According to a Turkish legend, Oghuz was born in Central Asia as the son of Qara Khan, leader of the Turkic people. He started talking as soon as he was born. He stopped drinking his mother's milk after the first time and asked for kymyz (an alcoholic beverage made with fermented horse milk) and meat. After that, he grew up supernaturally fast and in only forty days he became a young adult. At the time of his birth, the lands of the Turkic people were preyed upon by a dragon named Kiyant. Oghuz armed himself and went to kill the dragon. He set a trap for the dragon by hanging a freshly killed deer in a tree, then killed the great dragon with a bronze lance and cut off its head with a steel sword. After Oghuz killed Kiyant, he became a people's hero. He formed a special warrior band from the forty sons of forty Turkic begs (lords, chiefs), thus gathering the clans together.

After Oghuz became the khan, he went to the steppes by himself to praise and pray to Tengri. While praying, he saw a circle of light coming from the sky with a supernaturally beautiful girl standing in the light. Oghuz fell in love with the girl and married her. He had three sons whom he named Güneş (Sun), Ay (Moon), and Yıldız (Star) (all in Turkish). Later, Oghuz went hunting and saw another mesmerizing girl inside a tree. He married her as well and had three more sons whom he named Gök (Sky), Dağ (Mountain), and Deniz (Sea) (in Turkish).

After his sons were born, Oghuz Khan gave a great toy (feast) and invited all of his begs (lords). At the feast, he gave this order to his lords:

"I have become your Khan;
 Let's all take swords and shields;
 Kut (divine power) will be our sign;
 Gray wolf will be our uran (battle cry);
Our iron lances will be a forest;
Khulan will walk on the hunting ground;
More seas and more rivers;
Sun is our flag and sky is our tent."

Then, he sent letters to the Kings of the Four Directions, saying: "I am the Khan of the Turks. And I will be Khan of the Four Corners of the Earth. I want your obedience."

One asks:

- Which of us will marry first?

The second answers:

- The most beautiful will be the first to marry!

And the third girl said nothing. Soon she got out of the water and wanted to get dressed. As soon as she reached for her white shirt, she shuddered: it was already lying on the shirt.

- Oh, really, - asks the girl, - slide off your shirt.

- Get engaged to me, - he answers, - then I will leave!

- Why not get engaged? - the girl laughs. - Just slide off your shirt!

- Eh, no, - does not agree, - give me your ring.

The girl took off the ring and gave it to her already. At the same moment he disappeared with a ring in the depths of the sea.

And then, on second thought, I regretted it, but it was too late - I had to dive into the sea waves.

The bride's mother came to the sea and asked:

- Daughter, dear, tell me, tell me how is your life?

Hearing this, the bride hugged her husband and asked him to let her go with the children to visit mother. I really didn't want to let her go, but in the end he allowed her to stay with her mother for three weeks.

The bride took her son and daughter in her arms and went to visit her mother. Two frogs were pulling the carriage, and the pike was for the coachman. The mother met her daughter, hugged her, but she couldn't get enough of her grandchildren.

The bride spent three weeks with her mother and by the time she returned to the sea.

The main character (hero) of many fairy tales is a strong man. There are many motives of very ancient origin in these tales. As a rule, a strong man is the son of a mare, a fish, a bear, etc.

Another popular hero of fairy tales is the third son, a fool (according to others). In some fairy tales, the image of an orphan appears instead of the youngest son.

Often the evil hero is a devil who personifies the ancient forces of nature. He possesses enormous growth and strength, and rarely interferes in human affairs. Despite this, the person easily deceives him and wins.

The structure of the fairy tale

Most fairy tales have a similar structure:

• a short description of the hero and his entourage (peasant life, poverty, etc.),

• wandering,

• meeting with the enemy,

• fighting,

• victory and award.

Fairy tales either begin with the words "Reiz dzīvoja ..." ("Once upon a time ...").

The central, main part of the tale is the story of the hero's clashes with opponents. Events are described in great detail here. The hero always comes out the winner of all trials.

The standard ending is very laconic: "He lives happily to this day, unless he died." In fairy tales from the eastern regions of Latvia (apparently under the influence of Slavic folklore), the endings are more extended. The narrator usually claims that he himself witnessed the adventures, and expresses his attitude to the events.