Şüräle

Şüräle. Shurale. Shurali.

These words describe one of the strangest and yet most familiar bogeymen I’ve ever found in my travels through mythology and folklore.

This legend comes from Turkic folklore, particularly Tatar and Bashkir traditions, and… well, it will probably resonate with you on some level.

According to the legends, the Şüräle is humanoid, with thick, woolly fur, long, spindly fingers, and a single horn growing from its forehead like a unicorn.

Hey, it’s a popular style, okay?

Lots of folkloric creatures have them.

Moving on.

One would think that would make them easy to spot, but nooooo - these things can shapeshift!

In human form, a Şüräle has glowing eyes and wears his shoes backwards (though I couldn’t find anything about the feet being backwards, so that’s interesting. And uncomfortable! 😬)

They live in forests, where they can make people sick or lead unwary travellers from the safe paths.

Yeah, I know - nothing noteworthy yet. Lots of monsters lure travellers from safe paths and spread sickness. So?

Well.

WELL.

It’s what the Şüräle does after it lures the traveller that’s … interesting.

It’s how they ☠️.

Because the Şüräle …

… tickles you to death.

That’s right.

You read that correctly.

It’s a legit tickle monster.

Told you it might resonate.

(To anyone having flashbacks to their childhood right now, envisioning a parent/relative coming at them with wiggling fingers saying “Here comes the Tickle Monster” before tickling you until you nearly wet your pants - I’m so, so sorry! 🥺)

On the upside - if you’re reading this, you weren’t tickled to death, so clearly that wasn’t a Şüräle attack. Yay.
It does, however, give you some idea of what a Şüräle's victim experiences before they expire.
Unpleasant, right?

HOWEVER.

The Lore suggests that the Şüräle can’t just… tickle you, willy-nilly.

No, no.

It appears they have to challenge you to a tickle contest - and they can’t engage unless you agree.

In fact, according to one story I found, a woodcutter defeated a Şüräle by saying he would only tickle-fight if the Şüräle helped him split some wood first.
And then he trapped the Şüräle’s long fingers in a split in the wood.

The poor Şüräle screamed and begged to be released. The woodcutter refused.

So the Şüräle said, "Cruel man, at least tell me your name, so I know who to take revenge on."

And the woodcutter replied, "My name is Bıltır."

Now, bıltır comes from proto-Turkic and still exists in Tatar and Crimean languages - but it’s not a name. It’s something closer to “last year” or “past time”.

So later, when the other forest spirits gathered and asked the Şüräle what had happened, he said, “Oh! My fingers! Bıltır!”

Which, of course, only made the other spirits laugh and ask why he was screaming about something that had happened last year.

Or words to that effect.

That’s not word-for-word from the legend - but it does show you how the Şüräle works.

And makes you wonder who the “monster” really was.

At least, that’s how I feel about it.

Stories like this don’t leave me in awe of the clever human who outsmarted the forest spirit, but sad that a creature who was only trying to protect its home would be treated in such a cruel and indifferent way by anyone.

In my humble opinion, the only true evil is the lack of empathy for others. Yes, even villains.

So who’s the monster now? (Is it me?)