Sosruko, Sosruquo, or Sosriqwa, Soslan (; , ''Soslan''; , ''Sosryqwa''; ''Sosuruq/Sosurqa'') is a central character in many cycles of the

Nart saga The Nart sagas (; ; ) are a series of tales originating from the North Caucasus. They form much of the basic mythology of the ethnic groups in the area, including Abazin, Abkhaz, Circassian, Ossetian, Karachay- Balkar, and to some extent C ...

s of the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

. Sosruko is a powerful but devious man who is the smallest of the Narts; as a character, he is sometimes cast in the light of the

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...

god, comparable to the

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

(who finds a closer parallel in the Nart Syrdon, however), Georgian Amirani, or the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...

. It is possible that at least in the latter case, Sosruku served as a direct inspiration. In Circassian mythology, it was the Nart Sosriqwe, minion of the gods and his doting mother, Lady

Satanaya Satanaya ( ; ; Ubykh ; ''Satana'') is a mythological figure who appears in many cycles of the Nart sagas of the North Caucasus. Satanaya is the mother of the Narts, a fertility figure who is also an authority over her children. Satanaya is o ...

, who stole fire from the giant.

Etymology

One folk etymology states that Sosruko [] is from Circassian language, Circassian "sword" + "hit" + "heat" + "son"; hence literally “the son of the fiery sword hit”. Other variants are: * , * , * [], * Ubykh language, Ubykh: [], * Digor dialect, Digor and Sozyruko. In Ossetian, the name Soslan etymologically came from Turkic languages: Nogai language, Nogai ''suslan-'' "to look menacing", ''suslä'' "menacing, gloomy" (hence ). Another plausible etymology is that the Ossetic term "Sozyr" in the regional variant "Sozyryqo" is cognate with the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

"Sezavar", meaning "he who is worthy", with the suffix being of exogenous origin. This would explain why in the notably conservative Digor-Ossetic dialect, the name Sosruko is preferred over the Turkic name Soslan, and why the name "Sozyr", without the suffix, is so common among Digor-Ossetian elders.

References

External links

Nart Tales of the Circassians
- Reocities personal page
The Circassian Nart Epos
- International Centre for Circassian Studies Trickster gods Caucasus Circassian mythology Ossetian mythology Mythological characters {{Europe-myth-stub