Turkic mythology

Turkic mythology reflects the wide variety of different religions that the Turkic peoples professed throughout their history. It is mainly influenced by Tengrism, the old Turkish faith. Heroic rulers always play an important role, the sacred wolf, the levels of the underworld and the upper world in which various overpowering beings exist, giants, monsters, and the sacred numbers 3, 7, 9 and 40.

Legends

Asena

The legend of the she-wolf Asena is the oldest known legend of Turkish mythology (oldest version 330 BC). It is the tragic story of the Tue'kue, who are wiped out except for one badly injured little boy by an enemy attack. The boy survives in a bog with severed hands and feet. The she-wolf Asena finds the boy, nurses him and thus ensures the continued existence of the colony. The wolf, as the holiest and highest totem animal of the Turks, plays an important role in many sagas and myths. The Turks regarded the wolf as their ancestor. The wolf is the animal that seems to play the most important role in ancient Turkic mythology. It is likely that the original legend of the ancestral wolf developed among the Hsiung-nu (or Huns) at an unknown but undoubtedly very early date. Shiratori writes that in pre-Christian times it appears already well developed among the Wu sun of the Išíq Qul and the Ili, who are Indo-Europeans or Proto-Turks. Two stories introduce us to her. Both told of a she-wolf nursing a foundling and a raven circling overhead.

Formation of Land

Kaira Khan understands that he must create land. He commands man to dive into the water and fetch sand from the bottom. Man is insidious and ungrateful, he suspects the intention of the god and hides a little bit for himself when fetching the sand in his mouth (or in his beak) in order to create his own country. He follows the god's renewed command and scatters the sand on the water. Suddenly, islands appear that grow rapidly and become land. But the sand in people's mouths is also beginning to increase. His cheeks are getting bigger and he is in danger of suffocating and dying. Kaira Khan orders him to spit out the sand so he doesn't die. From what is spat out arise (ugly, superfluous) mountains on the beautiful land that before was only wide, flat steppe. Kaira Khan speaks: You sinned and wanted to cheat me. The minds of the peoples who worship me will be pure and they will enjoy the sunlight. Your name shall be Erlik. The people who commit sin shall become your people. Kaira Khan grows a huge tree on a hill with nine branches. Törüngey and Eje, the ancestors of all people, sit under this tree.

Literature

The 11th-century Dede-Korkut book contains twelve sagas of the Oghuz. Among them are tribal myths, heroic sagas and heartbreaking love stories. It dates from the early Islamic period of the Turks, when the Tengris elements were still predominant in Turkish culture. It is believed that even most of these stories date from the pre-Islamic period and were later embellished with Islamic elements.

Bogac Khan, the son of Dirse Khan
The ceremonial looting of the house of Salur Kazan
Bamsi Beyrek, the son of Kam Bure Bey
The Captivity of Uruz Bey, son of Kazan Bey
Deli Dumrul, son of Duha bey
Kan Turali, son of Kanli Koca
Yigenek, son of Kazilik Koca
Basat's fight with Tepegöz
Emren, son of Begil
Segrek, son of Ushun Koca
The Captivity of Salur Kazan
The conflict between the inner and outer Oghuz

Turkic Mythology Media

The 10th-century Irk Bitig ("Book of Divination") from Dunhuang, written in Old Uyghur language with the Orkhon script, is an important literary source for early Turko-Mongol mythology.
Umay Ana.jpg

This picture was drawn by Umay Ana's better research and in a modern way. So something nicer and more eye-catching emerges.
Mural depicting King Gesar of Ling
Uyghur Princes from the Bezeklik murals.
5-kuruş-coin features the tree of life
The Tree of Life, as seen in the flag of Chuvashia, a Turkic state in the Russian Federation