Turkic mythology

Turkic mythology reflects the wide variety of different religions that the Turkic peoples practiced throughout their history. It is mainly influenced by Tengrism, the old Turkish faith.

Important elements of Turkic mythology include heroic rulers; 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 story of the she-wolf Asena is the oldest known legend of Turkish mythology. Its oldest version dates back to 330 BC.

It is the tragic story of the Tue'kue people, who are all killed in an enemy attack - except for one badly injured little boy. 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 in Turkic mythology

The wolf plays a more important role in ancient Turkic mythology than any other animal. It is the Turks' holiest and highest totem animal, one they considered an ancestor. Many sagas and myths use the wolf as a symbol.

The original legend of the ancestral wolf developed among the Hsiung-nu (or Huns) at a very early date. The first two wolf-as-ancestor stories told of a she-wolf nursing a foundling with a raven circling overhead.

Shiratori writes that the legend already seemed well developed in pre-Christian times, among the Wu sun of the Išíq Qul and the Ili. These people are Indo-Europeans or Proto-Turks.

Formation of Land

In another Turkik legend, the god Kaira Khan creates land. He commands man to dive into the water and fetch sand from the bottom.

But Man is insidious and ungrateful. He suspects that Kaira will use the sand to create land. Each time Man fetches sand, he hides some inside his mouth in order to create his own country. He follows the god's renewed command and scatters the sand on the water.

Islands appear that grow rapidly into land. But the sand in Man's mouth is also beginning to increase. Man's 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 Man spits out out arise ugly 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.

As the legend concludes, 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 Book of Dede Korkut

The 11th-century Book of Dede Korkut tells twelve stories from the Oghuz Turks. The stories include tribal myths, love tales, and heroic sagas:

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

The Book of Dede Korkut was written during the early Islamic period of the Turks, when Tengris elements were still predominant in Turkish culture. Most of these stories date from the pre-Islamic period and were later embellished with Islamic elements.