Mari mythology
Mari mythology is a collection of myths belonging to the Mari folk heritage. It has many similar features and motifs with Maris' neighbouring people, like the Komis, Udmurts and Mordvins. Many of their myths are also distantly related to the myths of other Finnic peoples. The biggest literary work on Mari mythology is the Mari epic "Jugorno", written by the Russian Anatoli Spiridonov in 2002. The epic was originally written in Russian, despite Spiridonov being very knowledgeable on the Mari language and Mari folk poetry. However, a Mari translation by Anatoli Mokejev was provided alongside the publication of  the original epic. In 2015, the epic was translated into Estonian by Arvo Valton. The creation and cosmology. The Mari creation myth is a typical Finnic creation myth. In the beginning there was an eternal ocean in which a duck swam. She looked for land to lay her eggs on. When she finally found land, she could only fit two of her three eggs there. Out of the first egg came a duck called Jum (probably the initial form of the skygod Kugu Jumo), who started work with creating the world. And out of the second egg came a duck  called Jõn (probably the initial form of the god of death Kijamat), who went out to create the underworld. Out of the third egg later came Targõltõš. The Maris believed the sky to revolve around the Northern Star, held up by the pillar of the world Kava Menge. The end of the world lies in the north, beyond the three rivers Tupsa, Perža and Voja. History in mythology. Much of Mari mythology is mythologised history. The story of Čumbõlat is based on the historical 12th century chief of Kokšar. Poltõš is based on Boltuš, a historical chief of Malmõž. Jugorno  mentions several named chiefs of the ancient Maris. Some of them, like Kukarka and Tükan Šur are often considered historical.