Arinka (lower-world antipode and co-shaper of the earth)
Even · deity · Even traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Arinka (Even Аринка; variants Aritska, Aricka) is the dark antipode of the creator in Even cosmogony. In the world-creation cycle he works alongside Hövki in forming the earth, but as an adversary who embodies the evil principle and takes the lower world of the dead (Nergik/Hergik) as his domain, mirroring Hövki's upper world. Comparative scholarship aligns his figure with the Evenki adversary Khargi, yet Even tradition pointedly differs from the Evenki in not casting the antipode as the brother of the high-god. He stands as one pole of the dualistic structure — good upper world against evil lower world — that organises Even myth.
Domains
- lower world of the dead
- the evil principle
Powers
- to co-shape and mar the earth as the creator's adversary
- to own and rule the lower world of the dead
Epithets
- Арицка — злое начало'Eveny. Dukhovnaya kul'tura', Interactive Atlas (atlaskmns.ru) — Aritska as the 'evil principle' opposed to Hövki (secondary)
Relations
- enemy: Hövki (almighty sky-god and creator)Arinka is the antipode of the creator Hövki: co-shaper of the earth yet his adversary, master of the lower world set against Hövki's upper world. Diakonova stresses that, unlike the fraternal Evenki pairing of Säväki and Khargi, the Even do not make Arinka the brother of Hövki.M. P. Diakonova, 'Obrazy antipodov demiurgov v mifakh tvoreniya evenkov i evenov' (Cyberleninka) (secondary)
Sources
- Arinka (Aritska) is the malevolent antipode and co-shaper of the world in Even creation myth, embodying the evil principle and owning the lower world of the dead, opposed to the creator Hövki.: M. P. Diakonova, 'Obrazy antipodov demiurgov v mifakh tvoreniya evenkov i evenov' (Cyberleninka) (secondary); M. P. Diakonova, 'Mif v fol'klore evenkov i evenov (tsikl tvoreniya mira)', kandidat dissertation, Makhachkala, 2016 (secondary)