Irchy (Folklore)

Irchy (also ırchy) is a traditional bard who sings genealogies, laments and epics to the three-stringed komuz. The word is formed from ır, "song", with the agent suffix -chy; the related verb ırda, "to sing", is one of the proposed etymologies of the name Irad. Bards perform The Epic of Janyl, and many were arrested and deported during the 1937 purges.