TRACKING THE TURUL – HUNGARY'S PREMIER MYTHOLOGICAL BIRD

Sepia postcard dated 1927, depicting a statue of the turul bearing the crown of Attila the Hun and located near Tatabánya in Hungary (Dr Karl Shuker)

Back in the good years of my life, when my dear mother, Mary Shuker, was still here with me, we visited together countless antique and book fairs, bric-a-brac markets, car boot sales, and suchlike, both here in Britain and overseas, and spent many happy hours browsing through the assorted paraphernalia in search of that special something. During those times, I seemed to develop what others have jokingly called a gift, a talent, or even an 'eye', for spotting unusual items of a cryptozoological or zoomythological nature, many of which I purchased if reasonably priced, and I have documented a number of these little 'treasures' on ShukerNature (see here, here, and here, for instance) and elsewhere in my writings.

Since Mom passed away, on Easter Monday 2013, however, my interest in such events has dwindled almost to nothing, as I feel so abjectly sad to be walking around them without her, and on the few occasions when I have visited one, I've never come upon anything relevant to my zoological specialities. Which has made me wonder: perhaps I didn't possess a gift, a talent, or an eye for finding such items after all – perhaps, just as she was in so many other areas too, Mom had been my muse, my inspiration, for uncovering them.

Mom and I amid the treasures and tranklements (a favourite local-Midlands-dialect word of Mom's) in Hong Kong's famous Cat Street antiques and curios markets, summer 2005 (© Dr Karl Shuker)

And then, yesterday, while visiting a local town to do some ordinary shopping, I unexpectedly came upon a tiny indoor book fair, which I hadn't known about as it was only visiting temporarily. Wandering around the stalls, I came to one that had a large box of old picture postcards, priced at 50p each, and numbering well over a hundred cards in total. In the past, I'd have laboriously perused each and every one, in case any of them depicted something of zoological or mythological pertinence, as I've found a number of hitherto-obscure illustrations from such sources before, and have been able to include them in my writings. Yesterday, however, no longer fired with such enthusiasm, I simply flicked through a dozen or so at random in a desultory, disinterested manner – thereby making it all the more surprising that out of such a small number glanced at by me, one of them should just so happen to depict a statue of a little-known but fascinating bird of mythology – the Hungarian turul.

Turul depicted on a 60-filler postage stamp issued by Hungary in 1900 and overprinted in 1904 (© Jacquesverlaeken/Wikipedia)

Recognising it immediately (my wildlife stamp collection contains several early Hungarian stamps featuring the turul), I naturally purchased the postcard, and its picture opens this present ShukerNature article. On its reverse was a handwritten note dated 21 September 1927, so the card had evidently been produced sometime prior to this – but there is no publisher name or any other details regarding the card's origin or age printed upon it.

Researching its photograph, I discovered that the statue it portrays is made of bronze and is located on top of Gerecse Mountain overlooking the major city of Tatabánya in northwestern Hungary, and the turul is depicted bearing the crown of Attila the Hun (not the Holy Crown of Hungary, as sometimes claimed). But what is the turul? What is its history, its symbolism, and why is it so important in Hungarian mythology?

Modern-day photograph of the turul statue overlooking Tatabánya (© Gajárszki László/Wikipedia)

More than 260 statues portraying the turul can be found in Central Europe, of which 196 occur in Hungary itself, with the others present in regions of Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, and Ukraine that had once been part of Greater Hungary. The most recently-created of these is a beautiful example located in Hungary's Ópusztaszer National Heritage Park, and which was officially unveiled on 29 September 2012. Moreover, boasting a stupendous wingspan of 49 ft, the Tatabánya turul statue depicted on my picture postcard is reputedly the largest bird statue in the world, and is certainly the largest bronze statue of any kind in Central Europe (there had been two other turul statues of the same size in what had formerly been Greater Hungary, but both of those are now destroyed) – all of which emphasises just how significant this mythological bird is deemed to be in traditional Magyar lore.

Spectacular turul statue at the memorial to Hungarian World War II heroes at the southern Hungarian town of Bácsalmás (public domain)

Perhaps the most famous, celebrated turul statue of all, however, is the magnificent sculpture standing high above the River Danube on a plinth over the Habsburg Steps at the Buda Palace (formerly called the Royal Palace) at Budapest, Hungary.

