Author(s): Kadriye TÜRKAN
d that folktale is evolved from myth; therefore, some characteristics and motifs of myth are transferred to folktale. Both myth and folktale involve supernatural events and entities which push the limits of the mind. In this aspect, dragon is considered to be one of the mythological motifs which are transferred from myth to folktale. Dragon takes place in popular narratives as it is a significant figure in numerous nations’ mythology. The folktales in which dragon is a motif have episodes with the motifs of descending to underground, killing the dragon which lives in underground and holds the water to end the people’s thirst, saving the nestlings of the big bird which were captivated by the dragon(serpent) and ascending to the surface with the help of the big bird. In this article, mythical characteristics and function of the dragon figure which was transferred from myth to folktale will be studied by means of the established examples from the compiled folktales from the Turks living in Adakale, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Macedonia in the Balkans.
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