TOPONYMS IN THE FOLKLORE LITERATURE OF NATIONS

ABSTRACT

Toponyms—the names of places—play an essential role in folklore literature across cultures. They are not mere geographical markers but function as powerful symbols, cultural signifiers, and narrative devices. This article examines the functions, symbolism, and cultural meanings of toponyms in folklore traditions, focusing on English-speaking and European tales as well as the epics of Central Asia. Drawing on examples from fairy tales, legends, and oral epics, the analysis highlights how toponyms anchor stories in cultural geography, delineate boundaries between the ordinary and the otherworldly, and preserve collective memory. By comparing cross-cultural examples, such as Camelot and Avalon in Arthurian legend and the Syr Darya or Samarkand in Turkic epics, the study demonstrates that folklore toponyms embody both universal narrative patterns and culturally specific meanings. Ultimately, examining toponyms in folklore reveals how landscapes are transformed into symbolic spaces, serving as repositories of history, identity, and imagination.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Топонимы — названия мест — играют важнейшую роль в фольклорной литературе разных культур. Они являются не просто географическими ориентирами, но выступают в качестве мощных символов, культурных маркеров и повествовательных средств. В данной статье рассматриваются функции, символика и культурное значение топонимов в фольклорных традициях, с акцентом на англоязычные и европейские сказания, а также на эпосы Центральной Азии. На примерах из сказок, легенд и устных эпосов показано, что топонимы закрепляют повествование в культурной географии, обозначают границы между обыденным и потусторонним мирами и сохраняют коллективную память. Сравнительный анализ — от Камелота и Авалона в артуровских легендах до Сырдарьи и Самарканда в тюркских эпосах — демонстрирует, что фольклорные топонимы воплощают как универсальные повествовательные модели, так и культурно-специфические значения. В конечном счёте, изучение топонимов в фольклоре показывает, как ландшафты превращаются в символические пространства, становясь хранилищами истории, идентичности и воображения.

Keywords: folklore, toponymy, place names, symbolism, legends, epic tradition.

Ключевые слова: фольклор, топонимия, названия мест, символизм, легенды, эпическая традиция.

Introduction

Folklore is inseparable from place. From the snow-capped Mount Olympus of Greek myth to the enchanted forests of European fairy tales, landscapes in folklore are rarely arbitrary. Toponyms—the names given to places—appear throughout folk narratives to establish settings, invoke symbolism, and connect stories to cultural geography. The study of toponymy reveals that “place names become important signs, signals, and symbolisms of evolving cultural landscapes” (Jordan, 2014, p. 160). In oral traditions especially, stories are often inseparable from the places they describe.

The naming of a location in folklore is more than a backdrop; it can influence the story’s resonance and meaning. Early storytellers were among the first toponymists, offering etiological explanations for how places came to be named (Dorji, 2010). These “toponymic legends” are found worldwide and help communities preserve memory, history, and identity. For example, countless local legends explain why a mountain, river, or village bears its name even when the historical origin is lost.

Beyond etiology, folklore toponyms often function symbolically. They delineate boundaries between the known and unknown—between the safe village and the perilous forest, or between the human world and the realm of gods or spirits. By invoking real or imagined landscapes, storytellers ground their narratives in space while opening portals into otherworldly realms. This article explores the narrative functions of toponyms by examining English-speaking and European folklore alongside Central Asian epics. Through this comparative lens, it identifies common functions—such as orientation, realism, symbolism—and unique cultural applications that reveal the depth of toponymy in folklore.

Materials and methods

European folklore, including the English tradition, abounds with place names both real and legendary. Many English fairy tales compiled by Joseph Jacobs employ generic settings such as “in a deep forest” or “in a certain village.” Though lacking specificity, such archetypal spaces function symbolically. The forest, for example, represents danger, freedom, and liminality—as seen in Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel. Its lack of a fixed name makes it universally recognizable and adaptable.

By contrast, English folk legends sometimes use real toponyms to lend authenticity. Robin Hood’s exploits are inseparable from Sherwood Forest and Nottingham. These names give the outlaw legend a tangible setting and even shaped later cultural memory and tourism. The symbolic “Sherwood” now stands not just for a forest but for rebellion, justice, and freedom.

