Tradition / Region: Turkic Mythology
Alternate Names: Baraks, Itbarak (“Shaggy Dog”)
Category: Dog, Hyrbid
The Myth
In the ancient Turkic epics, especially the stories of Oghuz Khagan, there is mention of a strange people known as the Itbaraks.
Their name came from the Turkic words for dog and for a dark, shaggy breed of hound. They were said to be powerful beings with the bodies of men but the heads of dogs. Their skin was dark, and they were described as fierce, strong, and difficult to defeat. Their homeland lay far to the northwest, in lands unknown to the Turkic peoples, somewhere beyond the familiar steppe.
When Oghuz Khagan set out to conquer distant regions, he marched against the Itbaraks. But their land proved difficult, and the dog-headed warriors were strong. In this first campaign, Oghuz could not defeat them and was forced to retreat with his army to a small island.
While they were encamped there, one of his warriors’ widows gave birth. With no tent or shelter, the child was born in a hollow. Oghuz named him Kıpçak, a word meaning “hollow” in the old tongue.
Years passed, and Oghuz gathered strength again. After seventeen years he returned to the land of the Itbaraks and this time overcame them. According to the tales, even the women of that land played a role in ending the struggle.
When the victory was won, Oghuz gave the conquered territory to the grown Kıpçak to rule. From him, it was said, came the lineage of the Kipchak people, whose name preserved the memory of his birth and of the long war in the land of the dog-headed folk.
Thus the Itbaraks remained in Turkic legend as a distant and powerful race — part man, part dog — whose land lay on the edge of the known world and whose defeat marked the rise of a new people.
Gallery
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Itbarak. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itbarak
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive