The Personification of Time in Armenian Folktales and Its Narrative Transformation

Abstract

The personification of time is a recurring theme in global mythologies, including Armenian folklore, where it appears as the figure Žuk u Žamanak  – an old, grey-haired man who governs the cycle of day and night with two skeins of yarn. This study examines the linguistic and narrative functions of this mythological character in Armenian folktales, focusing on its role both as a motif character and the fixed narrative formula of the same name. Using comparative mythological analysis and philological methods, the article explores Žuk u Žamanak in Armenian folktales and literary fairy-tales. Our findings show that Žuk u Žamanak serves not only as a character but also as a temporal and structural device, most notably through the recurring formula žuk u žamanak , which functions to open or connect episodes in folktales. However, this formula and the figure itself have gradually faded from contemporary Armenian literature, retained only in rare examples. This decline is conditioned by the aesthetic preferences and the aims set by modern writers.