Other traditions use evocative mythical geography. Irish folklore includes Tír na nÓg (“Land of Youth”), a timeless fairyland across the sea. Italian tales may reference Rome to invoke grandeur or folly. In Homeric epic, place names such as Troy, Sparta, and Olympus carry layered meanings for ancient audiences.

Colonial migration further complicated folklore toponyms. In the Americas, Old World names coexisted with Indigenous sacred geographies. “Devil’s Tower” in Wyoming, for example, overlays a Native Kiowa legend with a colonial English name, producing layered folklore traditions around the same landmark. Similarly, New England ghost stories often specify towns or even streets, lending eerie credibility through precision.

Thus, European folklore demonstrates how toponyms range from the symbolic and archetypal to the hyper-local and historical. Whether real or imagined, these place names serve narrative, cultural, and symbolic purposes.

Central Asia’s rich oral tradition, particularly in Turkic epics, demonstrates the power of toponyms on a vast geographical scale. Works such as the Kyrgyz Manas, Uzbek Alpomish, and Kazakh Edige mention dozens of rivers, mountains, and cities. In Manas, heroes traverse the Altai, Talas, Samarkand, and Bukhara—names that root the narrative in real geography while endowing these places with symbolic grandeur.

The Kazakh epic Edige includes nearly seventy different toponyms (Kenbayeva et al., 2022). These range from macro-toponyms (Desht-i Kipchak), to astionyms (Sarai, Bulgar), to oronyms (mountains), and hydronyms (Volga, Ural). Hydronyms are especially abundant, reflecting the centrality of rivers to nomadic life. The Volga (Edil) and Ural (Zhaiyk) recur so frequently that scholars describe them as “common prototypes of the Turkic world” (Kenbayeva et al., 2022, p. 52).

Outside epics, Central Asia abounds in legends tied to place names. In Osh, folklore links the city’s name to King Solomon (Sulayman), who supposedly exclaimed “Ösh!” when dining at the site. The mountain known as “Solomon’s Throne” remains a sacred landmark today. In Kyrgyzstan, legends explain the origins of Issyk-Kul’s warmth or the flooding of valleys.

Results and discussion

Comparing European and Central Asian traditions reveals shared and divergent uses of toponyms. Both traditions employ place names to mark boundaries between the familiar and the extraordinary. Both also sacralize landscapes, turning geography into biography.

Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan is similarly rich in layered toponymy. Some traditions connect its name to Noah’s descent after the Flood, while others, as Qadimov (2025) argues, reflect echoes of ancient serpent cults. These diverse legends show how a single place name can carry overlapping biblical, Islamic, and pagan associations.

Central Asian epics are also dynamic in oral performance. Storytellers frequently adapt the geography to their audience by inserting local place names. Thus, different variants of the same epic emphasize different valleys, rivers, or towns, making the stories locally relevant while preserving core narrative structures. This practice reflects how folklore functions as a “verbal map” of cultural landscapes.

Beyond orientation, toponyms in Central Asian folklore embody spiritual and national identity. The Syr Darya is not simply a river but the site of heroic feats; the Ala-Too mountains symbolize freedom; Samarkand signifies both cultural glory and contested prize. These toponyms transcend geography, becoming carriers of collective identity and imagination.

However, differences are evident in scale and specificity. European fairy tales often employ archetypal spaces or legendary toponyms, whereas Central Asian epics abound in precise real place names. This contrast reflects differences in narrative form: short, symbolic tales versus expansive, pseudo-historical epics.

In both cases, toponyms are never neutral. They are carefully chosen or preserved through oral repetition, shaping cultural imagination and historical memory. As Bakhtin’s concept of the “chronotope” suggests, folklore toponyms fuse time and space, situating timeless narratives in recognizable landscapes.

Conclusion

Toponyms in folklore function as anchors of narrative, symbols of cultural meaning, and vessels of identity. In European tales, they range from archetypal “dark forests” to legendary Camelot and Avalon. In Central Asian epics, they map vast steppes and rivers, preserving cultural geography and historical memory. Across traditions, toponyms transform landscapes into storied spaces, allowing communities to inscribe their values and history onto the land.

Understanding toponyms in folklore reveals how humans imbue geography with imagination and memory. Every hill or river on a map may carry hidden tales, serving as reminders that folklore is not only about people but also about places. Folklore, in this sense, is geography in narrative form—a testament to how landscapes become texts of culture and identity.

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