THE LEGEND OF NINE BOYS FORMED AROUND TURKISH TREE CULT AND ITS SOCIAL FUNCTIONS

The legend of nine boys compiled from Bulancak (Giresun) region exhibit a narrative feature formed around Turkish tree cult. The tree cult that comes out in most of the folk literature based products, is important in terms of revealing the Turks universe and God perceptions in Pre-Islamic period. In the legend of nine boys compiled from Bulancak (Giresun), a man who doesn’t have any children, prays for a long time to Allah (God) under the tree in the center of the legend. God accepts his prayer and after that date, he has nine children. One day, an old man carrying wood, requests the father of children, permission for one of the boys to help him. The father cannot favor his children and refuses the request of the old man. After that, all of his children die. The father buries his children under the tree under which he has prayed before. Later, the place where the tree is, becomes a cult space where people pray, the place of acceptance of the prayer, making vow, the organizations of the H？drellez celebrations. In this study, of which data was determined by means of field research and utilization of written sources, it was concluded that the legend of nine boys legend was emerged as entered on the tree cult and fulfilled important social functions in terms of cultural continuity