Szélanya (Old Turkic: ÃÂel Ene or Cel Ana, "Wind Mother") is the Turkic goddess or deity of wind.
Names in various languages
- Uzbek: Yel Ona
- Tatar: ÃÂøû ÃÂýø or ÃÂøû ÃÂýð or Cil Ana
- Kazakh: ÃÂõû ÃÂýð
- Chuvash: êøû ÃÂýýõ or êøû ÃÂñðù
- Bashkort: ÃÂû ÃÂÿðù
- Sakha: âÃÂðû ÃÂùÃÂÃÂ
- Turkmen: ÃÂel Ene or Yel Eje
- Kyrgyz: ÃÂõû ÃÂýõ
- Khakas: çøû ÃÂýõ or çøû ÃÂÃÂõ
- Balkar: ÃÂöõû ÃÂýð
- Mongolian: áðûÃÂ
ø ÃÂÃÂö
- Buryat: úðûÃÂ
øý ÃÂÃÂ
ÃÂ
- Oirat: áðûÃÂúý ÃÂú
- Altay: áðûúÃÂý ÃÂýõ
- Tuvan: áðûóÃÂý ÃÂòð
- Turkish: Yel Ana
All of them mean, "wind mother".
The Onoghurs also worshipped her.
Description
She is a wise, elderly woman who lives in a cave on top of a huge mountain somewhere at the end of the world. She rides the winds and creates storms and whirlwinds.
Szelanya has a Slavic version which is a nymph who has power over wind, in which she delights in causing storms. She lives around hills, mountains, and high mounds.
In Turkic and later Hungarian mythology, she is also believed to be a female fairy-like spirit who lives in the wilderness and sometimes in the clouds.
References
Bibliography
- Mitológiai enciklopédia I. FÃ
Âszerk. Szergej Alekszandrovics Tokarjev. A magyar kiadást szerk. Hoppál Mihály. Budapest: Gondolat. 1988.
- Türk Mitolojisi Ansiklopedik Sözlük, Celal Beydili, Yurt Yayñnevi (Page - 608)
External links
See also