Mongol epic poetry

Epic poetry, or tuuli in Mongolian, is an important genre of Mongol oral literature, with features reminiscent of Germanic alliterative verse.

[2] These tuuli are commonly sung with instruments such as the Morin khuur (horse-head fiddle) and the Tovshuur (lute).

Most epics deal with topics of the history of the Mongols, their ideal worlds and heroes, and the acquisition of new lands.

Mongol epic poetry has, as of 2009, been on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

[6] During the Second World War, the government of the Soviet Union promoted the Geser as a way to foster patriotism among Buryats.

However, in the years following the war until the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, the epic tradition was attacked as "feudal" and anti-Russian.

Mongol epics typically go through the unnatural birth of the hero, his marriage, and his struggle against the monster (or an antagonistic kingdom).

Chao identifies two main patterns found in every Mongol epic - fighting and courtship.

The hero-tale, while similar to the epic, has some key differences - it is not sung, but told without a melody by amateurs.

They drew their material from both traditional epics and foreign novels from across Asia that had been introduced to the Mongols, such as The Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Thirty-Two Wooden Men.