Yelbeghen (;

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Yelbegän'',

Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, Mongolic, Uralic languages, Uralic, C ...

: Йилбегән) is a multi-headed man-eating monster in the mythology of

Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Turkic Dragon

In the original myths Yelbegen was a multi-headed dragon or serpent-like creature (the etymology of the name points to this--''Yel'' = "wind, magic, demonic" and ''begen'' comes from ''böke'' - "giant serpent, dragon"), but over time it evolved into other forms such as a multi-headed

ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...

-like

behemoth Behemoth (; , ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful ...

. Some epics feature multiple Yelbegen with different numbers of heads who are the offspring of Altan Sibaldai, "the golden witch", a cohort of the lord of the underworld. Some epics also mention a Yelbegen king named ''Yelmogus''. Still other stories tell of multiple Yelbegens of various colors. In a legend of the Altai, there was a seven-headed ogre, Yelbeghen, taking revenge from the Sun and the Moon, and used to eat them. The Ülgen shot arrows to Yelbeghen. This ogre sometimes chewed the stars in his mouth and broke them into pieces and then spit them out. Therefore, stars used to run away from him into the sky... According to Altai people, eclipse of the Moon used to take place because of this ogre. For this reason, when there is an eclipse of the Moon they say: ‘’Again Yelbegen (seven-headed ogre) ate the Moon...’’ Yelbeghen, sometimes ''Yelmogus'' is generally considered to be a creature separate from dragons and a polar opposite to them in its nature. It is a being of pure evil, a dragon-like beast and dreadful monster with no reason, that usually lives in dark and hostile places, or guards unreachable locations in fairy-tales. It is often multi-headed (with 3, 7 or 9 heads) and breathes fire. It is considered as "extremely intelligent, wise and knowledgeable" creature of "superhuman / supernatural" strength and proficiency in magic, very rich (usually described as having castles of enormous riches hidden in distant lands) and often lustful for women, with whom it is capable of making offspring. It often breathes fire and is generally accepted as a highly respected being, and while not always being benevolent, never as an entirely evil creature. Legends were spread about many historical and mythical heroes that they were conceived by a dragon.

Yalpaghan Khan

Yalpaghan Khan is the dragon king of Altai and Turkic mythologies. He is the king of all the dragons. He also seems like a dragon with seven heads at any time.

References

* * Türk Mitolojisi Ansiklopedik Sözlük, Celal Beydili, Yurt Yayınevi Turkic legendary creatures Dragons Mythical many-headed creatures {{Siberia-myth-stub

Turkic Dragon

Yalpaghan Khan

See also

References