Female Initial Rites of Ossetians and “Legends of Narts”: Synchronous-Diachronic Verifi cation

The article examines the mutual infl uence of religious and mythological views and texts of the Ossetian “Nartiada”, the main plot-forming component of which is the initiation context. The sphere of scientifi c understanding also includes epic motifs
synonymous with the semantic content of these rituals, which have found a stable fixation in the “Legends of Narts”.
The following methods were used in the work: historical and typological method, the method of scientifi c textual analysis, and the most constructive method of mythologism.
The methodological base was determined by the principles of textual, semiotic, structural and semantic analysis, with elements of comparison and contrast.
The introduction of unpublished materials on folklore and ethnography of Ossetians, obtained as a result of expeditionary research, into scientifi c circulation, made it possible to reveal the unity of a signifi cant corpus of epic plots and ritual elements of
Ossetian ethnic culture. It has increased the interest for synchronous-diachronic verifi cation of mythological and cultural universals.