Turkish mythology

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The Turkish mythology reflects the wide variety of different religions resist, to which the Turks throughout history known. It is mainly shaped by Tengrism , the old Turkish belief. Heroic rulers, the holy 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 , always play an important role .

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 with the exception of one seriously injured little boy are wiped out by an enemy attack. The boy survives in a bog with his hands and feet severed. Asena the she-wolf finds the boy, suckles him and thus ensures the continued existence of the colony.

Sagas

Oghus epic

One of the most important of all Turkish sagas is the saga about Oghus , as many of today's Turkic peoples in western Central Asia see themselves as descendants of the Oghusen .

It is about the life of Oghus Khan, from his birth to the solemn division of his empire among his six sons. This legend contains many important references to early Turkish history. It provides explanations about the origin of some tribes such as B. the Kipchaks . It also tells of a great war between Oghus' army and his father's army.

Manas epic

The central work of Kyrgyz literature is the great Manas epic , considerably longer than the Odyssey and preserved and refined through oral tradition for around 1000 years. It celebrates the deeds of the mythological hero Manas and his descendants, who in the 10th century preserved the Kyrgyz freedom in a struggle with the neighboring Uighurs .

Tribal myths

Ergenekon legend

The Ergenekon legend is just as widespread among the Turkic peoples. It is about a great crisis of the old Turks. According to the legend, after a great defeat, led by a wolf, the Turks settled in a very inaccessible valley called Ergenekon. Only after many generations does this valley become too narrow for the people and they look for ways to leave this valley. Ultimately, blacksmiths melt a mountain of iron ore, and the people come back to the steppe with old strength and announce to all peoples that the Gök Turks have taken their old place again.

Kırk kız

(German: forty girls)

The kırk-kız legend describes the origin of the Kyrgyz people. The daughter of Sarı Han (he ruled the western part of the Gök-Turk empire), accompanied by her 39 maids, goes on a trip to an enchanted mountain lake. On the shore of the lake, they touch the white foam that washes up. All of them will get pregnant. The Han sends them to a forest, where they give birth to their children, and from then on they call themselves Kırkkızlar , the "forty girls". In the whole of Eastern Turkey there is a whole series of different "forty girl legends" that point to important places that are called "forty girls".

Dokuz oğuz - On uygur

(9 Oghusen-10 Uighurs / but also the children of the tree ) Legend about the origin of the Uighurs.

Göç

(Eviction / relocation)

This is a tradition that contains a great deal of information about the view and way of life of the ancient Turks. It's about the Chinese enemies finding out that the Turks draw their strength from a rock that they worship as sacred. An ambassador of the Chinese brings a Chinese princess as a wife to the Turkish Khan in order to establish friendly relations between the peoples. The ambassador can choose something as a gift. He opts for the sacred rock, which the Turks have venerated as sacred for 40 generations. The Chinese pour vinegar on the rock and make a fire around it. The rock breaks into a thousand pieces. These parts are immediately taken away on ox carts and distributed to all wizards in China. The stones bring power, happiness and blessings wherever they go.

In the land of the Turks, however, the sky suddenly takes on a strange yellowish color. The birds stop singing, the plants begin to wither, and epidemics spread among the Turks. Suddenly you hear the voices of the Yer Su (earth and water spirits) from nature . They call out ".. moving, moving .." ("gööc gööc .."). These voices only fall silent after the Turks have moved on for months.

Poetry

Hunter Binegger

The hunter Binegger is a great hunter who is very respected in his tribe. But after he makes the big mistake of chasing after the holy Maral , who is actually the forest goddess in the shape of a deer, he is punished in a terrible way.

The story is written in many short stanzas that rhyme. It is also used as lyrics in traditional folk music. Singers sing the story from Binegger's perspective and female singers from the perspective of the forest goddess.

Creation myths

There are several different legends about creation among the Turkic peoples . Among the so-called Northern Turks , that of the god Kaira Khan is particularly widespread.

In the beginning there was nothing but a huge sea called Talay . There was no land, no sun, moon, or stars. Kaira Khan and a human fly over the water (in some springs in the shape of swans or black wild geese , or riding on them). Man thinks he is something better than God, he teases him with little jokes. He splashed the water of the sea on his face and dived into the water to show him his courage. He loses control and almost drowns. The god rescues him from the water and suddenly lets a rock emerge from the sea. You sit on it.
Kaira Khan understands that he has to create land. He orders people to dive into the water and fetch sand from the bottom. Man is insidious and ungrateful, he suspects God's plan and hides a little for himself when he fetches the sand in his mouth (or in his beak ) in order to create his own country. He follows the god's new command and scatters the sand on the water. Suddenly islands emerge that grow rapidly and become land. But the sand in people's mouths is also beginning to increase. His cheeks are getting thicker and thicker, he threatens to suffocate and die. Kaira Khan orders him to spit out the sand so that he doesn't die. What is spat out gives rise to ( ugly, superfluous ) mountains on the beautiful land that was previously just wide, flat steppe . Kaira Khan says: You have sinned and wanted to deceive me. The thoughts of the peoples who worship me will be pure and they will enjoy the sunlight. Your name should be Erlik . Let the people who commit sin 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 .

