Українська «Коза» Та Польський «Коник» У Різдвяно‑Новорічній Обрядовості Західного Полісся (Реконструкція Утраченої Традиції)

The article raises the issue of the manifestation and subsequent existence of the New Year ritual of “walking with a horse” and its coexistence with the traditional “goat guiding” in Western Polissia. The character composition of both group members (“kozari” and “shuhatnyky”) has been established. Accordingly, considered have been the role functions of each character, as well as its localization within the region. Based on an analysis of verbal texts from the archived manuscripts of the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, it has been stated that a symbiosis of Ukrainian and Polish elements of both rituals and their verbal accompaniment was formed in the 1920s‑30s within the Polish colonies of Western Polissia. The new rite of “walking with a costumed ‘horse’” began to displace the traditional one – “goat guiding”, attracting its traditional characters to its accompaniment. The article’s novelty lies in an assumption as to the common formative range of the western Polesian version of the New Year “walking with a horse” ritual in Central Europe, here based upon Ukrainian, Romanian, and Polish national traditions.