The Buda Palace's frontage, showing the turul statue at top-right of the photograph (public domain) – click picture to enlarge it

It was created by Gyula Donáth in 1904, as was the ornate Neo-Baroque rail surrounding its plinth. Tragically, both the plinth and the rail were seriously damaged during the Siege of Budapest in the 1940s, but were restored in 1981. So too was the broken Kingdom of Hungary coat-of-arms on the plinth.

Close-up of the Buda Palace's turul statue (public domain) – click picture to enlarge it

Its appearance as represented by the many statues still in existence indicate that the turul is meant to represent an eagle-like or even a giant hawk-like or falcon-like bird of prey, and is sometimes identified specifically with the very sizeable saker falcon Falco cherrug (certain writers have likened it to a griffin, but the turul is entirely avian in form, lacking any representation of a griffin's leonine aspects). Indeed, 'turul' is an ancient Hungarian word for falcon.

Saker falcon, a popular identity for the turul (public domain)

A divine messenger believed to perch upon the biblical Tree of Life, the turul symbolises the power and will of God and is often depicted carrying God's flaming sword. In addition, it personifies the Huns that gave rise to the Magyar nation, and is said in lore to be the ancestor of Attila himself (who died in 453 AD but is deemed in legend to be the first king of the realm that in later centuries would become Hungary).

Turul statue in Nagykanizsa, a medium-sized city in southwestern Hungary (public domain)

According to 9^th-Century Magyar historical mythology, as daughter of Prince Önedbelia of Dentumoger, mother of High Prince Álmos, and wife of Ügyek (descended from Attila the Hun), Emese was the ancestress of the Árpád dynasty – the dynasty that founded the modern-day Hungarian kingdom. She supposedly had a dream in which she was symbolically impregnated by a turul, causing a great stream of crystal-clear water to flow from her womb, transforming into a mighty river that signified her child (the future High Prince Álmos) would give rise to a lineage of great rulers, which he did – beginning with Árpád, celebrated leader of the Magyars, who founded Hungary and whose founding dynasty is named after him.

A somewhat ghostly-looking turul statue (and two pigeon friends!) in Budapest, Hungary (public domain)

Álmos himself allegedly had a portentous dream too, in which huge eagles came and attacked some horses belonging to the various tribes of which he was leader, but they were saved by a turul that drove the eagles away. Álmos's dream supposedly inspired his leading a migration of his tribes into the land that is now Hungary, with their journey guided according to lore by the turul.

Turul monument in the village of Tiszabecs, eastern Hungary, as depicted in a vintage illustration from 1903 (public domain)

However, the turul is certainly not a legend confined to bygone times, for in addition to the numerous statues depicting it, this highly symbolic, iconic bird even today appears on the coat-of-arms of the Hungarian Army and the Office of National Security. (It was also used as a symbol of radical right-wing student organisations between the two World Wars, but the politics in which this played a part lie outside the scope and intention of the present article.)

Budapest's 'ghostly-looking' turul statue photographed in a beautiful autumnal setting (© Laika ac/Wikipedia)

Reflecting upon my fortuitous find of the turul postcard yesterday, which in turn inspired me to research and write this present ShukerNature article today (and thereby bring – I hope – the turul to attention far beyond its traditional Central European domain), I have wondered whether my supposed talent or gift, my 'eye', for locating such items of interest has not vanished, has not become blind, after all. Then again, as I have also reflected, perhaps I had not been alone at the book fair. Perhaps, just like in the good old days, Mom had been wandering around it with me, no longer seen or heard by me, but there beside me nonetheless, just like she had always been, and that it had been she who had guided my fingers when I was idly flicking through the box of postcards, in order for me to find, out of over a hundred tightly-packed cards, the one that she knew would be of interest to me. I hope so, so very much. Thank you, Mom.

