The basic definition of the word “manaschï” is a singer of the Kirghiz epic Manas. However, its connotations are much richer than its literal meaning. As a group of oral folk artists who have mastered a specialized kind of skill in epic singing, the manaschï are a singular set of professionals who are the creators, oral inheritors, and promoters of the Manas epic. They are the keystone of the Kirghiz oral tradition and are also superlative singers of oral folk literature.