Images of Cannibalistic <i>Devupki</i> and <i>Chulugdy</i> in the Folklore of the Evenki
The article considers images of mythical anthropomorphous cannibalistic characters whose names belong to appellatives of the Evenki language: a) devupki (territorial and local versions are devulte, depnede ), b) chulugdy (local version is chuluro ). Images of devupki and chulugdy have some common and distinctive features. Devupki are many-headed giants, chulugdy are one-legged, one-armed, and one-eyed creatures. A human wins them with the help of his mind, wit, and tricks. The article gives the traditional Evenki’s plots associated with these characters, the etymology of their appellatives. The images of devupki are also traditionally used in the epic legends of the Evenki, where they are also represented by many-headed giants who have come to the middle land with the main goal to destroy (to eat) a human tribe. The typical image of chulugdy does not go beyond a genre framework of mythological narrations of the Evenki.