The Epic of Köroğlu and Görogly
In short: Meet the lord of Bolu, the horse Kırat and the stronghold of Çamlıbel in the Anatolian Köroğlu cycle, alongside the Turkmen Görogly tradition.
¹ Based on the number of Atlas countries, capped at 10. ² Editorial suggestion for reading this page. Discover Black Horse’s question
Origin and tradition
An epic family told in Anatolia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. The Bolu and Turkmen Görogly traditions have distinct local contexts.
In the Bolu telling, a dispute about the worth of a young horse harms Ruşen Ali’s family and sets him against the lord of Bolu. The overlooked colt grows into Kırat, his closest companion on the road. Çamlıbel is where people gather around the hero.
The saz lets Köroğlu tell his adventures and his grievances in his own voice. The Turkmen Görogly tradition also lives in performance, where tellers combine prose with verse and music. The dated sources show how the epic is recorded in both settings.
Dated records and sources
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1842 · Iran · Persian epic tradition
Aleksander Chodźko · Kurroglou · Northern Persia / London edition · Published collection -
2014 · Bolu, Türkiye
Bolu İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü · Bolu Halk Kültürü · Published collection -
2015 · Turkmen oral tradition
UNESCO · Epic art of Görogly · Heritage listing
Country pages
Origin
Black Horse. The Epic of Köroğlu and Görogly. https://blackhorsestories.com/en/atlas-tale-gorogly/