Tradition / Region: Turkic Mythology
Alternate Names: Bozkurt
Category: Wolf
The Myth
Asena is the legendary she-wolf tied to the foundation myth of the Göktürks. After a massacre, a lone surviving boy is found and nursed back to health by a she-wolf. She later bears ten half-wolf, half-human sons, one of whom becomes the ancestor of the Ashina clan, founders of the Göktürk ruling line.
In later traditions the wolf ancestor is linked with the symbol of the Bozkurt (“Gray Wolf”), an emblem of origin, protection, and leadership among Turkic peoples.
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Asena. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asena