à Âüräle or Shurale (Tatar and Bashkir: èïÃÂÃÂûõ, à Âüräle) is a forest spirit in Turkic mythology (especially Tatar and Bashkir). According to legends, Shurali lives in forests. He has long fingers, a horn on its forehead, and a woolly body. He lures victims into the thickets and can tickle them to death.
Shurali closely resembles other similar characters from the folklore such as Arçuri of the Chuvash, Pitsen (Picen) of the Siberian Tatars and Yarñmtñq of the Ural Tatars.
He can shapeshift into many different forms. As a human, he looks like a peasant with glowing eyes, and his shoes are on backwards. A person who befriends à Âüräle can learn the secrets of magic. Farmers and shepherds would make pacts with the leshy to protect their crops and sheep. à Âüräle has many tricks, including leading peasants astray, making them sick, or tickling them to death. They are also known to hide the axes of woodcutters. A person gets lost in the woods when a à Âüräle crosses their path. To find the way out, you have to turn your clothes inside out and wear shoes on opposite feet.
Inspired by the Tatar folklore, Ghabdulla Tuqay wrote a poem '.
The first Tatar ballet by Farit Yarullin ' was based on the poem.
In 1987 Soyuzmultfilm released an animated film ' about a superstitious lad with shurale only in his imagination and the poem is hinted only in the first cadres which show a portrait of Tuqay.
In 2014 Tatarmultfilm studio released a Tatar-language animated film èïÃÂÃÂûõ which includes an episode how a woodcutter tricked shurale. In 2020 ShayanTV released Tatar-language plasticine-animated film èïÃÂÃÂûõ.
Arçura/à Âüräle: Mythical Spirits of the Volga-Ural Forests, Rustem Sulteev. http://akademiai.com/doi/abs/10.1556/062.2018.71.1.4?journalCode=062