The Two White Horses of Genghis Khan ( mn, Činggis-un qoyar ere jaγal-un tuγuji) is a Mongolian epic in
alliterative verse, with a number of different versions. It is one of the oldest Mongolian literary works and supposedly hails from the 13th/14th century.
Summary
The epic deals with two white horses owned by
Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin
, ...
. The younger one feels their services for the ruler are not being appreciated enough, and tries to convince the older one to move away together. The older one is reluctant, but after the younger one runs away on his own, the older one follows.
The younger horse enjoys his new freedom, but the older one is homesick for their master, their mother and their comrades. He gets thinner and thinner, and in the end the younger one agrees to return home. Meanwhile, Genghis Khan has been missing his two white horses too, and after their return they are duly praised when they perform services for the khan. In the end, strips of silk are bound into their
manes - a custom still observed today, for example with horses that have won several
naadam races.
Publications
The epic has been published in Niislel Khüree (now
Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...
) in 1922, and again as part of
Če. Damdinsürüngs ''Mongghol uran joqiyal-un degeji jaγun bilig'' in 1959. It has been translated into Russian and German, and - from a different version - into French.
Movie
''Two Horses of Genghis Khan'' is a movie directed by
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
n filmmaker
Byambasuren Davaa
Byambasuren Davaa, also known as Davaagiin Byambasüren ( mn, Даваагийн Бямбасүрэн; born 1971 in Ulaanbaatar), is a Mongolian filmmaker currently residing in Germany.
Between 1995 and 1998 she studied at the Movie Academy in Ula ...
, who lives in Germany. It is about the singer
Urna
In Buddhist art and culture, the Urna (more correctly ūrṇā or ūrṇākośa (Pāli uṇṇa), and known as in Chinese) is a spiral or circular dot placed on the forehead of Buddhist images as an auspicious mark. It symbolizes a third eye, w ...
's quest to find the origins of the song. The German DVD, "Das Lied Von Den Zwei Pferden",only includes subtitles in German and Russian, not in any other language. A version with english subtitles was released for the North American market in 2009, under the title ''The Two Horses of Genghis Khan''; this version is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and multiple streaming services.
[{{citation, url=http://corinthfilms.com/films/the-two-horses-of-genghis-khan/, title=The Two Horses of Genghis Khan, Corinth Films, accessdate=9 December 2021]
References
*
Walther Heissig, ''Helden-, Höllenfahrts- und Schelmengeschichten der Mongolen'', Zürich 1962, p. 10-14, 27–51, 303f
Mongolian literature