Dede Korkut stories

Main article: Dede Korkut

The Dede Korkut book from the 11th century includes twelve legends of the Oghusen. These include tribal myths, heroic sagas and heartbreaking love stories. It comes from the early Islamic period of the Turks, when the tengristic elements still predominated in Turkish culture. It is believed that even most of these stories date from the pre-Islamic period and were only later embellished with Islamic elements.

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

The wolf

The wolf was also worshiped as sacred because it lifts its head towards the sky when it howls. In it one saw a kind of connection between the wolf and the holy heaven Tengri .

The wolf as the holiest and highest totem animal of the Turks plays an important role in many legends and myths. The Turks saw the wolf as their ancestor.

The wolf is the animal that seems to play the most important role in ancient Turkish mythology. Probably the original legend of the ancestral wolf among the Hsiung-nu (or Huns ) developed at an unknown but undoubtedly very early period. Shiratori writes that in pre-Christian times she appeared well educated among the Wu sun of the Išíq Qul and the Ili , who are Indo-European or Proto-Turks. Two stories introduce us to her. Both told of a she-wolf suckling a foundling and a raven circling over her.

Bibliography

  • Käthe Uray-Kőhalmi, Jean-Paul Roux, Pertev N. Boratav, Edith Vertes: Gods and Myths in Central Asia and Northern Eurasia. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-12-909870-4 .
  • Mustafa Miyasoğlu: Dede Korkut Kitabı. ISBN 975-338-286-3 . (Turkish)
  • Bahaeddin Ögel: Turk Mitolojisi. 2 volumes, Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara 2014, ISBN 978-975-16-2849-7 (volume 1) and ISBN 978-975-16-2857-2 (volume 2) (Turkish).
  • Murat Uraz: Turk Mitolojisi. Mitologya Yayınları, Istanbul 1992. (Turkish)
  • Necati Demir: Danişmend name. Tenkidli metin. Critical Edition, Turkish Translation, Linguistic Analysis and Glossary, Facsimile. Harvard University Department of Near-Eastern Languages ​​and Civilizations, Cambridge (Mass.) 2002. (Eng./Turk.)
  • Necati Demir, Dursun Erdem: Hazret-i Ali Destanı / Hazret-i Ali Cenkleri / Saltık Gazi Destanı / Saltık name. 4 volumes, Destan Yayınları, Ankara 2007. (Turkish)
  • Necati Demir: The Weeping Fir Trees. Zwiebelzwerg Verlag, Willebadessen 2007, ISBN 978-3-938368-54-1 .
  • Necati Demir: The sparrow and a drink of water. Zwiebelzwerg Verlag, Willebadessen 2009, ISBN 978-3-86806-044-7 .
  • Wolfgang-Ekkehard Scharlipp: The early Turks in Central Asia. Darmstadt 1992, ISBN 3-534-11689-5 .
  • Wolfgang-Ekkehard Scharlipp: The old Turkish literature: Introduction to the pre-Islamic literature. Verlag auf dem Ruffel, Engelschoff 2005, ISBN 3-933847-14-1 .
  • Deniz Karakurt: Türk Söylence Sözlüğü. Turkey, 2011 pdf (Turkish)

Web links

References

  1. ↑ Jean-Paul Roux: The old Turkish mythology, tribal myths. In: Käthe Uray-Kőhalmi, Jean-Paul Roux, Pertev N. Boratav, Edith Vertes: Gods and Myths in Central Asia and Northern Eurasia. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-12-909870-4 , p. 251.
  2. ↑ Murat Uraz, Turk Mitolojisi
  3. ↑ Murat Uraz, Turk Mitolojisi
  4. ↑ Dede Korkut Kitabi, Mustafa Miyasoglu
  5. ^ Jean-Paul Roux: The old Turkish mythology, The Wolf. In: Käthe Uray-Kőhalmi, Jean-Paul Roux, Pertev N. Boratav, Edith Vertes: Gods and Myths in Central Asia and Northern Eurasia. ISBN 3-12-909870-4 , p. 204.