Yamal Creation from the Mammoth
A Nenets creation myth from the Yamal Peninsula, whose name means 'End of the Land' in the Nenets language. The legend tells that the world was formed from the body of a giant mammoth that emerged from the primordial sea. The great sky god Num sent the mammoth to create dry land for humans and reindeer. When the mammoth died, its massive body became the Yamal Peninsula, its bones became the Ural Mountains, and its great tusks formed the rivers. Ice spirits (Yul-Chyn) emerged from the mammoth's frozen breath. The Nenets traditionally believed that earthquakes were caused by the mammoth stirring