Boz Kurt- Turkic CreatureCreature · Beast"The Grey Wolf"
Also known as: Böri, Börü, Gök Börü, Kök Börü, and Bozkurt
Description
A grey shape materializes on the steppe ahead of the army, loping through terrain no scout could navigate. The Oghuz follow it to victory; the Göktürks trace their blood to it. Wherever Turkic peoples march or remember their origins, the wolf runs before them.
Mythology & Lore
The Guide
In the Oghuzname, a grey wolf appears before Oghuz Khan's army on the eve of a campaign. No one called it. No one tamed it. The wolf materializes on the steppe ahead of the column and begins to move. Oghuz Khan follows. It leads the army through country no scout knows, across terrain that would have swallowed them, and brings them to their enemy. After the victory, it vanishes.
The Tonyukuk inscription, carved in the Orkhon valley in the eighth century, praises the first Göktürk warriors as wolf-like. The wolf-head banner flew over kagan armies. When Turkic soldiers fought, the wolf went ahead of them, sent by Tengri.
The Ancestor
The Zhou shu, compiled in the seventh century, preserves the Göktürk origin story. A boy, the sole survivor of a destroyed tribe, is found and nursed by a she-wolf. She carries him to a cave in the mountains and bears his children. From these children descend the Ashina clan, the royal house of the Göktürk khaganate. The wolf is the first mother. The blood of every Göktürk kagan runs back to her.
Relationships
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