Beautiful vintage hand-coloured picture postcard from 1906 depicting the Buda Palace, with the turul statue at the top-right of the picture (public domain)

PERUSING THE PEGASI – PLINY'S HORSE-HEADED MYSTERY BIRDS

Pegasi illustration (© Tony Millionaire / inclusion here strictly on Fair Use/non-commercial basis only)

One of the best-known creatures of classical mythology is Pegasus – the flying horse who sprang into existence (along with his human brother, Chrysaor) from spurts of blood gushing forth from the neck of the snake-haired gorgon Medusa when Greek hero Perseus beheaded her with his sword.

Much less famous than Pegasus, conversely, but often confused with him on account of their similar name are the subjects of this present ShukerNature blog – the pegasi or horse-headed birds, fabulous entities variously claimed to occur in Scythia or in Ethiopia.

A phalanx of flying horses (© Ezra Tucker / inclusion here strictly on Fair Use/non-commercial basis only)

As I've noted on previous occasions, some of my most productive and interesting investigations are cases that have been initiated by the sparsest of information, sometimes no more than a line or two, or a simple footnote, tucked away and readily overlooked in text otherwise devoted to much more familiar, extensively-documented subjects. I've presented some of these hitherto-obscure cases here on ShukerNature (as well as in articles and comprehensive, often chapter-length coverage in books) - and they include such fascinating subjects as archangel feathers (click here), Brevet's all-black Malayan tapirs (click here), the Iberian zebro or encebro (click here), Sloan's blue rhinoceros (click here) and Heuvelmans's green leopard (click here), the exploding worm of Kalmykia (click here) and the Isle of Wight's gooseberry wife (click here), flying cats (click here), flying mice (click here), flying jackals (click here), and flying turtles (click here), the world's only intergeneric elephant hybrid (click here), Jamaican monkeys (click here) and Janus cats (click here), the sukotyro (click here), the purple macaw (click here), mirrii dogs (click here), the night jaguar (click here), New Guinea penguins (click here), scarlet bats (click here) and scarlet vipers (click here), the antlered snail of the Sarmatian Sea (click here), stone worms (click here) and Steller's sea-bear (click here), white eagles (click here), shrieking centipedes (click here), the kuil kaax (click here), were-worms (click here), and much more besides.

A Dictionary of Fabulous Beasts by Richard Barber and Anne Riches

And so it was that, many years ago when still a teenager, I first learnt of the pegasi (aka pegasy and pegasies) from the briefest of sources – the following single line that appeared in A Dictionary of Fabulous Beasts (1971), written by Richard Barber and Anne Riches:

Pegasi   Horse-headed birds found in Scythia; Pliny, who reports their appearance, regards them as fabulous. (118)

In classical times, Scythia was the name given to a region encompassing much of present-day Eastern Europe and Central Asia. As for the bracketed 118, this referred to a numbered reference in this book's bibliography, the reference in question being Dr John Bostock's translation from 1855 of the encyclopaedic Naturalis Historiae (aka Historia Naturalis) - the multi-volume magnum opus of Roman naturalist-historian Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD).

Title page from the 1669 edition of Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historiae

I was able to obtain a copy of Bostock's translation via Britain's indispensable inter-library loans service, and I discovered that the lone line documenting the pegasi in the fabulous beasts dictionary by Barber and Riches was simply a paraphrasing of Pliny's original statement - which opened Chapter 70 of his encyclopaedia (a chapter dealing with fabulous birds), and read as follows:

"I look upon the birds as fabulous which are called "pegasi," and are said to have a horse's head; as also the griffons, with long ears and a hooked beak. The former are said to be natives of Scythia,¹ the latter of Aethiopia."

The superscript ¹ referred to a footnote by Bostock that stated:

"Scythia and Ethiopia ought to be transposed here, as the griffons were said to be monsters that guarded the gold in the mountains of Scythia, the Uralian chain, probably."

Otherwise, nothing new there. (NB - In classical times, Ethiopia referred to much of East Africa, not just the present-day country bearing this name.)

An engraving from 1663 of a griffin with ears

Moreover, despite perusing countless books and published articles on mythological animals in subsequent years, I never encountered any additional mention of pegasi. So the decades slipped by while visions of horse-headed birds periodically flapped on heavy wings across the horizon of my mind but never alighted long enough in my consciousness to induce me to investigate them any further – until quite recently, that is, when, after recalling these semi-equine enigmas yet again, I decided that it was time to pursue the pegasi online. So I did - and here is what I found out about them.

