Keloğlan (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

: 'bald boy') is a fictional character that appears in Turkic and Altai mythology,

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

and similar folkloric narratives.

In folklore

A well-known character in

Turkish folklore The tradition of folklore—folktales, jokes, legends, and the like—in the Turkish language is very rich, and is incorporated into everyday life and events. Turkish folklore Nasreddin Hoca Perhaps the most popular figure in the tradition ...

, Keloğlan, also known as ''keleşoğlan'', has the problem of being bald from birth. Despite an ugly outer appearance, he is still a clever and lucky character. He represents the characteristics of the Anatolian people. His main characteristics are his honesty, bravery, helpfulness, cunning and sometimes gullibility. Usually appearing as the son of a poor couple or a poor women or the grandchild of an old woman Keloglan seems to be clumsy and lazy at the beginning however as the events of the story unfold it is revealed that he is actually cunning, brave and skillful as he overcomes obstacles that are not expected from someone like him.

Names

The character appears in the folklore of the

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

. Aside from his presence in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, the character is also known as ''Taşza Bala'' in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, ''Keçel, Keçel Memed'' or ''Keçel Yeğen'' in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

; ''Keçeloğlan'' in

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

; ''Kelcebatır'' in

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

; ''Tazoğlan'' in

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

; ''Tas'' or ''Tasarakay'' among

Altai people The Altai people (, ), also the Altaians (, ), are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group of indigenous peoples of Siberia mainly living in the Altai Republic, Russia. Several thousand of the Altaians also live in Mongolia (Altai Mountains) and C ...

; ''Keçel'' in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and as ''Kel Kafalı Kaz Çobanı'' in Georgian stories. Similarly, the character is also named ''Kecelok'' among the Kurdish of

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

and ''Kure Käcäl'' among the Azerbaijani Kurdish.

Parallels

French folklorist

Paul Delarue Paul Alfred Delarue, born 20 April 1889 in Saint-Didier, Nièvre, died 25 July 1956 in Autun, Saône-et-Loire, was a French folklorist. A specialist in the field of folklore, his crowning achievement was his , a catalog of folktales found in ...

noted that Keloglan corresponded to the Western (French) hero ''Le Teigneux'', a youth of lowly status and/or ugly appearance that saves the day and wins the princess.Delarue, Paul. (1954). eview of Typen türkischer Volksmärchen, (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Veröffentlichungen der orientalischen Kommission, Band V), by W. EBERHARD & P. N. BORATAV In: ''Arts et Traditions Populaires'', 2(2), 177. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41002386

Major stories

Keloglan-like characters appears frequently in Turkish fairy tales. According to Tahir Alangu, there are 15 types of main Keloglan stories; however, today there are countless more fairy tales that are told or written as a Keloglan story. Some of these are stories that are attributed to Keloglan by the author themselves. Some fairy tales that Keloglan appears as the main character are as follows: * Keloglan and Kose * Keloglan and His Sibling * Open, O Table * Keloglan Buys Nothing * The Reward of the Cat, Dog and the Snake * The Alicengiz Game * Keloglan Revives the Dead * Keloglan and the Bathouse Attendant * The Beardless Miller * The Dead That Got Thrown Out of the Chimney * The Giant and Keloglan * Keloglan and His Crow * The Giantess and Keloglan * Keloglan and the Giants * The Crippled Giant

Popular culture

Stories about him were staged by Fisko Birlik, Danone Çocuk Tiyatroları and many special societies many times and attracted a lot of attention and applause. The Turkish state-operated children's TV channel,

TRT Çocuk TRT Çocuk is a Turkish Free-to-air tv channel part of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, which can also be received in Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, tran ...

, aired a series titled Keloğlan Masalları from 2008 to 2016, in which the original storyline was partially retained and largely reimagined. Also, his tale was serialized by

Necdet Şen Necdet () is a Turkish given name for males. People named Necdet include: * Necdet Ayaz (born 1958), Turkish long-distance runner * Necdet Calp (1922–1998), Turkish civil servant and politician * Necdet Cici (1912 – 1995), Turkish footballe ...

in his comic book Hizli Gazeteci in 1989 at

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: "Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Press ...

newspaper. In 1991, Remzi Bookstore published a book telling a story about him not being able to fit in and having to make a choice between the rules and his own principles.

References

External links

The Bald Boy Keloglan and the Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Lubbock: ATON, 2003)

Keloğlan Masalları Cartoon Series
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keloglan Turkish folklore Fictional Turkish people Turkic mythology