A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

In Altin Shagoy, three maidens in a tree identify themselves as daughters of Khan Herdik Shubun. They say Mogoi Khan broke their father’s wings during a three-year war and now intends to eat them successively. He lives in Hara Dalai, the Black Sea, and has two heads, with one enormous eye in the principal head. They explain that a shot into this moon-sized eye will kill him, but that a returning arrow bearing even one drop of blood would kill its owner. Altin waits in reed form and shoots the eye as Mogoi emerges amid a raging sea. The arrow does not return because it is bloody; Mogoi’s poison causes Altin’s hair to fall and the surrounding grass to wither.

In Alamaldjin and His Twin Sister Hanhai, the circumstances differ. Khan Herdik has two daughters and is still fighting Mogoi near the Icy Ocean. The agreed stakes are the loser’s daughters. Hanhai, acting in her brother’s place, joins Herdik in eagle form and is told to aim at a shining white spot between Mogoi’s two heads. Her shot kills him, and Herdik carries her home and gives the requested feather. The account does not repeat the moon-sized eye, poisonous blood restriction or the first tale’s injuries. The entry preserves those distinctions; no wings, scales or serpent-shaped body are added merely from an assumed interpretation of the name.

Two heads in both witnessesOcean emergenceDifferent vulnerable targetsPoisonous effects in Altin Shagoy only
01

Origins & earliest records

Historical English collection of Buryat religious narratives

02

Records & interpretation

Complete cited chapters and relevant comparative notes read with title, preface and collecting account; source versions distinguished.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    A Journey in Southern Siberia: The Mongols, Their Religion and Their Myths

    Jeremiah Curtin · 1909

    XII, Altin Shagoy pp.242–243; Alamaldjin and His Twin Sister Hanhai pp.284–285. All cited tales read completely; individual narrator assignments unresolved. Transcription page markers, native-language/original-image collation not performed.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

All cited complete English tales, endings and comparative notes read

A Journey in Southern Siberia

Jeremiah Curtin; BostonLittleBrown1909. XII, Altin Shagoy pp.242–243; Alamaldjin and His Twin Sister Hanhai pp.284–285

Completecachescurtin-siberia-25,27.txt/.html. Same named figure compared acrosswitnesses without harmonizing familycounts, vulnerability, featherfunction oroutcomes. Noinvented serpentineanatomy fromMogoiname.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical English primary collectionCurtin1909 — retained complete source section 25Research access: 2026-10-05
  2. Historical English primary collectionCurtin1909 — retained complete source section 27Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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