 

 

A pegasi image created by me using Magic Studio

Pliny the Elder was not the only classical scholar to document the pegasi. Preceding his Naturalis Historiae was a short treatise written in c. 43 AD by Rome's earliest geographer, Pomponius Mela, entitled De Situ Orbis Libri III – which Pliny used as a major authority for the geographical sections in his own publication. And both Mela's treatise and Pliny's encyclopaedia were used as sources of material by the 3^rd-Century compiler and grammarian Gaius Julius Solinus in his own master-work, De Mirabilibus Mundi (translated as The Wonders of the World). Interestingly, Pomponius Mela and Solinus merely stated that the pegasi sported horses' ears – it was Pliny who claimed that they were horse-headed. Also, the two former authors reported that these birds lived in or near a lake.

 

 

Another pegasi image created by me using Magic Studio

So far, however, whether horse-headed or horse-eared, the pegasi have been deemed to be entirely mythical, with no more basis in reality than their winged steed namesake, Pegasus. But is it possible that they actually constituted a distorted or embellished account of a genuine, bona fide species of bird? In his book Birds in the Ancient World from A to Z (2012), W. Geoffrey Arnott includes a short account of the pegasi, and, accepting Bostock's suggestion in his translation of Pliny's encyclopaedia that these birds were native to Ethiopia, not Scythia, he notes that there are no less than three relatively common species of East African bird with erect, pointed crests resembling a horse's ears that perch in lakeside trees. Namely, the long-crested eagle Lophaetus occipitalis, the spotted eagle owl Bubo africanus, and the white-bellied go-away bird Corythaixoides leucogaster. So could one of these be the identity of the pegasi?

The white-bellied go-away bird (© Steve Garvie/Wikipedia)

Personally, I consider it improbable that either of the first two species would make a plausible candidate, simply because eagles and owls would already be very familiar birds to classical European scholars, and therefore it seems doubtful that even via several retellings between original observation and subsequent documentation a Chinese whispers process could convert either of these into a horse-eared (or –headed) avian anomaly. Conversely, the third species named might be a more plausible candidate, because go-away birds would be far less familiar to European scholars as they are confined entirely to tropical Africa, and are totally unlike any European bird in appearance. Consequently, a go-away bird's appearance could become distorted much more readily by the Chinese whispers process (click here for a ShukerNature article concerning go-away birds).

A female Abyssinian ground hornbill (© Quartl/Wikipedia)

In addition, one Twitter correspondent suggested that a hornbill might make a promising candidate for the pegasi, and there is no doubt that certain species of hornbill do possess a vaguely horse-headed appearance, due to their huge, burly beaks, which at a distance could resemble a horse's muzzle. Moreover, one species that is especially reminiscent of the pegasi just so happens to be a native of Ethiopia - namely, the Abyssinian ground hornbill Bucorvus abyssinicus. One of the two largest species of hornbill anywhere on the world, it has been specifically recorded from the immediate vicinity of Ethiopia's Lake Langano, thereby fulfilling another pegasi requirement as a plausible candidate - living by a lake.

Ultimately, however, it seems unlikely that we shall ever know for certain whether the pegasi do have a basis in ornithological fact as well as a presence in classical fable.

Man riding a hippalectryon - damaged depiction on the interior of an Attica black-figure lip cup, 540–530 BC (public domain)

Interestingly, the pegasi are not the only horse-birds on record. There is also the hippalectryon to consider. No less obscure than the pegasi, this yellow-plumed composite beast from ancient Greek folklore is variously said to have combined the wings, legs, and tail of a cockerel (most frequently), an eagle, or a giant vulture with the head and forequarters of a horse, and could apparently be tamed and ridden by anyone brave enough to attempt this daunting feat. It is represented, sometimes bearing a bold rider, in several pieces of ancient art, including vases, statues, and coins, most commonly dating from the 6^th Century BC; but the oldest known example - an askos (liquid-pouring pottery vessel) from Knossos - dates from the 9^th Century BC.

Finally: horse-bird composites are assuredly the stuff of dreams, especially any dreams that can be designed by those skilled in the illusive arts of Photoshop - so here is a truly delightful example to leave you with:

(original source/copyright owner unknown to me)