Zhalmauyz Kempir ( kk, Жалмауыз Кемпір) is a female personage of Kazakh folk tales, a

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

. According to Nora K. Chadwick and

Viktor Zhirmunsky The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, the character appears in the non-epic traditions of the

Turkic peoples The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging t ...

under several names, e.g., ''Jelmogus'', ''Dshalmaus'' and ''Jel Maja''.

In Kazakh folklore

Kazakh oral tradition describes Zhalmauyz Kempir as an old ugly hag often with some grotesque features such as seven heads, sharp claws, one eye, hooves. She possesses supernatural strength, magic power, superspeed, etc. Zhalmauyz Kempir is described as a witch with magic power who can change her shape at will. She is also said to be a cannibal or to suck blood like a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

. Unlike other witches of Kazakh folklore, such as Albasty and Zheztyrnaq, Zhalmauyz Kempir has an ambiguous role, not only of the absolute evil, but also of a kind helper, because in some cases she can be helpful to character in a fairy tale. However, in her usual depiction she acts like a witch and practices nefarious acts: being a local horror, killing people and eating human flesh,

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

children.

In Uzbek folklore

A similar character appears in Uzbek folklore, named ''Jalmoʏiz kampir'' ("The Old Woman Jalmogiz")."Die Jalmåghiz". In: Levin, Isidor; Laude-Cirtautas, Ilse. ''Märchen der Usbeken: Samarkand, Buchara, Taschkent''. Eugen Didierichs Verlag, 1986. pp. 98-102. .

References

Sources

''Interpreting Zhalmauyz Kempir''
in Monstrous femininity in Kazakh folklore: delineating normative and transgressive womanhood, thesis by Inzhuna Karazhanova, 2016, pp. 57-82
Zhalmauyz Kempir
in the book 'Myths of the world' (in Russian) * Жалмауыз Кемпир // Мифологический словарь. - М.: "Советская Энциклопедия"б 1991б 736 с. - P. 214 (in Russian)

In Kazakh folklore

In Uzbek folklore

References

Sources

Further reading