently in the epic’s plots, enemies — villains who wish to exterminate the entire Nart race — invade this land. Yet the heroes always successfully resist the aggressors. Through the pages of the epic shines an eternal truth: he who defends his home, his Homeland, his family, his tribe is always a hero, while he who greedily covets what belongs to others is always an invader, a villain, an aggressor. No matter how strong and brave this villain may be, he will never be a hero.
Finally, it should be noted that the largest archive of the Nart epic is a seven-volume collection in the Circassian language. The texts have not been subject to editing; they are presented in precisely the same form in which they were transmitted by the folk bards and storytellers known as jeguak1ue.
Certain plots exist in a multitude of variants; for example, the battle between the heroes Sosruko and Totyresh is presented in 42 variants. This multiplicity of variants is a sign of the very long existence of these plots among the people.
Both the long existence and the preservation of the Nart epic to the present day is a remarkable and vivid phenomenon of culture.
Naturally, it has survived to our day thanks to its inspiring content. It is a collection of stories of triumphs and victories, a collection of behavioural models of heroes who do not spare themselves in the defence of their country and who perform heroic deeds for the prosperity of their tribe. The educational significance of the Nart epic is unquestionably powerful and all-encompassing. This is a work of the people bearing a label that reads “For the Ages.” Precisely such a label is affixed to the film Avatar by James Cameron (@James Cameron).
Steinberg L.