Mythological elements in Trabzon tales

Fairy tales in Turkish folk narratives are a means of cultural transmission with the mythological elements they contain. The thesis titled "Mythological Elements in Trabzon Tales" was prepared for the purpose of examining the tales compiled and printed in the Trabzon region in the context of Turkish mythology. Considering the bond between fairy tales and mythology that nourish each other, the mythological elements of the tales told in the region were identified. At the beginning of the study—after giving a brief history of Trabzon region and the literary genres common in the region— the fairy tale genre is reviewed and its relationship with mythology is discussed. The Trabzon tales, which are the most important part of the study, were eliminated in such a way that only tales containing mythological elements were included, with a total of twenty-eight tales. While the tales are discussed from the viewpoint of mythology, they are explained and interpreted under the headings of "Giants, Don Change, Apple, Cave, Numbers, Colours, Tree, Earth-Water Cult, Things, Animals". In addition to examining the tales of Trabzon from the perspective of motif, thesis studies on the tales told in different cities in Türkiye were investigated, which showed that many tales were similar. In the thesis study, which was prepared using literature scanning, archive review, scientific data collection, analysis and interpretation methods, information obtained through sources such as books, articles, magazines, published thesis studies and the internet was brought together. Overall, the present thesis revealed that Trabzon tales contain rich elements in terms of Turkish mythology.