FATY BAH IN WEDDING CEREMONIES OF THE OSSETIANS
The issue that is considered in this article refers to the wedding ceremonies of the Ossetians at the time of the traditional society. Marriage customs of the Ossetians during the period under study presupposed presenting special gifts from the bridegroom to close relatives of the bride. As a rule, these honorary gifts were not part of the bride price and consisted of riding horses, which were intended to certain persons. One of these gifts was euphemistically called "faty bæh" (literally "arrow horse"). Among the researchers of wedding ceremonies of the Ossetians the issue of who exactly was the presentee of this horse is still debatable. According to some researchers faty bæh was intended for the father, others say for the mother, and there are also those who argue that "the arrow horse" was presented to the bride’s brother. This leads to a distorted interpretation of the meaning of some traditional wedding ceremonies of the Ossetians in their studies. This article summarizes all the material on this issue. Based on the analysis of the ethnographic data relating to the research topic, the issue of who was the presentee of "the arrow horse" among the relatives of the bride is solved.